Latif, Latifa

• Origin: Arabic لَطِيْف
• Meaning: “gentle; kind; benevolent.”

Latif is a masculine given-name which comes directly from the Arabic word لَطِيف (gentle; kind; benevolent). In Islam, Al-Latif لطيف, (the Kind; the Benevolent) is one of the 99 names of Allah (God). It’s feminine form is Latifa.

Latif & Latifa are commonly used throughout the Islamic world.

A notable American bearer is actress & singer, Queen Latifah.

Other forms include:

• Latıif (m), Latıifa (f) (Avar)
• Lətif (m), Lətife (f) (Azeri)
• Latheef, Latheefa (Dhivehi)
• Latifah (f) (Indonesian, Malaysian)
• Letîf (m), Letîfe (f) (Kurdish)
• Lәtyjif (m), Lәtyjifә (f) (Tatar)
• Letife (f) (Turkish)
• Lateef لطیف, Lateefa(h) (Urdu)

Sources

• https://quranicnames.com/lateef/
• https://www.almaany.com/en/dict/ar-en/latif/
• https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Latif
• https://web.archive.org/web/20130622073803/http://www.sudairy.com/arabic/fem.html#L
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Lateef
• https://tt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatar_isemn%C3%A4re