A large number of date cultivars and varieties emerged through history of its cultivation, but the exact number is difficult to assess.
Hussain and El-Zeid[1] (1975) have reported 400 varieties, while Nixon[2] (1954) named around 250.
Most of those are limited to a particular region, and only a few dozen have attained broader commercial importance.
The most renowned cultivars worldwide include Deglet Noor, originally of Algeria; Zahidi and Hallawi of Iraq; Medjool of Morocco; Mazafati of Iran.
[3] Most of the information in the following list is from Date Palm Genetic Resources and Utilization by Al-Khayri et al.