Frequency: (498)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Ḥusayn, a diminutive of Ḥasān ‘good’, ‘handsome’ (see Hasan). Husain (c. 626-680) and his elder brother Hasan were sons of the khalif ῾Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (see Ali) and, through their mother Fatima, grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad. The death of Husain in a massacre at Karbela signaled the beginning of a long period of internecine strife in the Muslim world. Shiite Muslims regard Hasan and his brother Husain as the true successors of Muhammad, and observe the day of his death as a day of mourning. The name is popular among Sunni Muslims as well as Shiites.
GIVEN NAMES: Muslim 85%. Syed (47), Mohammed (7), Iqbal (6), Akhtar (4), Ali (4), Bibi (4), Ishrat (4), Mohammad (4), Nasir (4), Abid (3), Arif (3), Arshad (3).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
