Khan (surname)

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Khan (/xɑːn/) is a surname deriving from the title khan, to refer to a chief or ruler, originating as a hereditary title among nomadic tribes in the Central and Eastern Eurasian Steppe during antiquity and popularized by Turkic dynasties in the rest of Asia and Eastern Europe in the medieval period. It's earliest discovered usages, as a title for chiefs dates to the Xianbei and as a title for monarchs dates to the Rourans, two proto-Mongolic societies in Inner Asia during antiquity; in the Pannonian–Carpathian and their surrounding regions of Central and Southeast Europe the title was used by the Pannonian Avars and early Bulgars in the early medieval period, before being more widely spread by various Islamic chieftains in a wide region spanning the empires centered in Turkey and Crimea to those in the Indian subcontinent.^[1][2]

In contemporary times, "Khan" is mostly popular among Muslim Asians in the states of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh^[3]

Khan as a surname is occasionally found among people of Turkic and Mongolic descent, but is a far more common name among South Asian Muslims, especially popular among people in or originating from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.^[3] In Pakistan and India, it is often associated with the Pashtuns and Muslim Rajputs.^[4] As of 2014, Khan is one of the most common surnames in the world, shared by over 22 million people in Asia and 23 million people worldwide.^[5] It is the surname of over 108,674 British Asians, making it the 12th most common surname in the United Kingdom.^[6]

People[]

Scholars, intellectuals and academics[]

• Ahmed Raza Khan (1856–1921), Sunni Islamic scholar of south Asia
• Dilwar Khan, Bengali poet
• Gul Khan Nasir (1914–1983), poet, historian and politician from Balochistan
• Geoffrey Khan (born 1958), professor of Semitic Languages at the University of Cambridge
• Muhammad Mojlum Khan, non-fiction writer best known for The Muslim 100
• Muhammad Siddiq Khan (1910–1978), Bengali academic from Bangladesh, "father of the Library and Information Science discipline in Bangladesh"
• M. A. Muqtedar Khan, American Islamic philosopher, Sufi and academic
• Rukhsana Khan, Pakistani-Canadian children's writer and storyteller
• Salman "Sal" Khan, Muslim Bengali-American educator, known for the online Khan Academy
• Sirajul Hossain Khan, editor of Pakistan Times and the Eastern News Agency
• Wahiduddin Khan, Islamic scholar and peace activist
• Wasiullah Khan, Pakistani-American educator and founder of East–West University in Chicago
• Yasmin Khan (b. 1977), Associate Professor of History, Kellogg College, Oxford

Politicians and rulers[]

