Safin, Safana, Safina

Safin سَفِين is an Arabic male name that derives from the Arabic root, S-F-N س ف ن meaning, “ship.” Safin itself is the plural form and therefore means “ships.” The singular form of Safina سَفِينة (ship) is used as a female given-name. Another feminine form, which is Safana سَفّانة, literally meaning “boatwright” in modern Arabic derives from the same root but may have had a connotation of a precious gem or pearl in old Arabic and was also used as a term of endearment for a daughter.

The name is used in reference to “سفينة نوح” (safinat Nuh), which is Arabic for Noah’s ark.

Other forms include: Safeen (masculine), Saffanah (feminine), Safanah (feminine) & Safinah (feminine).

A Tatar form is Сәфинә” (Säfinä).

Safina is used throughout the Islamic world.

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Dárasími, Ọlúwadárasími

  • Origin: Yoruba
  • Meaning: “good to me; the Lord is good to me.”
  • Gender: unisex
  • Pronunciation: DAH-rah-SEE-mee

Dárasími is from the Yoruba phrase, dára-sí-mi (good to me), there is also Ọlúwadárasími, which means “the Lord is good to me.”

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Ajani

  • Origin: Yoruba
  • Meaning: “one whom we fought to have.”
  • Gender: unisex
  • Pronunciation: AH-JAH-NEE

The name is a Yoruba unisex name which is usually given to a child where the parents were having a hard time having children or a child who was in a high risk pregnancy. It is from the Yoruba phrase, à-jà-ní (the one we fought for, or the one whom we fought to have).

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Ramz, Ramzi, Ramza, Ramzia

  • Origin: Arabic
  • Meaning: “code, sign, mark.”

Ramiz رامز , Ramz رَمْز & Ramzi رمزي are Arabic masculine names which come directly from the Arabic word (ramz) رَمْز , meaning, “code, sign, mark, symbol, gesture.” It is ultimately derived from R-M-Z root in Arabic.

Ramzi appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 Most popular male names between 1973-1990 and peaked at #320 in 1982. It’s usage in the United States may have been influenced by immigrant groups who use the name (Southeastern European Muslims, Arab immigrants & Southeastern Asian Muslims immigrants), mixed with Anglophone parents who were probably using it as an alternate spelling for the English surname/place-name, Ramsey, which means “wild garlic island.” It should also be noted that during this time period, the use of Arabic names became especially popular among African-Americans.

The name is sometimes transliteration as Ramzy and I suppose in the English-speaking world it could also be transliterated as Ramsey.

The feminine forms are Ramza and Ramzia, spelled Ramziya Рәмзия in Central Asian & Turkic languages (Bashkir, Chechen, Tatar).

Other forms include:

Male

  • Remzi Ремзи (Albanian, Bosnian, Crimean Tatar, Turkish)

Female

  • Remzije (Albanian, Bosnian)
  • Remziye (Turkish)

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Ẹ̀bùnolúwa

  • Origin: Yoruba
  • Meaning: “the Lord’s gift.”
  • Gender: feminine
  • E-boo-noo-LOO-wah

The name is composed of the Yoruba words ẹbùn (gift) and olúwa (the Lord).

Other forms are Ẹ̀bùn & Ẹ̀bùnolú.

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Duha

  • Origin: Arabic ضحى
  • Meaning: “forenoon.”
  • Gender: unisex
  • DOO-hah

The name comes directly from the Arabic word for forenoon or late morning. In Islam, it is used in reference to Salat ad-Duha صَلَاة الضحى‎‎, a voluntary prayer that is said between Fajr and Dhuhr and is used mainly for the atonement of sins.

It is also the name of the 93rd chapter in the Qu’ran, al-Ḍuḥā الضحى‎, (the Morning).

As a given-name, it is traditionally unisex, but has been more often bestowed on females.

Other forms include:

  • Duha Духа (Albanian, Arabic (standard), Bashkir, Bosnian, Chechen, Kazakh, Kurdish, Turkish)
  • Zuha ज़ुहा (Azeri, Hindi)
  • Doha, Dohaa للال چاشت (Bengali, Urdu)
  • Dhuha (Javanese, Malaysian)
  • Zoha ضحی (Persian)
  • Zuho Зуҳо (Tajik, Uzbek)

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Akin

Akin is from the Yoruba word meaning “brave,” and is primarily used on males. It is a common element in many Yoruba male names.

When spelled Akın, it is a Turkish male name, which comes directly from the Turkish word for “raid.”

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