Safiyya

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)

Nawal, Nawel

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic نوال
Meaning: “present; gift.”
(nah-WAHL; nah-WEL)

The name is from the Arabic meaning, “gift; present.”

As of 2010, Nawel was the 312th most popular female name in France.

The name is borne by Comorian folk-singer, Nawal.

Wassim

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic  وسیم
Meaning: “handsome.”
(WAH-SEEM)

The name is derived from the Arabic meaning, “handsome.”

As of 2010, Wassim was the 102nd most popular male name in France.

A variation transcription is Wasim.

Feminine form is Wassima.

Sufian

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

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)

Halima

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic حليمة
Meaning: “patient.”
(huh-LEE-muh)

The name is derived from the Arabic, حليم (haliem) meaning, “patient.”

The name was borne by a 6th-century Ghassian princess, (the Ghassians were a group of Hellenized Arabs).

As of 2010, Halima was the 455th most popular female name in France.

As West African form is Halimat.

Masculine form is Halim.

Ibtissam

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic  إبتسام
Meaning: “smile.”

The name comes directly from the Arabic meaning, “to smile.”

As of 2010, its variant form of Ibtissem was the 479th most popular female name in France.

It is also sometimes transliterated as Ibtisam.

Celestine

Gender: Masculine (English); Feminine (French)
Origin: Latin
Meaning: ” of the sky; of the heavens.”
Eng (sel-es-TINE; SEL-es-tin); Fre Masc (say-les-TEN); Fre Fem (say-les-TEEN)

The name is derived from the Late Latin male name, Caelestinus, meaning, “of the sky; of the heavens.”

In English, the name was anglicized to Celestine while in French, Célestine was always strictly the feminine form, the French masculine form being, Célestin.

The name was borne by five popes.

In the English-speaking world, Celestine was seldom used, if it was ever used it was usually used for females being a borrowing from the French, though Celestine is a common male name among Nigerian Catholics.

As of 2010, Célestin was the 415th most popular male name in France, while its feminine form of Célestine was the 419th most popular female name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

• Celestin Целестин Целестин (Asturian/Bulgarian/Romanian/Romansch/Russian/Scandinavian/Serbian/Ukrainian)
• Celestí (Catalan)
• Celestýn (Czech)
• Celestijn (Dutch)
• Celestinus (Dutch)
• Celestine (English)
• Célestin (French)
• Celestino (Galician/Italian/Portuguese/Spanish)
• Coelestin (German)
• Cölestin (German)
• Zölestin (German)
• Kelestínos Κελεστίνος (Greek)
• Celesztin (Hungarian)
• Caelestinus (Late Latin)
• Celestinas (Lithuanian)
• Celestyn (Polish)
• Celestìnu (Sardinian)
• Celestín (Slovene)

A famous female bearer was Célestine Galli-Marié (1840–1905), a French mezzo-soprano who created the title role in the opera Carmen

La Celestina, a 15th-century literary piece written by Fernando de Rojas, is considered one of Spain’s greatest pieces of literature.

Celestina is also the name of an 18th-century literary piece written by poet, Charlotte Turner Smith.

Other feminine forms include:

• Celestina Целестина (Czech/English/Italian/Lithuanian/Portuguese/Romanian/Romansch/Russian/Slovak/Spanish)
• Célestine (French)
• Cölestina (German)
• Zölestina (German)
• Celesztina (Hungarian)
• Celestyna (Polish)
• Kolestina Колестина (Russian)

Celestine is also the name of an order of Benedictine monks and it is also the name of a type of mineral.

Rahma

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic
Meaning: “mercy.”

The name is derived from the Arabic word for “mercy.”

As of 2010, Rahma was the 492nd most popular female name in France.

The name is borne by Jordanian princess Rahma bint El Hassan (b.1969)

Samia

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.