• Abdul Majid Khan, former MP for Habiganj-2, Bangladesh
• Abdul Majid Khan Tarin (1877–1939), senior political figure of the North-West Frontier Province, British India
• Akram Khan (born 1970), Indian politician
• Ali Haider Khan (1900–1963), Nawab of Longla
• Alivardi Khan (1671–1756), Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
• Amir Khan (Pindari) (1768–1834), Pindari leader in the early 19th century, later the Nawab of Tonk
• Arif Mohammad Khan, Indian politician and current governor of Kerala
• Asaf Khan, Wazir (Prime Minister) of Emperor Jahangir and Shahjahan
• Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua (1937–1993), former Chief Of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army
• Ataur Rahman Khan (1907–1991), Bengali activist politician, later Chief Minister of East Pakistan
• Ayub Khan (field marshal), ex army general/dictator and president of Pakistan
• Bahlul Khan (died 1488), founder of the Lodi dynasty
• Bairam Khan (1501–1561), Mughal commander, mentor and guardian of Akbar the Great
• Bostan Khan Tarin, 19th-century Pashtun clan warrior
• Chaudhry Ali Akbar Khan (1911–1967), Pakistani Federal Minister for Home Affairs 1964–1966
• Chaudhry Aurangzeb Khan, of the British era
• Dilal Khan (1585-1666), Muslim ruler of Sandwip
• Fatali Khan Khoyski, first Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
• Fateh Naseeb Khan, Chief General of Alwar Armed Forces
• Feroz Khan Noon (1893–1970), former Prime Minister of Pakistan
• Franklin Khan, Trinidad and Tobago politician
• Fuad Khan (born 1955), Trinidad and Tobago politician
• Ganj Ali Khan, military officer and Governor in Safavid Iran
• Genghis Khan, Mongol warlord of the 12th century
• German Khan, Russian oligarch
• Ghazala Khan, mother of American soldier Humayun Khan
• Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan Khokhar, one of Pakistan's first Federal Ministers
• Ghulam Jilani Khan (1925–1999), Governor of Punjab 1980 to 1985
• Hafiz Khan, Fijian Businessman, former Senator, and President of the Muslim League
• Haydar Khan, 2nd Wazir of Sylhet
• Hulagu Khan, ruler of Mongolian horde
• Humayun Khan (soldier), United States Army Captain, died in the Iraq War in 2004
• Iftikhar Khan (1909–1949), had been nominated to become the first local Commander in Chief of Pakistan
• Imran Khan, Pakistan's current Prime Minister
• Ismail Khan, former Afghan politician and warlord from Herat
• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Badshah Khan (1890–1988), Pashtun leader and activist
• Khan Sahib Shahal Khan Khoso (1909–1956), Baloch leader, MLA West Pakistan Assembly from 1953 to 1956
• Khizr Khan, first ruler of Sayyid Dynasty, fourth period of the Delhi Sultanate
• Khizr Muazzam Khan, father of American soldier Humayun, known for a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
• Khudadad Khan (1888–1971), Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Kublai Khan, king of China and founder of Yuan Dynasty
• Kutb Khan, commandant of Mahim when it was under Gujarat Sultanate
• Krum Khan, ruler and founder of Bulgaria
• Liaquat Ali Khan (1895–1951), 1st Prime Minister of Pakistan
• M.J. Khan, member of the Houston City Council
• Malik Umar Hayat Khan (1875–1944), elected member of the Council of State of India
• Munawar Khan, soldier of INA and later Pakistani Army, known for Operation Gibraltar
• Mahboob Ali Khan, 6th Nizam of Hyderabad, popularly known as Teesmaar Khan
• Mir Osman Ali Khan (1886–1967), 7th Nizam of Kingdom of Hyderabad
• Mir Lawang Khan, politician of Balochistan and brother of Gul Khan Nasir
• Mete Khan, ruler and warlord of China in 2nd century BCE
• Sultan Fetih Mehmet Khan, Ottoman sultan and conqueror of Constantinople
• Muhammad Hamidullah Khan (1938–2011), Bangladeshi military leader, politician and author
• General Muhammad Musa Khan Hazara, former Chief Of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army
• Muhammed Akbar Khan, the first Muslim to become a General in British Indian Army
