Al-Mansouri
A family name (nisba) attributed in the UAE to al-Manāṣīr; it also forms independently from the very common name Manṣūr, so many unrelated families bear it.
- Type
- Tribal nisba in the UAE; elsewhere a nisba to the name Manṣūr
- Attributed to
- Al-Manāṣīr (as reported)
- Root
- n-ṣ-r
Overview
Al-Mansouri (al-Manṣūrī) is borne in the United Arab Emirates and the desert country running toward the Rubʿ al-Khālī, where it is attributed to al-Manāṣīr and formed on the singular Manṣūr. In Lisān al-ʿArab the root n-ṣ-r is aid and victory, and manṣūr is the one granted them.
Not one family
Manṣūr is among the commonest of Arabic personal names, and a nisba to any ancestor or any place so named produces exactly this form: Yāqūt records more than one settlement called al-Manṣūriyya, each named after the man who built it. Al-Manṣūrī is accordingly borne by many families across Arabia, Egypt, the Levant and the Maghrib with no connection to al-Manāṣīr, and two families carrying the name are not, on that ground alone, related.
Bearing the name
A nisba built on a common personal name is the weakest kind of evidence for a particular line. Only a family's own documented record establishes which one it belongs to.
Sources
- ابن منظور، لسان العرب، 711هـ — مادة: نصر
- ياقوت الحموي، معجم البلدان، 626هـ — مادة: المنصورية — مواضع سُمّيت بمن أنشأها
This page is an educational, historical reference compiled from published sources. It is not an authority on lineage. Where sources differ, we report the difference without taking a position. Corrections are welcome via our contact page.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-31