Qureshi
A Muslim surname meaning a person connected with the Quraysh, the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad.
The #5,035 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,322 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Qureshi is a nisba, or affiliation surname, built from Arabic Quraysh, the name of the Meccan tribe of the Prophet Muhammad. The suffix -i means "belonging to" or "of," so the literal sense is "of the Quraysh" or "member/descendant of the Quraysh." In South Asia it was adopted as a hereditary surname by Muslim families, sometimes to indicate claimed tribal descent and sometimes as a marker of religious identity and prestige.
History
The name became especially common among Muslim communities in South Asia, where it was carried through Arabic, Persian, and Urdu naming traditions. In some cases it reflects an ancestral claim to Quraysh descent; in others it was adopted more broadly as a respected communal surname. Modern bearers are found widely in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and the diaspora.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Quraysh were the dominant tribe in Mecca before Islam, and their name remains one of the best-known tribal names in Islamic history.