Arabic given names

Meanings, roots, and origins of Arabic given names.

• Mansour

  Passive participle of naṣara — the one granted victory, the aided.

• Maryam

  A female given name of non-Arabic (Hebrew/Aramaic) origin, arabized early; the name of a sura of the Qur'an.

• Mona

  The plural of munya — the things a person wishes for.

• Moudi

  A Najdī name glossed from waḍāʾa, radiance and clarity of face.

• Muhammad

  A male given name from the root ḥ-m-d meaning 'the praised one' or 'worthy of praise'. One of the most widely used names in the world.

• Munira

  From the root n-w-r, 'light' — the one that gives light, active participle of anāra.

• Musa

  A male given name of non-Arabic (Hebrew) origin, arabized early; a homograph of the Arabic word mūsā, 'razor', which is a separate word and not its source.

• Najla

  Wide-eyed — from a root whose other branch means offspring, giving nasl, 'progeny'.

• Nasser

  Active participle of naṣara, 'to help, to give victory' — the one who aids.

• Nawaf

  From n-w-f, 'to rise above, to exceed' — the same root as the female name Nouf.

• Njoud

  The plural of najd, high ground — the same common noun that names the region, not a name taken from it.

• Nouf

  From the root n-w-f, 'to rise above, to exceed' — the summit, the highest point.

• Noura

  A female given name from the root n-w-r meaning 'light, radiance'. Among the most common female names in the Gulf.

• Ohood

  The plural of ʿahd, a covenant — one of the Peninsular female names that are plurals borne by a single person.

• Omar

  A male given name from the root ʿ-m-r, associated with life, long life, and flourishing.

• Othman

  From the root ʿ-th-m. The lexicographers gloss al-ʿuthmān as the young of the bustard, and note plainly that men were named by it — one of the animal names the

• Rashid

  Active participle of rashada — one who follows the right course and judges soundly.

• Reem

  A female given name; in the classical lexica the riʾm is the pure-white antelope, a symbol of beauty in Arabic poetry.

• Ruqayya

  From r-q-y, ascent and elevation. The identical written form, ruqya, is the word for an incantation — the dictionaries record both under the one root.

• Saad

  From s-ʿ-d, good fortune — the opposite of naḥs. One root that yields four distinct names, and a name the genealogists report for more than one separate group c

• Safiyya

  A female given name from the root ṣ-f-w — not 'the clear one' but 'the chosen one', the sense that also produced al-Muṣṭafā and the ṣafiyy, the leader's pick fr

• Saif

  The sword — among the oldest and most direct of Arabic given names.

• Saleh

  Active participle of ṣalaḥa, 'to be sound, upright' — the righteous. Also the name of a prophet named in the Qur'an.

• Salem

  A male given name from the root s-l-m meaning 'safe, sound, unharmed'.

• Salma

  From the root s-l-m, 'safety, soundness' — the feminine of aslam, one who is safe and whole.

• Sara

  A female given name of non-Arabic (Hebrew) origin, arabized early; in tradition, the wife of the prophet Ibrahim.

• Saud

  From the root s-ʿ-d, 'good fortune'. Saʿūd is the plural of saʿd, read as an intensive — abundant good fortune.

• Shaikha

  The feminine of shaykh — an elder, and by extension a woman of rank and standing.

• Shamma

  Understood from al-shamam — loftiness of bearing — and not from shamma, 'to smell', though the two share one root.

• Sulaiman

  A male given name of non-Arabic (Hebrew) origin, arabized early; its shape looks like an Arabic diminutive from s-l-m, but the philologists count it foreign.

• Sultan

  From the root s-l-ṭ, 'power, authority'. A title of rule that became an ordinary given name.

• Sumayya

  A female given name of the earliest Islamic period: a diminutive of samāʾ, from the root s-m-w, height and elevation — and not the same word as samiyya, 'namesa

• Talal

  From the root ṭ-l-l — the fine dew that falls without rain, and by extension a pleasing look.

• Tariq

  The one who knocks at the door by night — and, in classical usage, the bright star that appears then.

• Turki

  Originally a nisba, 'of the Turks', which became an ordinary male given name in Arabia.

• Wafa

  Keeping one's word — the fulfilment of an obligation undertaken.

• Waleed

  From w-l-d, 'to give birth' — the newborn. The same root gives wālid, wilāda and the whole vocabulary of descent.

• Yusuf

  A male given name of non-Arabic (Hebrew) origin, arabized early; the name of a sura of the Qur'an.

• Zaid

  From z-y-d, 'increase' — the grammarians' stock name, and the name whose own story settles how nasab is reckoned.

• Zainab

  A classical female given name; the lexica gloss zaynab as a beautiful, fragrant tree. Borne by a daughter of the Prophet.