• Muhammad Khan Junejo (1932–1993), former Prime Minister of Pakistan
• Murshid Quli Khan (c. 1665–1727), founder of the Nawab rulers in Bengal
• Nauroz Khan (1874-1964), Balochi Independence movement leader
• Nawab Ali Abbas Khan, Jatiya Party politician and three-time MP for Maulvibazar-2, Bangladesh
• Nawab Ali Haider Khan, 9th Nawab of Longla, minister and leader of the Independent Muslim Party
• Nawab Qaim Khan, 14th-century Ameer of the Delhi Sultanate and chief of Qaimkhani clan
• Nawazish Alam Khan (Hindi: नवाज़िश आलम ख़ान), Indian Baloch politician and member of the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh
• Nisar Ali Khan (born 1954), Pakistani politician, former cabinet minister and opposition leader in the National Assembly of Pakistan
• Prince Aly Khan (1911–1960), Pakistani United Nations diplomat
• Prince Sadruddhin Aga Khan (1933–2003), diplomat, UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 1965 to 1977
• Rabina Khan, councillor for Shadwell and former Housing Cabinet member in Tower Hamlets, London
• Raeesah Khan, former Member of Parliament in Singapore
• Raja Habib ur Rahman Khan (1913–1978), Indian freedom fighter with the Indian National Army
• Raja Muhammad Zulqarnain Khan, President of AJK
• Raja Muhammed Sarfraz Khan (1905–1968), member of the Pakistan Movement
• Raja Sakhi Daler Khan Mangral, Kashmiri freedom fighter with the Indian National Army
• Raja Saroop Khan, former Governor of Punjab
• Rana Khudadad Khan, President of Pakistan Muslim League (Punjab)
• Rana Afzal Khan (1949–2019), Finance Minister of Pakistan and PML-N Leader
• Rana Mohammad Hanif Khan (1922–2005), Finance Minister of Pakistan
• Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Speaker of the Punjab Assembly from 2008
• Rana Nazeer Ahmed Khan (born 1949), Pakistani former Federal Minister
• Rana Phool Muhammad Khan, MPA from Bhai Pheru (Phool Nagar)
• Purnendu Khan, MP from Uluberia Constituency of Bengal
• Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
• Saifullah Khan family is a prominent political family of modern-day Pakistan, also known as Khans of Mewat
• Sahabzada Yaqub Khan (born 1920), Pakistani general and diplomat
• Sardar Farooq Khan Leghari (1940–2010), first Baloch president of Pakistan
• Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan (1915–2003), founder of Azad Jammu Kashmir State
• Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan (1915–1998), senior political figure and lieutenant of the Quaid-i-Azam in the Punjab
• Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan (born 1934), former Prime Minister and President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
• Sardar Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan (1892–1942), KCSI, Premier of the Punjab
• Sikandar Khan Ghazi, commander during the Conquest of Gour and the 1st Wazir of Sylhet
• Shah Nawaz Khan (general) (1914–1983), Major General of the Indian National Army, one of the three of the famed Red Fort Trio
• Shah Nawaz Khan Janjua (1914–1983), Indian freedom fighter with the Indian National Army
• Shah Nawaz Khan, revolutionary in India of the Janjua Rajput
• Shaista Khan, Mughal governor of Bengal from 1664 to 1688
• Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan (1893–1985), the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan
• Sulaiman Khan Karrani, Sultan of Bengal
• Sultan Suleiman Khan (Suleiman the Magnificent) (1494–1566), Ottoman Turkish Sultan
• Tughral Tughan Khan, 13th-century Mamluk Governor
• Turram Khan, revolutionary fighter from Hyderabad whose name has become eponym of bravery in many Indian languages
• Tikka Khan (1915–2002), former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army
• Yulbars Khan Uyghur General of Kuomintang, also known as "Tiger General" for his bravery, provincial Governor of Xinjiang province from 1951 to 1971
• Yusaf Khan (Muhammad Yusaf Khan) (born 1948), former Vice Chief Of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army

