Al-Qattan
An occupational family name from al-quṭn, cotton: the qaṭṭān dealt in cotton. Written without vowels it can also be read quṭṭān, a plural of qāṭin, those who dwell in a place — the same letters, a different word.
- Type
- Occupational name
- Sense
- One who deals in cotton (quṭn)
- Root
- q-ṭ-n
The word
Al-Qattan (al-qaṭṭān) is the faʿʿāl of quṭn. Lisān al-ʿArab gives al-quṭn, also quṭun, as cotton, and the qaṭṭān as the man whose trade it is, buying and selling it. The name belongs with the cloth trades: the spinner, the weaver and the tailor come after him.
Qaṭṭān and quṭṭān
Unvowelled, the word has a second reading. Qaṭana bi-l-makān is to settle in a place and stay there; the one who does is qāṭin, and Lisān gives quṭṭān among its plurals, beside qaṭīn — the dwellers, the settled people of a place. In the family name the vowel is fatḥa and the word is the cotton-dealer's. It does not mean "the residents", and it says nothing about how long an ancestor's family had lived anywhere.
Bearing the name
An occupational family name records what an ancestor did, as the name was applied to him — not a lineage. It attaches to no tribe, and two families bearing it need have no connection to one another beyond the word itself.
Sources
- ابن منظور، لسان العرب، 711هـ — مادة: قطن
This page is an educational, historical reference compiled from published sources.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: 2026-09-17