Arabic Names

Waheeda وحيدة f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic وحيدة (see Wahida).

Wahid وحيد m Arabic
Means "peerless, unique" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition الوحيد (al-Wahid) is one of the 99 names of Allah.

Wahida وحيدة f Arabic
Feminine form of Wahid.

Wail وائل m Arabic
Possibly means "refuge, shelter" in Arabic.

Waleed وليد m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic وليد (see Walid).

Walid وليد m Arabic
Means "newborn", derived from Arabic ولد (walada) meaning "to give birth". This was the name of the Umayyad caliph who conquered Spain in the 8th century.

Waqar وقار m Arabic
Means "majesty, dignity" in Arabic.

Warda وردة f Arabic
Means "rose" in Arabic, ultimately a borrowing from an Iranian language.

Wardah وردة f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic وردة (see Warda).

Wasi واسع m Arabic
Means "broad-minded, liberal, learned" in Arabic.

Wasim وسيم m Arabic
Means "handsome" in Arabic.

Wassim وسيم m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic وسيم (see Wasim).

Wedad وداد f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic وداد (see Widad).

Widad وداد f Arabic
Means "love" in Arabic.

Yacoub يعقوب m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic يعقوب (see Yaqub).

Yahya يحيى m Arabic, Turkish, Persian
Arabic, Turkish and Persian form of Yochanan (see John). This name honours John the Baptist, a prophet in Islam.

Yakub يعقوب m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic يعقوب (see Yaqub).

Yaqoob يعقوب m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic يعقوب (see Yaqub).

Yaqub يعقوب m Arabic
Arabic form of Ya'aqov (see Jacob).

Yara 1 يارا f Arabic
From Persian یار (yar) meaning "friend, helper".

Yaser ياسر m Persian, Turkish, Arabic
Persian and Turkish form of Yasir, as well as an alternate transcription of the Arabic name.

Yasin ياسين m Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish
From the Arabic letters ي (called ya) and س (called sin). These letters begin the 36th chapter of the Quran (surah Ya Sin).

Yasir ياسر m Arabic, Urdu
Means "to be rich", derived from Arabic يسر (yasira) meaning "to become easy". This was the name of an early Islamic martyr. It was also borne by Yasir Arafat (1929-2004), a leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Yasmeen ياسمين f Arabic, Urdu
Alternate transcription of Arabic ياسمين or Urdu یاسمین (see Yasmin).

Yasmin ياسمين f Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, English (Modern), Spanish (Modern), Portuguese (Modern)
Means "jasmine" in Arabic and Hebrew, derived from Persian یاسمین (yasamin). In modern times it has been used in the western world, as an Arabic-influenced variant of Jasmine.

Yasmina ياسمينة f Arabic, Spanish (Modern), French (Modern)
Variant of Yasmin.

Yasmine ياسمين f Arabic, French (Modern), English (Modern)
Alternate transcription of Arabic ياسمين (see Yasmin).

Yasser ياسر m Arabic, Persian
Alternate transcription of Arabic ياسر (see Yasir) or Persian یاسر (see Yaser).

Youcef يوسف m Arabic (Maghrebi)
Alternate transcription of Arabic يوسف (see Yusuf) chiefly used in Algeria.

Younes يونس m Arabic (Maghrebi), Persian
Northern African and Persian form of Yunus.

Yousef يوسف m Persian, Arabic
Persian form of Yusuf, as well as an alternate Arabic transcription.

Youssef يوسف m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic يوسف (see Yusuf).

Yuhanna يوحنّا m Arabic
Arabic form of Greek Ioannes (see John).

Yunus يونس m Arabic, Turkish
Arabic and Turkish form of Jonah.

Yusef يوسف m Persian, Arabic
Alternate transcription of Persian یوسف (see Yousef) or Arabic يوسف (see Yusuf).

Yusha يوشع m Arabic
Arabic form of Yehoshu'a (see Joshua).

Yusra يسرى f Arabic
Means "wealth, ease" in Arabic.

Yusuf يوسف m Arabic, Turkish, Indonesian
Arabic, Turkish and Indonesian form of Yosef (see Joseph).

Zaahir 1 زاهر m Arabic
Derived from Arabic زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine, to radiate".

Zaahir 2 ظاهر m Arabic
Derived from Arabic ظهر (zahara) meaning "clear, evident, manifest, outward". In Islamic tradition الظاهر (al-Zahir) is one of the 99 names of Allah.

Zaahira زاهرة f Arabic
Feminine form of Zaahir 1.

Zafar ظفر m Arabic, Urdu
Means "victory" in Arabic.

Zaheer ظهير, زاهر, ظاهر m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic ظهير or زاهر or ظاهر (see Zahir).

Zaher ظاهر m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic ظاهر (see Zaahir 2).

Zahi زاهي m Arabic
Means "beautiful, brilliant" in Arabic.

Zahia زاهية f Arabic
Feminine form of Zahi.

Zahid زاهد m Arabic, Urdu
Means "pious, devout" in Arabic.

Zahida زاهدة f Arabic, Urdu
Feminine form of Zahid.

Zahir ظهير, زاهر, ظاهر m Arabic, Persian, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali
Derived from Arabic ظهير (zahir) meaning "helper, supporter". This can also be an alternate transcription of Arabic زاهر (see Zaahir 1) or ظاهر (see Zaahir 2).

