Category Archives: Tajik Names

Naila

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic نائلة
Meaning: “attainer.”

The name is derived from the Arabic male name, Nail, which comes directly from the Arabic word for “attainer.”

The name was borne by the wife of Caliph Uthman I, an Iraqi Christian convert, who tried to defend her husband while a mob was killing him and in the process, ended up getting her fingers cut off.

It is also the name of a town in Bavaria.

As of 2010, its Bosnian form of Najla was the 70th most popular female name in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Another Bosnian form is Naijla.

A Bosnian diminutive form is Naja (NYE-yah)

 

Imad

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic  عماد
Meaning: “pillar; support.”
(EE-MAHD)

The name is from the Arabic meaning, “pillar; support.”

As of 2010, Imad was the 95th most popular male name in Bosnia & Herzegovina, while in France, he was the 470th most popular male name, (2009).

A variant transliteration is Emad.

 

Samad

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic  صمد
Meaning: “eternal.”

The name is derived from the Arabic Aṣ-Ṣamad (the eternal), one of the names of God.

Its Bosnian form of Samed is the 93rd most popular male name in Bosnia & Herzegovina, (2010).

The name was borne by Azeri-Russian General, Samad bey Mehmandarov (1855-1931) and Azeri poet, Samad Vurgun (1906-1956)

Other forms of the name include:

  • Samed (Albanian/Bosnian)
  • Səməd (Azeri)
  • Semed (Kurdish/Turkish)

Samad is used throughout the Islamic world.

Amil

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic
Meaning: “worker.”
(AH-MEEL)

The name is derived from the Arabic  اّجير (al’emal) meaning, “worker.” The name shares the same etymology with the Biblical Hebrew male name, Amal.

As of 2010, Amil was the 98th most popular male name in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Feminine form is Amila, which is the 12th most popular female name in Bosnia & Herzegovina, (2010).

Malik

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic ملك
Meaning: “king.”
(MAH-LEEK)

The name is derived from the Arabic word ملك (malik) meaning, “king, chieftain.”

The same word appears in several Semitic languages, including Hebrew, in the form of Melek מֶלֶך. In the Old Testament, Melech is the name of a son of Micah.

In the Arabic-speaking world, this is the general term used to refer to a king or chieftain. It also a common male name among both Muslims and Middle Eastern Christians, usually used in reference to the term Al-Malik which means, “the king” an epithet for God among both Muslims and Christians.

The word also appears in the Armenian language in the form of Melik Մելիկ, which is also used a masculine given name, often shortened to Melo.

As of 2010, Malik was the 99th most popular male name in Bosnia & Herzegovina, (2010). His rankings in other countries are as follows:

  • # 283 (United States, 2010)
  • # 296 (France, 2009)

A feminine form is Malika.

Hasan

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic  حسن 
Meaning: “the handsome; the good.”

The name is derived from the Arabic noun plus definite article الحسن (al-Ḥasan) literally meaning, “the good, the handsome, the beautiful.”

The name was borne by one of the beloved grandsons of the Prophet Mohammed and the son of Ali.

According to Shia and Sunni sources the Archangel Gabriel commanded the Propheth Mohammed to name his grandson, Hasan, a pre-Islamic name. Hasan eventually went on to succeed his father as the Caliph and eventually retired to Madinah where he was poisoned by one of his wives, (the identity of whom is somewhat debated). He is considered a martyr by both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.

It was the 24th most popular male name in Turkey, (2010) and the 94th most popular in Bosnia & Herzegovina, (2010).

The name is sometimes transliterated as Hassan, especially in the former French colonies, however, this transliteration is actually incorrect as when an extra S is added, the meaning of the name changes, being from the Arabic  حسّان Hassan meaning, “doer of good.”

Other forms of the name include:

  • Hasan Хасан (Albanian/Arabic/Baskkir/Bosnian/Chechen/Dagestani/Kazakh/Kyrgyz/Ossetian/Persian/Tajik/Tatar/Turkmen/Turkish/Ughur/Urdu/Uzbek)
  • Hassan حسن مجتبی (Algerian/Javanese/Malaysian/Moroccan/Persian/Tunisian)
  • Həsən (Azeri)
  • Gasan (Dagastani)
  • Hesan (Kurdish)
  • Alassane (Sub-Saharan African)
  • Lassana (Sub-Saharan African)
  • Hesen (Zazaki)

Anisa

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic  أنيسة
Meaning: “young lady.”
(ah-NEE-sah)

The name is most likely derived from آنسة (anisah), meaning, “young lady.”

Its Bosnian form of Anesa is currently the 75th most popular female name in Bosnia & Herzgovina, (2010).

Rayhana

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic
Meaning: “basil; scented herb; myrtle.”
(ray-HAH-nah)

The name is derived from the Arabic نبات من , (al-rayhan), meaning “basil.” The word itself is derived from the Arabic element,  رائحة (riha) meaning, “odor; fragrance; or myrtle.” This element has entered into several Semitic, Indo-Iranian and Central Asian languages either interchangeably meaning “basil”, “myrtle” or “scented herb.”

