Arabic Boy Names

Not related to Zack, Zacky, Zachary, or Zachariah – but many will assume it is.

Could cause pronunciation problems.

Name of a son of the Prophet Muhammad, with a particularly positive meaning.

Sabik, a star in Ophiuchus, makes for a rather harsh-sounding name. If you're looking skyward for a baby name, you'd do better with Orion or Jupiter. But if you are searching for names that mean new beginnings, this is one unusual choice.

Salman is an Arabic name dating back to Salman the Persian, one of Muhammad's companions. In this country it is strongly associated with Anglo-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.

Kahlil, spelled in various ways, was first brought into the American consciousness by the poet Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet.

Widespread choice in the Muslim world, this was the name of both the father of the Prophet Mohammed and one of his sons.

Short form of the name Anglicized as Saladin, very popular throughout the Arab world.

The Arabic name Idrissa is related to the more common form Idris, which is the name of a Quranic prophet usually equated with the biblical Enoch). Idrissa is more commonly seen in North and Western Africa. Idrissa Gueye, the Senegalese footballer who plays for Aston Villa in the UK, is probably the most famous person with this name.

This classic, handsome Arabic name — cognate of the Hebrew Ishmael — was chosen by Tan and Rob France for their son born in 2021. Ismail is the preferred spelling in England, Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey, while Ismael ranks higher in countries with native Spanish speakers, including the US.

Name of the last king of Egypt.

A Saudi Arabian royal name that has remained within its own culture.

This variation of the popular Arabic name has now been in the Top 500 for several years. It wasn't even in the Top 1000 before the 1980s.

As a form of the popular Arabic name, Hamid, Ahmad could be seen as a contraction for one of the 99 names for Allah, al-Ḥamīd, however, it might also be a variation of Muhammad as they share the same roots. Either way, the name has many variants of its own, the Urdu Ahmed, the Kazakh Akhmet, and West African Amadou.

Although popular in the Muslim community as representing one of the 99 qualities of God listed in the Quran, this could be confused with the female Camille.

Appealing in part because of its similarity to the likable Omar.

Strongly identified with peace-accord-seeking Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat.

Pleasant and accessible and not as widely-used as some other African names.

Tabari has a haunting, rhythmic feel.

Azzam might be open to some "shazam" teasing.