What does Khan mean?

[Zari]

i think the last name khan originated frm gehngis khan...

[tor_khan]

Consider this previous posting

and

http://torkhan.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html

[Laila]

LOL James, i was waiting for you to ask....it means 'prince or ruler.' Google it to see the origin of it.

[Badlun]

Every Khan is not Pashtun but every Pashtun may be a Khan.

The word Khan has two dimensions. One as part of the name and second the title Khan. khan as a word and tiltle has Turkic or Mongol origin. Basically the word Khan mean chief, leader, commander, ruler or a title for emperor or ruler pr governor or a military rank.

How this word was associated with pashtuns is very interesting. As Mughal army had many Pashtuns as commanders and Khan was a military rank and title in the Mughal era in India, every pashtun was called as Khan. As there were Rajputs also in the Mughal army, thats why the word khan may also be seen as part of some Rajput and other Panjabis also.

Khan also is used specially in Pakistani Pashtunkhwah as the community leader or chief of the tribe or the most influential or rich person in a village or area. But as all Pashtuns are independent mentally and socially and they dont obey others with out a reason or some times even with a reason, every Pashtun consider himself or herself , either poor or rich , as a Khan.

Khan is part of the names of many male Pashtuns and now a days there is a trend that female Pashtuns also use Khan as part of their name.

Some religious bigots consider the use of the word Khan as a sin because they think its etymologically from the Arab word Khayen which means deceiver. Its just a false propaganda as the word khan has nothing to do with arabic langauge.

Some poor Pashtuns mainly working as drivers and watchmen in karachi and other parts of Pakistan and people call them khan sahb which became a symbol of poor Pashtuns in dramas and movies, thats why some Pashtuns get offended if you call them khan sahb or only Khan.

One can see some details on the title khan here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_(title)

[afghan]

I've noticed a lot of users have a khan in there usernames?

Is it a last name? Are they all related?

Are they all Admin Khans family or something?


Thanks.

very interesting question, khan is basically a title, not a last name, the name originated from turkish language. khan was used for people with the great honour and respect, for a ruler, bulgarian monarch also used to be called khan.
lately it was only adopted by pashtuns, in pakistan and india many people use it as a last name who are non-pashtun , they adopted the name khan after their conversion to islam from hinduism, most of the hindus who converted to islam were from lowest cast. these hindos got the same respect as anyone else the muslim society, and adopted their last name as khan.
many pashtuns uses their tribe or subtribe names as their last names.

[din]

Khan mana kheratey, someone who is willing to give.
Khan mana yaw sokh che khpal da community sara komak wakey, khpal hujra walarey che da miskanan sara komak wakey. Ghareeban sara par hara lara sara komak wakey. We Pashtuns are Khan because we have the above in us. mosh brave oh deendara yo.

originally it come from Khair.


Khan khpal pa zhaba baney walar yey.