Fatwa ID: 02800

Answered by: Aalimah Nasima Umm Hamza​

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

My husband and I are Alhamdulillah expecting a child. We have a few names if we can find the meaning of these names and if these names are good names for a girl. Kaina, Zeinah, Banaya, Samaras, Ziada, JazakAllah.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

It is important that we choose a good name for our children. The Prophet (peace be upon him) emphasised this in the following hadith:

إِنَّكُمْ تُدْعَوْنَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِأَسْمَائِكُمْ وَأَسْمَاءِ آبَائِكُمْ فَأَحْسِنُوا أَسْمَاءَكُمْ

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “On the Day of Resurrection you will be called by your names and by your father's names, so give yourselves good names.”[1]

The best names are Abdullah and Abdurrahman for a boy, and the female equivalent to this would be Amatullah. The best names thereafter for a girl, would be those from women of the Quran, such as Maryam or Aasiyah, followed by those names of the female companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and then any name with a good meaning.

The meanings of the names you have suggested:

Kaina- كائنة – kaa-i-nah – a being, entity, an existence

Zeinah- زَينة –  zay–nah – beauty, adornment, good

Banaya- بِنايَة – bi-naa-yah – building/structure

Samaras- this does not seem to be an Arabic name. But the closest name to this is  Samarah or Samraa’ – which is related to the colour brown

Ziada – زائِدَة  – zaa-i-dah – excess/extra

Considering the names you have suggested, the most appropriate as a name for a girl would be Zaynah or a derivative of it, such as Zayyinah or Zeenah.

[1] Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith Number 4948

Only Allah Ta’ala knows best

Answered by Aalimah Nasima Umm Hamza

Checked and approved by Ustadha Sabrina al-Faarsiyyah

Darul Ifta Birmingham