Frequency: (346)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Muslim (widespread throughout the Muslim world): from a personal name based on Arabic anwar ‘brighter’, an elative adjective derived from nur ‘light’. Anwār (with a long a) is the plural of nūr (see Noor) and means ‘rays (of light)’.
GIVEN NAMES: Muslim 88%. Mohammad (35), Muhammad (16), Mohammed (10), Syed (7), Mohamed (6), Aftab (5), Hamid (5), Imran (5), Khalid (4), Muhammed (4), Asif (3), Javed (3).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
