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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Muslim : shortened form of any of the many Arabic names formed with the word dīn ‘religion’, for example Saifuddin ‘sword of religion’ or Salahuddin ‘righteousness of religion’.
  • Indian (northern states) : Hindu name derived from Sanskrit dina ‘humble’.
  • Scottish : unexplained. According to Black, this is an old Strathblane surname.
  • Jewish (Ashkenazic) : nickname from Yiddish din ‘thin’.

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