Actors and entertainers[]

• Aamir Khan, Indian actor, film producer and director
• Abdul Karim Khan, Indian classical vocalist
• Abdul Wahid Khan, Indian musician, mentor of many singers like Muhammad Rafi and Ram Narayan
• Adil Khan, Norwegian actor of Pashtun and Punjabi descent
• Adnan Sami Khan, Indian singer, playback singer and music composer
• Aiman Khan, Pakistani film and television actress, sister of actress Minal Khan
• Akram Khan (dancer), British dancer of Bangladeshi descent
• Anik Khan, Bangladesh-born American rapper
• Ali Akbar Khan, Bangladesh Bengali sarod player
• Alvira Khan Agnihotri, Indian film producer and fashion designer (Salman Khan's sister and Salim Khan's daughter)
• Amar Khan, Pakistani director, writer and television actress
• Amjad Khan, Indian actor and director
• Apu Islam Khan, Bangladeshi actress and model (former wife of Shakib Khan)
• Arbaaz Khan, Indian actor, director and film producer (Salman Khan's brother)
• Asad Amanat Ali Khan (1955–2007), Pakistani vocalist
• Ayesha Sultana Khan (Sharmila Tagore), actress, model, Central Board of Film Certification chairperson (mother of Saif Ali Khan)
• Ayub Khan, Indian television and film actor (Nasir Khan's son and Dilip Kumar's nephew)
• Bat for Lashes, stage name of Natasha Khan, British singer-songwriter and musician
• Bilal Khan (disambiguation), several people
• Cassius Khan, Canadian Indian classical musician in New Westminster, known as the Ghazal/Tabla Wizard
• Chaka Khan, American R&B singer
• Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan), Indian actor of Pashtun origin
• Faisal Khan, Indian actor (Aamir Khan's brother)
• Farah Khan, Indian film director, choreographer, dancer and fashion designer
• Faraaz Khan, Indian film actor of 1990s and early 2000s
• Fardeen Khan, Indian actor (son of Feroz Khan)
• Fawad Khan, Pakistani film actor and singer, also worked in Indian films
• Feroz Khan, Indian actor, director and film producer (father of Fardeen Khan)
• Feroze Khan, Pakistani television actor and producer
• Gauahar Khan, Indian model and actress
• Gul Khan, Indian television producer
• Guz Khan (born 1986), English comedian and actor
• Helen Richardson Khan, Indian actress (wife of Salim Khan)
• Hina Khan, Indian television actress
• Imran Khan (Bollywood actor) (born Imran Pal), Indian American actor, works in Bollywood (Aamir Khan's nephew)
• Imran Khan (singer), Dutch singer of Punjabi descent
• Irrfan Khan (1967–2020), Indian actor (in Indian films and Hollywood films)
• Jiah Khan, British-American actress who worked in Indian Bollywood films
• Junaid Khan, Pakistani film actor, singer and writer
• Kabir Khan, Indian director, screenwriter, cinematographer and film producer
• Kareena Kapoor Khan, Indian actress (wife of Saif Ali Khan, member of Kapoor family, daughter of actor Randhir Kapoor and actress Babita)
• Khalil Ullah Khan, film and TV actor, 1976 winner of Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
• King Khan, real name Arish Khan, Indian/French-Canadian musician
• Krutika Desai Khan, Indian actress working in film, television and theatre
• Mahira Khan, Pakistani drama and film actress, also works in Bollywood
• Mansoor Khan, Indian director, film producer and screenwriter (Nasir Hussain's son, Aamir Khan's cousin)
• Marco Khan, Iranian actor
• Mehboob Khan, Indian director, film producer, actor and writer
• Minal Khan, Pakistani television actress, sister of actress Aiman Khan
• Nahnatchka Khan, American television writer and producer
• Nasir Hussain Khan, Indian director, film producer and screenwriter (Aamir Khan's uncle)
• Nasir Khan, Indian actor (Dilip Kumar's brother)
• Nazir Ahmed Khan, Indian director, film producer and actor in British India and then Pakistan (brother-in-law of filmmaker K. Asif)
• Nikhat Khan, Indian film producer (Aamir Khan's sister)
• Noor Khan, Pakistani television actress and sister of actress Sarah Khan
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani vocalist
• Parvati Khan, Indo-Trinidadian singer and model who worked in Bollywood
• Praga Khan, real name Maurice Engelen, Belgian techno musician
• Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, vocalist
• Rehan Khan, Bollywood singer from Goa
• Riyaz Khan, South Indian actor
• Roy Sætre Khantatat, Norwegian singer, better known as Roy Khan
• Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, Pakistani vocalist
• Saif Ali Khan, Indian actor (son of Sharmila Tagore, husband of Kareena Kapoor)
• Sajid Khan, Indian actor and singer
• Sajid Khan, Indian film director and actor
• Salim Khan, Indian screenwriter and scriptwriter (father of Salman Khan), part of screenwriting duo Salim–Javed
• Salman Khan, Indian actor and film producer
• Sana Khan, Indian model and television actress
• Sanjay Khan, Indian actor, director and film producer (father of Zayed Khan)
• Sarah Khan, Pakistani TV actress in Urdu television serials
• Saroj Khan, Indian choreographer
• Shahrukh Khan, Indian actor, film producer (known as King Khan)
• Sahil Khan, Indian actor
• Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi actor, producer, singer, film organiser and media personality
• Soha Ali Khan, Indian actress (Saif Ali Khan's sister, daughter of actress Sharmila Tagore)
• Sohail Khan, Indian actor, director and film producer (brother of Salman Khan)
• Sudhir, real name Shah Zaman Khan Afridi, actor
• Tahir Hussain Khan, Indian director and film producer (Aamir Khan's father)
• Tariq Khan, Indian actor (Aamir Khan's cousin, Nasir Hussain's nephew)
• Valentino Khan, American DJ, music producer, guitarist, singer, songwriter
• Zareen Khan, Bollywood actress who has also appeared in Tamil and Punjabi films
• Zayed Khan, Indian actor (Sanjay Khan's son, Sussanne Khan's brother, brother-in-law of Hrithik Roshan)

