How common is the surname Rahman?

18,097 people in the United States had the surname Rahman in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,061 Americans. It ranked 1,994th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Rahman?

Zillur Rahman, 19th President of Bangladesh (1929-2013), followed by Hasim Rahman.

Where is the surname Rahman most common?

Wikidata records people named Rahman in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the United States and 2 other countries.

Is the surname Rahman getting more or less common?

More common. 10,719 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 18,097 in 2010, up 69%.

The surname Rahman

An Arabic surname, carried by 18,097 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex R550

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rahman is more common than 98.8% of them.

Origin

Arabic origin

From Arabic رَحْمَٰن (raḥmān).

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 18,097 people named Rahman in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 17,061 Americans. That is up 69% since 2000, when the Census counted 10,719.

#1,994

rank among US surnames

18,097

people in 2010

6.1

per 100,000 Americans

+68.8%

change since 2000 (was #3,102)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,985	Covarrubias	18,189	16,974
#1,986	Addison	18,169	16,993
#1,987	Ha	18,156	17,005
#1,989	Cao	18,138	17,022
#1,990	Dickens	18,123	17,036
#1,991	Judd	18,110	17,048
#1,992	Barbosa	18,106	17,052

Who is named Rahman

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

79% of people named Rahman identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 8.6% as white (not Hispanic) and 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 79%
White (not Hispanic) 8.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.2%
Two or more races 4.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

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

Famous Rahmans

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Zillur Rahman
19th President of Bangladesh (1929-2013)
Hasim Rahman
American boxer, born 1972
Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Afghan cricketer, born 2001
Shah Azizur Rahman
Bangladeshi politician (1925–1989)
Latifur Rahman
Bangladeshi politician and judge (1936–2017)
Ayasha Rahman
Bangladeshi cricketer, born 1984
Arifur Rahman
Bangladeshi-Norwegian political cartoonist, illustrator and animator, born 1984
Ziaur Rahman
Bangladeshi chess player (1974–2024)

Notable Rahmans come mostly from Bangladesh (3), Pakistan (2) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Rehman

Surnames that sound like Rahman

Rahman has the Soundex code R550, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R550.

Other Arabic surnames

All 179 Arabic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Rahman come from?: From Arabic رَحْمَٰن (raḥmān).
How common is the surname Rahman?: 18,097 people in the United States had the surname Rahman in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,061 Americans. It ranked 1,994th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rahman?: In the 2010 Census, 79% of people named Rahman identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 8.6% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Rahman?: Zillur Rahman, 19th President of Bangladesh (1929-2013), followed by Hasim Rahman.
Where is the surname Rahman most common?: Wikidata records people named Rahman in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the United States and 2 other countries.
Is the surname Rahman getting more or less common?: More common. 10,719 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 18,097 in 2010, up 69%.
What are other spellings of Rahman?: Rehman.