Baig Baig , also commonly spelled Beg , Begg or Begh ( Persian بیگ , Turkish " Beg / Bey " ) was a title of Turko - Mongol Origin , which is today used as a surname or middle name to identify lineage . It means " Chief " or " Commander " and is common in Pakistan , India , Afghanistan , Iran , Central Asia and Eastern Europe ( former Yugoslav ) and among their respective diaspora . The spellings Beg ' da ' , Beg , Bey , Bek ( Turkish ) , Begzada , Begzadi ( Persian ) and Bik ( Western China ) are also found . Etymology and history . The name Baig originates from a Turkic - Mongal clan called Barlas ( the main tribe of the Timurids ) . The Barlas tribe and their descendants established Turko - Persian empires in Central Asia , Eastern Europe , Middle East and later South Asia . The name Baig is derived from the Turkic word Beg or Bey , which means commander or chief ( i . e . military leader . ) Baig / Beg was a title given to honorary members of the Barlas clan , and was subsequently used as the family name for their children . The name is most common among the descendants of the Moghal Dynasty of South Asia . The members of the Moghal Dynasty belonged to the Barlas clan and " Baigs " were high - ranking military leaders and advisors to the Moghal Royal Families . They were also granted the Princely title of Mirza , to signify their high ranking among the aristocracy and ruling class . Baigs occupied the upper echelons of society in the conquered parts of South Asia . This title implies that he was relative to khan dynasty ruling in Mongol Empire . Beg was also subsequently used as a military rank in the Ottoman Empire . It was also used during the Qing Dynasty in China . When the Qing Dynasty ruled Xinjiang , it permitted the Turkic Begs to maintain their previous status , and they administered the province for the Qing as officials . High - ranking Begs were allowed to wear the Queue . Use as a name . For the Moghal use , the honorific title Mirza ( ) was added before the given name for all the males and ' Baig ' ( ) for the males or Begum ( ) for the females , was added as a family name . For example : Mirza Mansur Baig or Noor Begum . This was the historical naming convention for the descendants of the Moghal Dynasty . Today , however , it is not uncommon to see descendants of the Moghals use Baig as a middle name and Mirza as the surname or vice versa . For example : Mansur Baig Mirza or Mansur Mirza Baig or some very rare cases are like Baig Mughal , e . g . Arif Baig Mughal . For the Slavic or Bosniak use , it is common to see the name Beg added to the Slavic suffix of ' ovic ' , ' ovich ' , which roughly means ' descendant of ' . While the title " Beg " is not in use in Bosnia anymore , track of families of " Beg " descent is kept . But a surname containing " - begović " suffix in itself is not a clear indicator of descent . For example there is a number of " Begović " families , some are of noble descent , some not . " Idrizbegović " would be another example of non - noble family with the suffix . Some examples of " beg " families are : Šahbegović , Rizvanbegović , Šačirbegović . On the other hand , " Kukavica " is an example of a famous " beg " family , not containing the title in itself . The book by Enver Imamović " Porijeklo i pripadnost stanovništva Bosne i Hercegovine " details the origin of a big number of families in Bosnia and Herzegovina . For the Persian use , it is common to see the name Beg added to the Persian suffix of ' zada ' ( male ) , ' zadi ' ( female ) , which means ' son of ' or ' daughter of ' . For Example : Mansur Begzada or Noor Begzadi . For the Turkish use , it is most common to see the spelling Beg or Bey utilized . ( Sometimes , it is used along with the title " Mirza " , similar to the Moghal usage ) . There are various other alternative spellings used today as well , such as : Begg , Beigh , Beyg , Bayg , Bek , Bik .