Sportspeople[]

• Khan, former ring name of retired American professional wrestler Dave Bautista
• Imran Khan, current Prime Minister of Pakistan, politician and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan cricket team
• Akram Khan (cricketer), former captain of the Bangladeshi Cricket Team
• Amir Khan (British boxer), British boxer of Pakistani descent
• Mohsin Khan, former Pakistani cricketer
• Moin Khan, former Pakistani cricketer
• Muhammad Essa Khan, former Pakistani footballer
• Athar Ali Khan, Bangladeshi former cricketer, selector and cricket commentator
• Carla Khan, Pakistani professional squash player
• Hajra Khan, Pakistani footballer
• Kaleemullah Khan, Pakistani footballer
• Jahangir Khan, former Pakistani professional squash player and World No. 1
• Jansher Khan, former Pakistani professional squash player and World No. 1
• Mir Sultan Khan, Pakistani chess champion
• Nafees Iqbal (Mohammad Nafees Iqbal Khan), Bangladeshi cricketer
• Nasim Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• Shahid Khan Afridi, Pakistani cricketer
• Salman Khan, Indian cricketer
• Shahrukh Khan, Indian cricketer
• Junaid Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• Usman Khan Shinwari, Pakistani cricketer
• Simon Khan, English golfer
• Tamim Iqbal (Tamim Iqbal Khan), Bangladeshi cricketer
• Younus Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• Sajid Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• Shadab Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• Sharjeel Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• Vitaly Khan, Kazakhstani freestyle swimmer
• Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
• Rocky Khan, All Blacks 7s rugby player
• Rashid Khan, Afghanistan international cricketer

In science and technology[]

• Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistani engineer, considered the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme
• Fazlur Khan, Bengali-American structural engineer and designer of Chicago's Sears Tower and John Hancock Center
• Ishfaq Ahmad Khan, Pakistani scientist in particle and nuclear physics
• Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani scientist in nuclear physics, credited as the father of Pakistan's Atomic Project
• Mohammad Islam Khan (1957–2010), Indian glycobiologist, scientist at the National Chemical Laboratory
• Naeem Ahmad Khan (1928–2013), Pakistani nuclear physicist and university professor of physics
• K. Ahmed Khan, Indian scientist and businessman who had success in using plastic for road construction
• Shaukat Hameed Khan, Pakistani nuclear physicist
• Mohammad Ajmal Khan, physician in Delhi, India, one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia University
• Muhammad Siddiq Khan (1910–1978), librarian of the Central Library of the University of Dhaka and the founder of the university's Department of Library Science
• Iqrar Ahmad Khan, Pakistani agricultural scientist, professor of horticulture at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in Pakistan
• Razib Khan, Bengali-American geneticist