Its Arabic form of Rayhana was borne by one of the wives of the Prophet Mohammed. Rayhana was a Jewish woman of dubious origins. Not much is known about her, it is believed that she eventually divorced the prophet and went back to live with her people, other sources suggest that she at first stubbornly refused to convert to Islam but eventually complied.

The word also appears in the Qur’an in Sura Ar-Rahman (the “scented herb” in Ayah no 12) and Sura Al-Waqiah (Ayah no 89).

Its Bosnian form of Rejhana is currently the 91st most popular female name in Bosnia & Herzegovina, (2010) and its Maltese form of Rihanna, which is derived from the Maltese word for the common Myrtle, Riħan, is the 10th most popular female name in Malta, (2010)

Other forms of the name include:

  • Rejhana (Albanian/Bosnian/Chechen/Kyrgyz/Turkmen)
  • Rihana (Amharic)
  • RahanՐահան (Armenian)
  • Rehan Ռեհան (Armenian)
  • ReyhanՐեյհան (Armenian/Azeri/Romani/Turkish)
  • Rihan Րիհան (Armenian)
  • Rhan Րհան (Armenian)
  • Rekhani რეხანი (Georgian)
  • Raihan Раихан (Kazakh/Tatar)
  • Rihanna/Riħanna (Maltese)
  • Reyhaneh (Persian)
  • Ryhona Райхонa (Tajik/Uzbek)
  • Raiha Раиха (Tatar)
  • Raihana Раихана (Tatar)
  • Mrihani (Swahili)
In Arabic, Rayḥān is used as a male name.

Samra

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The name is of a few different etymologies. It could be from the Arabic adjective  امغر (asemr) which means, “tan” or “darkish-skin.” It could also be a variant transliteration of the Arabic female name, Samira.

The name is also a popular Ethiopian female name, its origin may be traced either to the Arabic or it could be an Amharic form of the Biblical city name, Samara.

The name is borne by an Ethiopian Orthodox saint, known as Christos Samra; a yearly festival is held in her honour. Many legends have been attributed to her, one of the most curious being that she went to Hell and asked Satan if he would be willing to reconcile with God. Satan refused to reconcile and held Samra hostage in Hell. Samra was eventually rescued by the Angel Gabriel and in the process, rescued several doomed souls. It is believed that no prayer to her will go unanswered.

Another Ethiopian form is Samrawit, literally meaning, “belonging to Samra.”

As of 2010, Samra 76th most popular female name in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Nadia

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Slavonic/Arabic نديّة
Meaning: see below
(NAHD-yah); (NAH-dee-uh)

Nadia has a touch of class, a mysterious vibe and an exotic appeal. Nadia is also very cross-cultural, she has two different origins and meanings and can easily be used in virtually every country in the world.

First, we have Slavic Nadia, a derivative of the Russian Nadezhda, meaning, “hope.” If that meaning isn’t sweet enough for you, then you might like Nadia’s meaning in Arabic, “delicate; tender; moist.” Though its Arabic version is sometimes transliterated as Nadiyya نديّة, its pronounced exactly the same way as its Slavic homonym.

During the Soviet era of Russia, Nadia was used as a neologism, that is one of the hundreds of Russian given names created during the Russian Revolution to celebrate communistic ideas. In this case, Nadia was suppose to be a formation of nad (above) and ia/ija (era).

Nadia has enjoyed popularity outside of the East. It suddenly became vogue in France in the 19th century, possibly due to the Ballet Russe, where it was later francanized to Nadine. In Germany, it is often rendered as Nadja (NAHD-yah). The name is very popular throughout Eastern Europe.

The name is borne by Nadia Comaneci a famous Romanian Olympic gold gymnast.

Currently, Nadja is the 86th most popular female name in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Her Nadia counterpart’s rankings in other countries are as follows:

  • # 22 (Poland, 2010)
  • # 69 (Catalonia, 2010)
  • # 96 (Spain, 2010)
  • # 240 (Netherlands, 2010)
  • # 247 (United States, 2010)
  • # 444 (France, 2009)

Other forms include:

  • Nadia Надя Ναδια Nადია (Albanian/Bulgarian/Dutch/English/Georgian/German/Greek/Lithuanian/Macedonian/Polish/Romanian/Scandinavian/Spanish)
  • Nadiyya (Arabic: variant transcripted form)
  • NadyaՆադյա (Arabic/Armenian/Persian)
  • Nadiye (Azeri/Kurdish/Turkish)
  • Nadja Надя (Bosnian/Chechen/Circassian/Croatian/Estonian/German/Kazakh/Kyrgyz/Latvian/Serbian/Slovene/Russian/Tatar/Turkmen/Ukrainian)
  • Naďa (Czech/Slovak)
  • Nadine (French/English)
  • Nádja (Hungarian)
  • Nadinka (Hungarian)
  • Nadea (Italian: obscure)
  • Nadiana (Italian: obscure)
  • Nadina (Italian)
  • Nádia (Portuguese)
  • Nodja Нодя (Tajik/Uzbek)

Unusual Italian masculine forms are: Naddo/Naddo, Nadio and Nadino.

Designated name-days are: January 17 (Italy), August 1 (Hungary/Spain), August 18 (Poland), September 30/December 18 (German),