Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic نادر
Meaning: “opposite.”
(NAH-deer)
The name is derived from the Arabic meaning, “opposite.” It is a term found in astrology, astronomy and topography referring to the point opposite the zenith.
As of 2009, Nadir was the 377th most popular male name in France.
A feminine form is Nadira.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic صبريّ
Meaning: “patient.”
(SAH-bree)
The name comes directly from the Arabic meaning, “patient.”
As of 2009, Sabri was the 397th most popular male name in France.
Feminine forms are Sabriyya and Sabriye (Turkish).
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic نبيل
Meaning: “noble”
(NAH-BEEL)
The name comes from the Arabic meaning, “noble”, and is popular among Christians, Muslims and even Baha’i.
It was borne by a an early Christian saint and martyr, a king of Mauretania, who was martyred under his brother Gildon, who took the side of the Pagan Romans.
It was also borne by Nabíl-i-Akbar (1829-1892), one of the 19 Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh and the Great Nabíl (1831–1892), a renowned Bahai historian.
As of 2009, Nabil was the 399th most popular male name in France.
A Berber form is Navil and a feminine form is Nabila.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic سعيد
Meaning: “happy.”
(sah-EED)
The name comes directly from the Arabic meaning, “happy.”
As of 2009, Said was the 459th most popular male name in France.
Other forms of the name include:
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic إدريس or Welsh
Welsh Meaning: “ardent lord.”
Arabic Meaning: uncertain
Idris is of two different origins and is used in two separate cultures. In Welsh, it is composed of the elements, udd (lord; prince) and ris (ardent, enthusiastic.” In Welsh mythology it was borne by a giant who used the mountain peak of Cadair Idris (Seat of Idris) as an observatory. Legends claims that if you spend one night on the mountain peak you wake up either as a madmen or as a great poet. The name was also borne by a 7th-century Welsh prince, Idris ap Gwyddno.
In the Qu’ran, the name is borne by a prophet, traditionally ascribed to being the same as the Biblical prophet Enoch. Many modern Islamic scholars now believe that Idris was a separate person from Enoch. In this case, the name is believed to be of pre-Islamic and possibly of non-Arabic roots of undeterminate etymology, some, however have connected the name with the Arabic root d-r-s, meaning, “study.”
As of 2009, Idris was the 479th most popular male name in France. In France it is used both among the Bretons and among recent Muslim immigrants.
Other forms of the Arabic include:
The name has several different origins and meanings. Its usage as a name in Britain skyrocketed around 1854, after the victorious Battle of Alma, which took place near the Alma River in the Crimea.
In this case, the name is derived from the Tatar word for, “apple.” It is interesting to note that Alma, till this day, is a traditional and common female name across Central Asia, especially among Russian-Tatars, Kazakhs and Uzbeks. In Uzbek, it appears in the form of Olma. Alma is also the word for apple in Hungarian, where it is also occasionally used as a female given name.
The name also appears in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen as the name of a minor character, the head of the House of Temperance in Book 2. In this case, the name is most likely taken from the Portuguese and Spanish word for “soul.”
Alma appears sparingly as a female given name in Renaissance Italy, in this case, it is most likely derived from the Latin, almus, meaning, “nourishing”; hence the term, alma mater (fostering mother). This usage of the name also appears as an epithet for a few Roman goddess, particularly Venus and Ceres.
It is the name of a book in The Book of Mormon, but in this case, it is masculine, being the name of two prophets, a father and son; Alma the Younger being the Chief Judge among the Nephites.
Other etymologies which have been suggested, include:
The name is used in virtually every European country, including Scandinavia, where it is currently very trendy.
As of 2010, Alma was the 8th most popular female in the Faroe Islands. Her rankings in other countries are as follows:
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: “life.”
Eng (EEV); (EE-vuh); Germ/Sp/Pol (EV-ah)
The name is borne in the Bible and in the Quran by the first woman created by God. She and her husband were expelled from the Garden of Eden after eating from the Tree of Knowledge.
The name is believed to be derived from the Hebrew roots חַוָּה, Ḥavvāh, from the Hebrew root ḥāyâ meaning “life” and the Semitic element, ḥyw “to live.” Both the Hebrew word chavah meaning “to live” and chayah meaning “to breath” share the same root.
Despite Eve’s fall from Grace in the Bible, the name was always in usage among Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. In England, its usage can be traced back to the 12th-century. Its Latinate form of Eva, has always been a classic in continental Europe, especially in Germany, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
As of 2010, Eva was the most popular female name in the Faroe Islanda and in Slovenia. Eve, Eva and all her various forms’ rankings in other countries are as follows:
Other forms of the name include:
Italian masculine form is Evo.
Traditionally, in most European countries, the name-day for Adam and Eve is December 24.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic فارس
Meaning: “knight.”
The name comes directly from the Arabic word فارس (faris) meaning, “knight.”
As of 2018, Faris was the 24th Most Popular Male Name in Bosnia & Herzegovina. It peaked at #8 in 2010.
Its Maghrebi form of Farès appeared in the French Top 500, coming in as the 469th most popular male name in France (2018).
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic عمّار
Meaning: “pious; virtuous.”
The name is from the Arabic meaning, “pious; virtuous.”
It was borne by Ammar ibn Yasir al-Ansi, a desciple of the Prophet Mohammed.
As of 2010, its Bosnian form of Amar was the most popular male name in Bosnia & Herzegovina. His rankings in other countries are as follows:
Other forms of the name include:
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic طارق
Meaning: “morning star; messenger; the knocking one; traveller, path finder.”
طارق
The name is of Arabic origins and can have several different interpretations, one is that it is from the Arabic verb ṭaraqa meaning “to knock” or “to pound.” In this case, the name would take on the meaning of “messenger” or “bringer of news.”
In the Qu’ran, the morning star is named ṭāriq and is described as something that shines and leads the way and in this case, the name can take on the meaning of “someone who leads the way” “traveller” or “pathfinder.”
As of 2010, Tarik was the 2nd most popular male name in Bosnia & Herzegovina, while Tareq is the 8th most popular male name in Libya.
The name was most notably borne by Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Islamic general who helped conquer Spain in the 8th-century.
The name is used by both Muslim and Christian Arabs.
Other forms of the name include:
The name is also transliterated as Tareq and Tareeq.