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The surname Ahmad

An Arabic surname, carried by 16,291 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɑː.mæd/ 2 syllables Soundex A530 Also a first name

Ahmad: #2,238 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Ahmad #2,238, 16,291 people Ahmad: #2,238 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Ahmad #2,238, 16,291 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Ahmad is more common than 98.6% of them.

Origin

Arabic origin

Borrowed from Arabic أَحْمَد (ʔaḥmad), elative of حَمِيد (ḥamīd, “praiseworthy”); or from Persian اَحْمَد (ahmad).

One of 179 Arabic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 16,291 people named Ahmad in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 18,952 Americans. That is up 43% since 2000, when the Census counted 11,395.

#2,238
rank among US surnames
16,291
people in 2010
5.5
per 100,000 Americans
+43%
change since 2000 (was #2,889)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#2,229Goldsmith16,34618,888
#2,230Baum16,33418,902
#2,231Ruffin16,32418,914
#2,232Laughlin16,32318,915
#2,233Rader16,32018,918
#2,234Baron16,30818,932
#2,235Trimble16,30618,934

Who is named Ahmad

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

59% of people named Ahmad identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 24% as white (not Hispanic) and 8.3% as Black (not Hispanic).

  • Asian and Pacific Islander 59%
  • White (not Hispanic) 24%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 8.3%
  • Two or more races 6.5%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Ahmads

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Faiz Ahmad
    Afghan communist leader (1946–1986)
  • Noor Ahmad
    Afghan cricketer, born 2005
  • Tariq Ahmad, Baron Ahmad of Wimbledon
    British businessman and politician (born 1968)
  • Selima Ahmad
    Bangladeshi Women Business Leader and Entrepreneur, 1960–2026

Notable Ahmads come mostly from Afghanistan (2), the United Kingdom (1) and Pakistan (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Ahmad

Ahmad has the Soundex code A530, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A530.

Other Arabic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Ahmad come from?
Borrowed from Arabic أَحْمَد (ʔaḥmad), elative of حَمِيد (ḥamīd, “praiseworthy”); or from Persian اَحْمَد (ahmad).
How common is the surname Ahmad?
16,291 people in the United States had the surname Ahmad in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 18,952 Americans. It ranked 2,238th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Ahmad?
In the 2010 Census, 59% of people named Ahmad identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 24% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Ahmad?
Faiz Ahmad, Afghan communist leader (1946–1986), followed by Noor Ahmad.
Where is the surname Ahmad most common?
Wikidata records people named Ahmad in Afghanistan, the United Kingdom and Pakistan.
How do you pronounce Ahmad?
Ahmad is /ˈɑː.mæd/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Ahmad getting more or less common?
More common. 11,395 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 16,291 in 2010, up 43%.
Is Ahmad also a first name?
Yes. Ahmad is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.