Mustafa Family History

Arabic: from a personal name based on muṣṭafā ‘chosen’ from ṣafā ‘to be pure to be select’. Bearers of this surname are mostly Muslims; for them Al-Muṣṭafā is an epithet referring to the prophet Muhammad while among Christians it is applied to Saint Paul. Compare Mostafa and Moustafa . Spanish (of Arabic origin): from the Arabic personal name (see 1 above). Italian: from the Arabic personal name (see 1 above) or a nickname from Calabrian mustafà ‘strong man with a walrus moustache’. Croatian: from the Turkish Muslim personal name Mustafa of Arabic origin (see 1 above). This surname originated as a nickname during the Turkish occupation of the Balkans. Slovenian: nickname for a man with long mustache from the singularized form of mustafe a word altered from mustače ‘mustache’. Albanian: from the Albanian Muslim personal name Mustafa or Mustafë (definite form Mustafa) of Turkish and ultimately of Arabic origin (see 1 above).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022