Category Archives: Turkmen Names

Safiyya

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic صفيّة
Meaning: “pure.”
(sah-FEE-yah)

The name is derived from the Arabic word, saf صاف (pure).

The name was borne by Safiyya Bint Huyayy, a Jewish-Bedouin woman who converted to Islam and became one of the Prophet Mohammed’s wives. It was also borne by Safiyya bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib, a Sahaba of Mohammed.

As of 2010, its Maghrebin form of Safia was the 293rd most popular female name in France. Her variant forms appear throughout the French top 500; their rankings are as follows:

  • # 297 (Safa)
  • # 466 (Safiya)
Safiyyah was the 10th most popular female name in Malaysia (2011)

Other forms of Safiya include:

  • Safija Сафия (Albanian/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian)
  • Safia (Algerian/Berber/Moroccan/Tunisian)
  • Safa (Arabic)
  • Saffiya (Arabic)
  • Safiye (Azeri/Kurdish/Turkish)
  • Shafiyah (Indonesian)
  • Safiyyah (Malaysian)
  • Safiya صفیه (Persian)

Sufian

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic
Meaning: debated
(SOOF-yahn)

The name could either be derived from the Arabic ṣafā (صَفا) meaning, “pure” or the Arabic,    ṣūf (صُوف), meaning, “wool.”

The name was borne by Abu Sufyan, originally a staunch opponent to the Prophet Mohammed, he later became a devout Muslim. It was also borne by Sufyan ath-Thawri ibn Said (716–778), a notable Islamic scholar who is credited for putting together many of the hadiths.

A modern notable bearer is American musician, Sufjan Stevens (b.1975).

As of 2010, its Maghrebin form of Sofiane was the 106th most popular male name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Sufyan (Albanian/Arabic)
  • Sofiane (Algerian/Moroccan/Tunisian)
  • Sufian (Arabic/Persian)
  • Süfyan (Azeri/Kurdish/Turkish)
  • Sufjan Суфьян (Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian)
  • Sufyaan (Somalian)

Sakina

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic  سكينة Сакина
Meaning: “calm; peace; tranquility.”
(sah-KEE-nah)

The term sakina is derived from the Arabic, sukun, meaning, (calm; tranquility; serenity; peace of mind). The term appears in the Qu’ran as the name of an attribute that fell upon Mohammed and his followers from Allah when they entered Mecca unarmed.

Sakina shares the same etymological root with the Hebrew abstract feminine noun, shekinah שכינה‎, which means “dwelling; settling” but in Judaism is used to describe the presence of God in the world.

In Arabic Sakina appears in various forms such as Sukina and Sukayna.

The name was borne by the daughter of Hussein and the great-granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed, Sukayna bint Hussein. She is revered as a great saint among Shi’a Muslims, known in her life time for her devotion, piety and charity, she was the favorite daughter of Hussein.

As of 2010, Sakina was the 444th most popular female name in France while its Maghrebin form of Soukaina came in lower at # 487.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Soukaina (Algerian/Moroccan/Tunisian)
  • Sukaina/Sukayna (Arabic)
  • Sukina (Arabic)

Samia

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic سامية
Meaning: “elevated; high; lofty.”
(sah-MEE-ah)

Actress and comedienne, Kathy Najimy bestowed this Arabic beauty upon her daughter (named in honour of Kathy’s Lebanese-born mother). Samia is a feminine form of Sami, and is used throughout the Islamic world, though Samia itself is used equally among Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians and Jews.

As of 2009, Samia was the 392nd most popular female name in France. Her variant spellings of Samiya just entered the U.S. top 1000, coming in as the 959th most popular female name in the United States (2011), while Samiyah ranked in slightly higher, being the 793rd most popular female name.

An Eastern European and Central Asian form is Samija.

Maimouna

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic ميمونه میمونه
Meaning: “auspicious.”
(may-MOO-nah)

 

The name is derived from the Arabic ميمون, (meymewn) meaning, “auspicious.”

This was the name of one of the wives of the Prophet Mohammed. Maimouna bint al-Harith (594-674).

Maimouna appears under several different transliterations. In the Maghreb, it is often transliterated to Maïmouna (the French spelling).

As of 2009, Maïmouna was the 404th most popular female name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Mejmuna Меймуна (Albanian/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian)
  • Meymune (Azeri/Kurdish/Turkish)
It is also sometimes transliterated as Maymouna, Meymouna or Maimuna.

Walid

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic
Meaning: “newborn.”
(WAH-leed)

The name is derived the Arabic ولد (walada), “to give birth.”

It is primarily used in honour of Al-Walid I (668 – 715) and Ummayid Caliph who had ruled in the early 700s. He is known for instituting Arabic as the official language across the Islamic World and his conquer of Spain.

As of 2009, Walid was the 163rd most popular male name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Velid (Albanian/Azeri/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian/Turkish)

Naim

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The name could be from the Hebrew נעים‎ meaning, (pleasant) or the Arabic نعیم‎ (tranquil).

As of 2009, Naïm (Maghrebin orthograph) was the 182nd most popular male name in France.

A feminine form is Naima.

Sami

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic سامي
Meaning: “high; elevated; supreme.”
(SAH-mee)

The name is derived from the Arabic meaning, “high; elevated; supreme.”

However, it could also be a Finnish short form of Samuel. In Finland, it has often been used as an independent given name and in recent years is most likely used in reference to the language and ethnic group which is found in Finland, Norway and Russia, perhaps among people of Sami heritage. Sami is also the name of a lake in Finland.

As of 2009, Sami was the 183rd most popular male name in France while in 2010 he came in as the 193rd most popular male name in the Netherlands.

A feminine form of the Arabic is Samia.

Karim

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic  كريم Карим
Meaning: “noble; generous.”
(KAH-REEM)

The name comes directly from the Arabic word for, “noble; generous.” In Islam, Karim is one of the 99 designations of Allah and is used to describe the Qu’ran (Al-Qur’an Al-Karim), literally meaning “the Noble Qu’ran.”

The name is used throughout the Islamic world, but is also used among Middle Eastern Christians.

The name has been occasionally used in Latin America, in Brazil, it seems to be a Portugized spelling for the Scandinavian female name Karin, but in this case it is pronounced (kah-REEN).

The name has numerous famous bearers.

As of 2009, Karim was the 260th most popular male name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Kerim (Azeri/Turkish)
It is sometimes transliterated as Kareem. Feminine forms are Karima, Kerime (Turkish) or Kareema.

Adel, Adil

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic عادل
Meaning: “just; fair.”

The name is derived from the Arabic adjective,  عدل  (adala), meaning, “just.”

The name is used throughout the Islamic world, though, the it is also used among Middle Eastern Christians.

As of 2009, Adel was the 285th most popular male name while Adil was the 378th most popular.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Adel پور (Algerian/Arabic/Coptic/Egyptian/Ethiopian/Kurdish/Lebanese/Persian/Sudanese/Syrian/Tunisian/Uyghur)
  • Adil Адиль
  • (Albanian/Azeri/Bangali/Baloch/Bashkir/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Chechen/Circassian/Dagestani/Kazakh/Moroccan/Ossetian/Pakistani/Tatar/Turkish/Turkmen/Uzbek)
  • Jedil/Yedil Эдил (Kyrgyz)

A feminine form is Adila (Arabic) and Adile (Turkish)