Azar
An uncommon surname that may reflect the Spanish word for “chance” or, in some cases, a place-name or descriptive source.
The #9,643 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 91,752 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Azar is difficult to pin down from the excerpted sources, and it may have more than one origin. In Spanish, azar means “chance,” “fortuity,” or “luck,” ultimately from Arabic roots, so the name could have begun as a nickname or descriptive byname. It may also in some families relate to a place-name or to a non-Spanish source that entered Iberian naming traditions.
History
The excerpts provided do not contain a clear dictionary entry for Azar itself, only incidental mentions of the word in other contexts. Because the form is relatively short and widespread across different language traditions, bearers in modern records may not all share a single origin. In Hispanic contexts it is often treated as a surname of uncertain or mixed background.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Spanish azar is one of several everyday words in the language that trace back through Arabic influence on Iberian Spanish.
From the historical record
“de Navarra en 1400. Su divisa fué una jarra de azucenas resaltadas de un grifo, del que pendía la imájen de nues- tra señora Antigua, esmaltada de azar i adornada de es- trellas. Terrera. Pedazo de tierra cortada o escarpada Pájaro del color de la tierra.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos