Explore the Family Name Nejad

The meaning of Nejad

Iranian: from Persian nezhād ‘lineage, race’, forming the second part (originally a suffix) of compound names such as Mahdavinejad or Mahdavi Nejad (see Mahdavi), having the meaning ‘from the family/race of’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Nejad in the United States?

The surname Nejad has seen an increase in popularity over the years, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Nejad was ranked as the 62,961st most common surname in the United States, but by 2010, it had risen to the 50,196th spot, marking a positive change of 20.27 percent. The number of people with this last name also grew during this decade, from 297 in 2000 to 417 in 2010, which represents a 40.4 percent increase. Accordingly, the proportion of this surname per 100,000 people has also increased by 27.27 percent, from 0.11 to 0.14.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#62,961	#50,196	20.27%
Count	297	417	40.4%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.14	27.27%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Nejad

Analyzing the ethnic identity associated with the surname Nejad, the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority identify as White. Between 2000 and 2010, those identifying as White increased from 75.42 percent to 78.18 percent, a change of 3.66 percent. The next largest group identifies with two or more races, with their percentage slightly decreasing from 16.5 percent to 15.59 percent. Further, individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander decreased significantly from 3.03 percent to 1.68 percent. Those identifying as Hispanic also saw a decrease from 5.05 percent to 4.56 percent. There were no recorded changes for those identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	75.42%	78.18%	3.66%
Two or More Races	16.5%	15.59%	-5.52%
Hispanic	5.05%	4.56%	-9.7%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.03%	1.68%	-44.55%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%