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Surname Etymology and Meaning of IMAM

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

Muslim: status name from Arabic imam, literally ‘one who leads the way’, an honorific title for one who leads prayers in a mosque, also applied to the founders of Islamic law schools. Among Shiite Muslims the title imam is applied to the spiritual leaders descended from Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and her husband Ali, the fourth and last of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (see Ali).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)