Zahira ظهيرة, زاهرة f Arabic
Feminine form of Zahir, as well as an alternate transcription of Arabic زاهرة (see Zaahira).

Zahra زهراء f Arabic, Persian
Means "brilliant, bright" in Arabic. This is an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah.

Zahrah زهرة f Arabic
Derived from Arabic زهرة (zahrah) meaning "blooming flower".

Zaid زيد m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زيد (see Zayd).

Zaida زيدة f Arabic (Rare), Spanish
Feminine form of Zayd. This was the name of a Muslim princess who took refuge at the court of (and perhaps married) Alfonso VI of León and Castile in the 11th century.

Zain زين m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زين (see Zayn).

Zaina زينة f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زينة (see Zayna).

Zainab زينب f Arabic, Urdu
Alternate transcription of Arabic زينب (see Zaynab), as well as the usual Urdu transcription.

Zainuddin زين الدين m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زين الدين (see Zayn ad-Din).

Zakaria زَكَرِيّا m Georgian, Malay, Indonesian, Arabic
Georgian, Malay and Indonesian form of Zechariah, as well as an alternate transcription of Arabic زَكَرِيّا (see Zakariyya).

Zakariya زَكَرِيّا m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زَكَرِيّا (see Zakariyya).

Zakariyya زَكَرِيّا m Arabic
Arabic form of Zechariah.

Zaki زكيّ m Arabic
Means "pure" in Arabic.

Zakiah زكيّة f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زكيّة (see Zakiyya).

Zakiya زكيّة f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زكيّة (see Zakiyya).

Zakiyya زكيّة f Arabic
Feminine form of Zaki.

Zaman زمان m Arabic, Urdu
Means "time, age, era" in Arabic.

Zawar زوار m Arabic, Urdu
Means "pilgrim, visitor" in Arabic.

Zayd زيد m Arabic
Derived from Arabic زاد (zada) meaning "to increase". This was the name of a slave who became the adopted son of the Prophet Muhammad.

Zayn زين m Arabic
Means "beauty, grace" in Arabic. It is borne by the British singer Zayn Malik (1993-), formerly a member of the band One Direction. The name gained popularity in America and parts of Europe after One Direction became well-known in 2011.

Zayna زينة f Arabic
Feminine form of Zayn.

Zaynab زينب f Arabic
Meaning uncertain. It is possibly related to Arabic زين (zayn) meaning "beauty"; it could be from the name of a fragrant flowering tree; or it could be an Arabic form of Zenobia, a name borne by a pre-Islamic queen of Palmyra. Zaynab was the name of a daughter, a granddaughter, and two wives of the Prophet Muhammad.

Zayn ad-Din زين الدين m Arabic
Means "beauty of religion", from Arabic زين (zayn) meaning "beauty" combined with دين (din) meaning "religion, faith".

Zia ضياء m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic ضياء (see Ziya).

Ziad زياد m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زياد (see Ziyad).

Ziauddin ضياء الدين m Arabic, Urdu
Alternate transcription of Arabic ضياء الدين (see Ziya ad-Din), as well as the usual Urdu transcription.

Zinedine زين الدين m Arabic (Maghrebi)
Alternate transcription of Arabic زين الدين (see Zayn ad-Din) chiefly used in Northern Africa. A famous bearer is the French soccer player Zinedine Zidane (1972-), who was born to Algerian parents.

Ziya ضياء m Arabic, Turkish
Derived from Arabic ضياء (diya) meaning "splendour, light, glow". This was the name of a 14th-century Islamic Indian historian.

Ziya ad-Din ضياء الدين m Arabic
Means "splendour of religion" from Arabic ضياء (diya) meaning "splendour, light, glow" combined with دين (din) meaning "religion, faith".

Ziya al-Din ضياء الدين m Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic ضياء الدين (see Ziya ad-Din).

Ziyad زياد m Arabic
Means "growth" in Arabic.

Ziya ur-Rahman ضياء الرحمٰن m Arabic
Means "splendour of the merciful" from Arabic ضياء (diya) meaning "splendour, light, glow" combined with رحمن (rahman) meaning "merciful".

Zoubida زبيدة f Arabic (Maghrebi)
Form of Zubaida chiefly used in Northern Africa (using French-influenced orthography).

Zubaida زبيدة f Arabic, Urdu
Means "elite, prime, cream" in Arabic. This was the name of a 9th-century wife of Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph featured in the stories of The 1001 Nights.

Zubair زبير m Arabic, Urdu
Derived from Arabic زبر (zubar) meaning "iron". Zubair ibn al-Awwam was a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and an early Muslim military commander.

Zulaykha زليخا f Arabic (Rare)
Arabic form of Zuleika.

Zulekha زليخا f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زليخا (see Zulaykha).

Zulfaqar ذو الفقار m Arabic, Urdu
Variant of Zulfiqar.

Zulfikar ذو الفقار m Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian
Alternate transcription of Arabic/Urdu ذو الفقار (see Zulfiqar), as well as the Indonesian form.

Zulfiqar ذو الفقار m Arabic, Urdu
From Arabic ذو الفقار (Dhu al-Faqar) interpreted as meaning "cleaver of the spine", derived from ذو (dhu) meaning "possessor, holder" and فقار (faqar) meaning "spine, vertebra". This was the name of the Prophet Muhammad's sword, also used by his son-in-law Ali.