Lebanese Last Name Generator

Generate Lebanese last names in the spellings families use in Lebanon and the diaspora, from Khoury, Maalouf and Chidiac to Abou Jaoude, Abi Nader, Bou Saab and El Khazen. The list covers trade names, forefathers' names, village names and the two-word families of Mount Lebanon, Beirut, Tripoli, the south and the Bekaa.

About Lebanese last names

Lebanese surnames are Arabic names in Lebanese dress. Families at home and abroad mostly write them the French way, a habit of French-language schooling: ch where English writes sh and ou for the long u. Names that turn up elsewhere as Shidyaq, Shamoun or Khuri are Chidiac, Chamoun and Khoury in Lebanon. This list keeps those spellings and gives each family name once, with no given names attached.

Four kinds of name make up most of it. Trades and offices: Haddad is a blacksmith, Najjar a carpenter, Sabbagh a dyer, Hayek a weaver and Khoury a priest. Forefathers' names: Tannous, Boutros, Karam, Nassar. Places: Baalbaki is from Baalbek, Jezzini from Jezzine, Tannoury from Tannourine and Halabi from Aleppo. Then come the two-word names, each of which is one surname. Abou means father of, Abi is the same word in another grammatical case and Bou is its everyday short form, as in Abou Jaoude, Abi Nader and Bou Saab. El is simply the article: El Khoury, El Khazen.

Some of these names are met more often in Christian, Druze or Muslim families, and some cluster in Mount Lebanon, Beirut, Tripoli, the south or the Bekaa. Many are shared, though, so a surname alone never proves a person's faith, home village or standing.

How to choose Lebanese last names

• Keep a two-word name whole. Abou Jaoude, Abi Nader, Bou Saab, Abdel Massih and Hajj Hassan are each one surname, so a character is Rima Abou Jaoude, never Rima Jaoude.
• Pick one form per family and stay with it. The same household can be written Abou Khalil by one clerk and Abi Khalil or Bou Khalil by another, and emigrant families often close the name up as Aboukhalil or Elkhoury.
• Match the spelling to the setting. A family in Beirut or Zahle writes Chalhoub, Choucair and Moukarzel; a branch that settled in an English-speaking country may have switched to sh and u. Decide which side of that move your character is on.
• Use a place name as a hint of backstory. Hasbani points to Hasbaya, Damouri to Damour, Zahlaoui to Zahle and Hasrouni to Hasroun, but such a name says where a family once came from, not where it lives today.
• For a full name, add a first name from the Lebanese Name Generator and, if you want the official style, the father's first name in the middle: Karim Georges Maalouf.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common Lebanese last names?

Khoury and Haddad are among the names you meet most often, in Lebanon and across the diaspora, along with Najjar, Karam, Saliba, Khalil and Mansour. All of them are in the list. It is not ranked, so a rarer village name such as Hadchiti or Tarchichi is as likely to come up as a famous one.

What do Abou, Abi, Bou and El mean in a Lebanese surname?

Abou means father of. Abi is the same word in a different grammatical case, and Bou is the short spoken form, which is why Abou Jaoude, Abi Rached and Bou Saab look so alike. El is the Arabic article, the, as in El Khoury and El Hachem. In every case the two words together are the surname.

Why are Lebanese last names spelled with ch and ou?

Because most Lebanese families settled on a French-style spelling for the Latin alphabet. French writes the sh sound as ch and the long u as ou, which gives Chidiac, Chamoun, Moukarzel and Khoury. Spellings with sh and u are the same names in an English-style transliteration.

Are Lebanese last names the same as Arabic last names?

The words are Arabic, and names such as Haddad, Najjar and Khalil are found across the Arab world. What marks the Lebanese forms is the French-leaning spelling, as in Chidiac and Moukarzel, and the many family names taken from Lebanese towns and villages, such as Jezzini, Hasrouni and Baalbaki. For the wider region, try the Arabic Last Name Generator.

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