The family did not hold a specific surname before 1921, they would normally go by "Hindi", which meant "from India", since their grandfather had migrated from there. However, after the 1921 Persian coup d'état, when Reza Shah passed a law ordering all Iranians to take a surname; Ruhullah chose for himself the surname Khomeini (from Khomeyn), whilst his brother Morteza chose "Pasandideh" (), and Nur al-Din chose Hindi.