Shair, Shaira

Shair (pronounced SHAH-eer) is a masculine name from the Arabic شاعر؛ meaning, “poet.”

It is the name of the oldest Urdu-language literary magazine (circ. 1930).

Among Pakistani families, both its feminine and masculine form may be used in honour of Shair-e-Mashriq (nee Muhammed Iqbal (1877-1938), known as Allama Iqbal, a British Indian poet who was known to have inspired the Pakistani Movement.

Its feminine form of Shaira (pronounced SHY-rah) also exists and has become widespread in Latin America and the Philippines since the 1980s. It is borne by Filipina photographer, Shaira Luna (b. 1986) and Filipina actress Shaira Diaz (b. 1995).

Sources

• https://www.almaany.com/en/dict/ar-en/poet/
• https://www.behindthename.com/name/shair/submitted
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shair
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Iqbal