325+ Arabic Names (with Meanings and Popularity)

Amael or Amaël is a variant of the popular Breton name Mael or Maël, which ranks in the Top 10 in France.

Omaira is an intriguing Middle Eastern possibility.

Cowboyish short form that's both macho and cool. Got prime time exposure on The West Wing.

The Prophet Muhammad's first wife and the first convert to Islam, and a very popular name in the Muslim community. It ranks in the Top 200 girls' names in France, Italy and England & Wales (alongside variant Khadijah just below the Top 200).

Zero has been documented as a given name before, but it's largely familiar as a stage name (such as Zero Mostel, born Samuel Joel Mostel) and comic book and anime characters.

Amal is an attractive name with a wonderful meaning that has long been used in many Middle Eastern countries, especially Lebanon (and migrant communities). It is of course getting a lot more coverage now since the fame of international human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Clooney, who's singlehandedly made this one of the best-known Arabic names for girls.

Ara is a unique boys' name that one of the most melodious in the Armenian name pool, familiarized by Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian. In Armenian mythology, Ara was a king so handsome that a rival queen went to war in order to make him her own. The name Ara is also known in the Arabic and Hebrew cultures.

Scheherazade -- or Sheherazade --is a legendary Persian queen immortalized as the narrator of all one thousand stories in the One Thousand and One Nights. Her story is even more remarkable than the tales she tells.

There are over five hundred names for the Arab prophet who founded the Muslim religion, making it the most common boys' name in the world and explaining the Muslim adage, "If you have a hundred sons, name them all Muhammad."

Zariyah has several possible origins: the Arabic Zahrah which means "flower" or Zariya "scattering wind"; the Hebrew name Azariah, meaning "God has helped"; or the Russian word Zaria which means "sunrise, dawn."

Popular with Muslim and African-American parents, this virtue name also fits in with the trendy i ending names being seen at the moment. It debuted on the US Top 1000 in 1996.

Simpler and less tied to the singer in this form, Aliya is a feminine form of the Arabic name Ali, meaning "lofty, sublime, high" or "exalted." Boosted to fame by the ill-fated singer, Aaliyah, and used across the Middle East, the US and the UK, Aliya is a powerful and pretty choice with a concise spelling.

In the Quran, Eyad (and names with similar roots like Iyad and Ayad) refers to a person/entity that strengthens another. Eyad is one of the modern Arabic names for boys.

Hamza was the legendary uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, hero of The Hamzanama, the Story of Hamza.

A relatively popular Arabic name that featured in the French Top 500 for much of the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st. It is also used as a given name in Turkey, Iran and Israel, as well as being a relatively common surname (also spelled Nader). Notable bearers include an 18th century Shah of Iran, a 19th century King of Afghanistan and a former Prime Minister of Jordan.

A name used in the Middle East but that could easily work in the US. As a girls' name, Nuri can also be a short form of Nuria. It was chosen by Christy Lefteri for the protagonist of her novel, The Beekeeper of Aleppo which may have familiarized people with the name.

This phonetic version is occasionally used and removes any confusion about whether the X is fully pronounced or not.

This female form of Sa'id is one of several eminently usable Arabic S names.

This is a soft and strong Arabic and Persian name commonly heard in the Middle East.

The name of the 44th president, which he inherited from his Kenyan father, is related to the Swahili word "baraka," meaning "blessing," derived from the Arabic "baracka." It is linked, through the Semitic root, to the Hebrew name Baruch. Barack is also sometimes an alternate spelling of the Hebrew name Barak, which stems from the Semitic word for "lightning." Barack Obama may have found it a difficult name to grow up with, but the same won't be true for the many babies starting to be given that name. Other parents are being inspired to use Obama, which is a common surname among the Luo people of East Africa meaning "to lean or bend."