Other professions[]

• Abul Kashem Khan (1905–1991), jurist, political leader, and industrialist from Bangladesh
• Alan Khan (born 1971), South African radio presenter
• Amjad Khan (1940–1992), Indian film producer
• Baseera Khan, American artist
• Fazal Khan, Pakistani lawyer and Pashtun human rights activist
• Gauri Khan (born 1971), Indian interior designer and film producer (wife of Indian star Shahrukh Khan)
• Hazrat Inayat Khan, (1882–1927), founder of Universal Sufism and the Sufi Order International
• Irene Khan (born 1956), Bangladeshi lawyer, former Secretary General of Amnesty International
• Kiran Rao Khan (born 1973), Indian director, film producer and screenwriter (wife of Indian star Aamir Khan)
• The (unknown) 'M Khan', the subject of many gag routines on The Mary Whitehouse Experience because of long-standing graffiti visible from a major London road^[7]
• Mirza Abu Taleb Khan (1752–1805/6), Indian tax-collector and travel-writer
• Mohammad Sidique Khan (1974–2005), London train suicide bomber
• Nawab Muhammad Hayat Khan (1833–1901) British-Indian administrator and aristocrat
• Noor Inayat Khan (1914–1944), British spy in occupied France
• Oghuz Khan, legendary forefather of the Turkic people
• Peter Khan (born Afghan-Khan), Australian member of the Universal House of Justice of the Bahá'í Faith
• Shahid Khan (born 1950), Pakistan-born American businessman, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C.
• Sussanne Khan (born 1975), Indian interior fashion designer and entrepreneur
• Syed Ahmed Khan (1817–1898), Islamic scholar
• Tariq Ali Khan (born 1943), British-Pakistani writer, intellectual and socialist
• Tasmin Lucia Khan (born 1980), British Bangladeshi journalist and news presenter for BBC News
• Tony Khan (born 1982), American businessman; co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C. along with his father Shahid, and CEO of All Elite Wrestling
• Vilayat Inayat Khan (1916–2004), former head of the Sufi Order International
• Usman Khan (terrorist) (1991-2019), Islamic terrorist and perpetrator of the 2019 London Bridge stabbing
• Zia Inayat Khan, the Pir of the Sufi Order International

Fictional characters[]

• Haman Khan, a prominent Gundam villain in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the principal antagonist in its sequel Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ; and her father Maharaja Khan
• Kamal Khan, the main villain in the James Bond film Octopussy
• Kamala Khan, the fourth character to assume the identity of the Marvel Comics superheroine Ms. Marvel
• Khan, Primus of House Aico game character from Paladins
• Khan, character from the web-series Corner Shop Show
• Khan, one of the villains in the Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars computer game
• Khan, a Chinese-American detective from the Khan! 1975 US television series
• Manga Khan, a DC Comics character
• Rizwan Khan, main character in the 2010 Bollywood film My Name Is Khan
• Dark Khan, the main antagonist of the crossover video game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe who is the merging between Shao Khan and DC Comics villain Darkseid
• Shadow Khan, the group of villains in animated series Jackie Chan Adventures
• Shere Khan, the tiger, in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, also adapted as a cartoon character in a Walt Disney Productions movie in 1967
• Shiwan Khan, a recurring enemy of The Shadow
• The Mandarin archenemy of Iron Man whose real name is Khan also from Marvel Comics
• Yasmin Khan, a companion of the Thirteenth Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who
• Khan Noonien Singh, an antagonist in the Star Trek franchise and the titular character of the 1982 film The Wrath of Khan
• Mr Khan, British Pakistani character on British TV show Citizen Khan

See also[]

• Farrakhan
• Khan (title)
• List of places named Khan

References[]

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Khan.
If an intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.