Mohamedally

The origin of the Mohamedally name

The Mohamedally name, as found in Mauritius with over 100 known branches amongst other locations in the world, is one of many that is derived from Islamic roots originating in India pre-18th century. It was syntactically changed since then to match with British Empire syntax in the 18th to 19th centuries. As such they share an Indian heritage merged with British English.

The use of the 'ally' instead of 'ali' at the end is an adaptation given to the Indian worker immigrants (rice and vegetable farmers, sugarcane crop harvesters). At the time, upon leaving their native Indian soil they where transferred to a variety of British Colonies such as Mauritius in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Pre-18th century it would have originally been more commonplace to be Mohamed Ali instead.

The use of the 'y' in particular stems from English derived editing of new naturalization processing, particularly of birth and land ownership certificates upon receivership of the workers at the then British-owned ports. Similar Mauritian based names include Noordally, Akbarally and Hossenally to name a few, which several generations later is still in use globally today.