The surname Akhtar
A Persian surname, carried by 4,260 people in the United States.
2 syllables Soundex A236 Also a first name
Origin
Persian origin
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.
One of 28 Persian surnames on this site.
Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How common it is
2010 US Census
There were 4,260 people named Akhtar in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 72,475 Americans. That is up 74% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,445.
| Rank | Surname | People | 1 in |
|---|---|---|---|
| #7,782 | Arceo | 4,265 | 72,391 |
| #7,783 | Bumgardner | 4,264 | 72,407 |
| #7,784 | Henninger | 4,262 | 72,441 |
| #7,785 | Akhtar | 4,260 | 72,475 |
Who is named Akhtar
Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census
90% of people named Akhtar identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.9% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.5% as two or more races.
- Asian and Pacific Islander 90%
- White (not Hispanic) 4.9%
- Two or more races 3.5%
- Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.2%
- Black (not Hispanic) 0.5%
- American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%
Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.
Famous Akhtars
2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Adeel AkhtarBritish actor, born 1980
- Ayad AkhtarAmerican actor, novelist and playwright, born 1970
Notable Akhtars come mostly from the United Kingdom (1) and the United States (1).
Spellings and sound-alikes
Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling
Variant spellings
Akhtar has the Soundex code A236, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A236.
Other Persian surnames
Questions
- Where does the surname Akhtar come from?
- 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…
- How common is the surname Akhtar?
- 4,260 people in the United States had the surname Akhtar in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 72,475 Americans. It ranked 7,785th of 162,253 surnames.
- What ethnicity is the surname Akhtar?
- In the 2010 Census, 90% of people named Akhtar identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 4.9% as white (not Hispanic).
- Who is the most famous person named Akhtar?
- Adeel Akhtar, British actor, followed by Ayad Akhtar.
- Where is the surname Akhtar most common?
- Wikidata records people named Akhtar in the United Kingdom and the United States.
- Is the surname Akhtar getting more or less common?
- More common. 2,445 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,260 in 2010, up 74%.
- What are other spellings of Akhtar?
- Akhter, Aktar and Akter.
- Is Akhtar also a first name?
- Yes. Akhtar 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.