# Akhtar (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/akhtar/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Persian.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Persian |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 4,260 |
| US rank (2010) | 7,785 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 72,475 people |
| Change since 2000 | +74% (2,445 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Akhter, Aktar, Akter |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani (through Hindi अख़्तर (axtar) / Urdu اَخْتَر (axtar)) and/or directly from Classical Persian اَخْتَر (axtar, “star”), in turn from Middle Persian 𐭠𐭧𐭲𐭫 (ʾhtl /⁠axtar⁠/), an ancient backformation from 𐭠𐭯𐭠𐭧𐭲𐭫 (ʾpʾhtl /⁠abāxtar⁠/, “planet”), due to a mistaken folk etymology that the first element ab- was a negative suffix, since Zoroastrianism considers the planets to be nefarious "un-stars" due to their astronomically odd behavior. Doublet of Tara and sitara.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Akhtar in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 4.9% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 90% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 3.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Akhtar in the United Kingdom and the United States.

## People named Akhtar

- Adeel Akhtar, British actor
- Ayad Akhtar, American actor, novelist and playwright

## Similar surnames

Akhter, Akter, Astorga, Austria, Astor, Austria-Este.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.