Omar
A name of Arabic origin, best known as a Muslim personal name rather than a traditional English surname.
The #4,631 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,306 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Omar comes from the Arabic personal name ʿUmar, widely used in the Muslim world. The name is commonly associated with the idea of life or long-livedness, though older sources sometimes give broader or slightly different explanations. As a surname, it is usually patronymic: it identifies someone as a descendant of, or belonging to, a man named Omar.
History
The historical excerpts point mainly to Omar as a personal name in Arabic and Muslim naming traditions, including forms like "X son of Omar." It is widely known through the fame of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam, which helped make the name especially prominent across the Islamic world. In English-language records, Omar is often encountered as a given name, and only secondarily as a hereditary surname or family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it is so strongly established as a personal name, Omar often appears in historical records as part of a patronymic style rather than as a fixed family surname.
From the historical record
“Otrenu dc Inula, ibid. o. ]8i. JoluuiiKi Omar, ffifen-, 1575 : P. T. 1766. Married — Robert Oiler and Sarah Hnulow: St. Ceo. Han. Sq. L 15^”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instancesNotable people named Omar
- Mullah Omar (1960–2013)
- Ilhan Omar (b. 1982)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.