Mukhtar as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Mukhtar

What is the meaning of the name Mukhtar ?

The baby name Mukhtar is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /mʊxˈtɑːr/ (approx. "MUKH-tar", with "kh" like the 'ch' in German "Bach").

Mukhtar is Arabic in Origin.

Mukhtar (Arabic مختار, translit. Mukhtār) derives from the Form VIII verb ikhtara “to choose,” ultimately from the Semitic root kh-y-r associated with goodness and preference. It literally means “chosen; selected; elect,” and by extension “the one elected.” The name has circulated across the Islamic world since the early centuries of Islam; a noted bearer is al-Mukhtār al-Thaqafī (7th century), a Kufan leader whose revolt is remembered in early Islamic history. Today it is common from the Middle East to North and West Africa and South Asia.

Transliterations and regional variants include Mokhtar (Maghreb/French), Muhtar (Turkish), Muktar or Muctar (South Asia, Ethiopia, Somalia), and forms with the article such as al-Mukhtār or El Mokhtar; it also appears as a surname. In Ottoman and Arabic usage, mukhtār became the title for a village headman - literally “the chosen one” - which has reinforced the name’s dignified, communal resonance.