Iranian Genealogy

Iranian Genealogy has been fairly quiet for most of 2025 due to work on an exciting new project: the Iranian-American Surnames Project. After over a year of coordination and planning, the Project is now live!

The Iranian-American Surnames Project is a collaboration between Iranian Genealogy, Dr. Fatemeh Akbari (sociolinguist, onomastician, and International Council of Onomastic Sciences Board member), and Dr. Eugen Schochenmaier (onomastician, Chief Onomatologist of Mondonomo, Inc., editor of e-Onomastics, and International Council of Onomastic Sciences web and information officer). The Project is supported by generous grant funding from the Persian Heritage Foundation and is endorsed by the International Counsel of the Onomastic Sciences.

Since surnames were only made mandatory nationwide in Iran in 1925, Iranian surnames contain valuable and relatively recent genealogical, sociocultural, and sociolinguistic information. This pioneering project seeks to document, analyze, and disseminate information about the surnames of Iranian-Americans to preserve this intangible cultural heritage and improve public understanding of Iranian-American names. Ultimately, we plan to publish the results of our research in conference papers and a surname dictionary/database.

We hope that many will participate in the Project, which represents a significant development in the study of names, history, and the Iranian diaspora in the United States.

Please see the following link for more information on the Project and how to participate!: https://iranian-genealogy.com/iasp/