180+ Arabic Girl Names

Khalida is an evocative Middle Eastern choice. Its male counterpart, Khalid, recently returned to the US Top 1000.

The fact that this is pronounced sah-FEE-yah would cause Western ears to hear it as Sophia.

Emira is one of those pan-international names that feels pleasant enough but seems so unrooted to any one culture that it might as well be made up.

Shy but sultry.

Zaynab, from the Arabic word for beauty and the name of a flowering tree, was the name of a granddaughter, daughter and two wives of the Prophet Muhammed. Related names include the simplified forms Zaina and Zayna and the Swahili-inflected Zainabu, along with possibly Zenobia, a name related to the Greek mythological god Zeus. Zaynab is one of the most popular Muslim girls' names around the world.

The tale-spinning heroine of The Thousand and One Nights, Sheherazade is an extravagantly elaborate name for a little girl. Too extravagantly elaborate? It's lovely and beguiling, and with the rise of such evocative monikers as Persephone and Ophelia, Sheherazade may have a chance in the modern baby name world. Another accepted spelling is Scheherazade. While the origin of this name is Persian, there are also modern Arabic forms of the name.

The mononymous Colombian-born singer inspired a popularity blip in the 90s and early 00s.

While this spelling is unusual, the I-beginning version is quite popular.

Star in Orion that might make a fine name, except people will always assume it's Melissa, with a typo.

Striking, azure-tinted choice.

Extremely simple and extremely distinctive -- a winning combination. Sound-alike Calla is a Greek (and botanical) name that means beautiful.

Asma is an important name in the Muslim religion. Asma was a niece of Muhammad whose refusal to betray her uncle and father helped them escape to Mecca. Downside in English-speaking countries is that Asma sounds like asthma, the illness that blocks airways and makes it difficult to breathe.

The M and the R add welcome strength.

A beautiful and evocative place-name that deserves wider use.

Spelled this way, Adine could be a relative of either the Irish Aideen, which means jealousy, or the Arabic Adina, meaning slender. We'll go with the slender.

This name belongs to the eponymous heroine of Rossini's opera; 'Zelmira' (1822) about a (fictional) princess of Lesbos who saves her father and husband and her kingdom.

Pretty and feminine Muslim name popular in Egypt.

An Arabic name that can easily cross cultures. Janan might make a distinctive honor name for an ancestral Jan, Jane, or John.

Could be some disconnect between spelling and pronunciation.

This female form of Qadir represents one of the ninety-nine attributes of Allah.