Reza

Family name origins & meanings

• Galician : habitational name from any of the three places in Ourense province, Galicia named Reza.
• Portuguese : from a derivative of rezar ‘to pray’.
• Muslim (chiefly Iranian) : from the Persian personal name Reza, from Arabic rịdā’ ‘contentment’, ‘satisfaction’. Rịda’ ‛Ali ibn Musa (765–817) was the eighth imam of the Shiites. Reza Shah Pahlavi was the first Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–79) in Iran. Reza is used to form names in combination with other words, e.g. Reza ul-Karim (Rịdā’ al-Karīm) ‘satisfaction of The Most Generous’, i.e. Allah.