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30 Quranic Baby Names for Boys and Girls (With Verses)
For Muslim parents, a name that appears in the Qur’an carries a particular weight. It isn’t just a beautiful sound; it’s a name spoken by the Divine, carried by a prophet, or drawn from the vocabulary of revelation itself. This list is organized in three tiers: prophetic names (boys), named and referenced women, and concept names drawn from Qur’anic vocabulary.
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What makes a name “Quranic”?
Three categories are commonly called Quranic:
- Named persons. Individuals mentioned by name in the text itself — prophets (25 named), Maryam (the only woman named directly), and a handful of others such as Luqman and Dhul-Qarnayn.
- Referenced persons. Figures whose stories appear but whose names are supplied by Islamic tradition (hadith, tafsir) rather than the Qur’an itself — Asiya, Hajar, Sarah, Bilqis.
- Qur’anic vocabulary. Words that appear in the Qur’an and have been adopted as given names — Rahma (mercy), Huda (guidance), Noor (light), Sakina (tranquility).
All three tiers are considered valid within Islamic naming tradition. The list below includes examples from each.
Prophetic names for boys
Fifteen of the Qur’an’s twenty-five named prophets, ordered roughly by chronology.
Adam
آدمEarth; the first human
God teaches Adam the names of all things, establishing him as the first bearer of language. Adam is also mentioned by name in Surahs 3, 5, 7, 17, 19, 20, and 38.
Nuh
نوحNoah; to mourn, to supplicate
An entire chapter is named for him. The story of the flood and the ark appears across several Surahs. In English-speaking Muslim families, Noah is the common rendering.
Ibrahim
إبراهيمFather of many nations
Abraham, called Khalil Allah (friend of God). A chapter bears his name; his covenant and his sacrifice define monotheistic tradition across three religions.
Ishaq
إسحاقIsaac; he laughs
Son of Ibrahim and Sarah, promised when both were in old age. Named a prophet directly in the Qur’an.
Ismail
إسماعيلIshmael; God has heard
Son of Ibrahim and Hajar, builder of the Ka’ba with his father. Ancestor of the Arab peoples in Islamic tradition.
Yaqub
يعقوبJacob; one who follows
Father of Yusuf. Also known as Isra’il — the origin of the name Bani Isra’il (Children of Israel).
Yusuf
يوسفJoseph; God will increase
One of the most detailed prophetic narratives in the Qur’an, with an entire chapter dedicated to his story of exile, forgiveness, and reunion.
Musa
موسىMoses; drawn from water
The most-mentioned prophet in the Qur’an (appearing in over 130 verses). His conversations with God at Mount Sinai define the prophetic model.
Harun
هارونAaron; exalted, mountain
Brother of Musa, described as “more eloquent in speech.” The two brothers are frequently mentioned together.
Dawud
داوودDavid; beloved
King and prophet, given the Zabur (Psalms). In Islamic tradition, mountains and birds joined him in glorification of God.
Sulayman
سليمانSolomon; man of peace
Son of Dawud, granted dominion over the wind, the jinn, and the speech of animals. The story of his encounter with Bilqis, Queen of Sheba, appears in Surah An-Naml.
Isa
عيسىJesus; salvation
Born of Maryam, called al-Masih (the Messiah). A central prophet in Islam, though with a different theology than in Christianity.
Yahya
يحيىJohn the Baptist; he shall live
God gave Yahya a name that had never before been given — a detail the Qur’an explicitly highlights. Son of Zakariya.
Zakariya
زكرياZachariah; God remembers
Father of Yahya, guardian of Maryam. His prayer for a son in old age is one of the most tender passages in the Qur’an.
Yunus
يونسJonah; dove
A chapter is named for him. His story of being swallowed by the great fish and his repentance from within it is cited as a model of turning back to God.
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Names for girls
Maryam is the only woman named directly in the Qur’an. The rest of this list combines women who appear in Qur’anic narratives (named by Islamic tradition) and concept names drawn from the Qur’an’s vocabulary.
Maryam
مريمMary; exalted, wished-for child
The only woman named directly in the Qur’an, and the only woman with a chapter named for her. She is called “chosen above the women of the worlds” (3:42).
Asiya
آسيةOne who tends to the wounded; pillar
The wife of Pharaoh, identified in Islamic tradition as the adoptive mother of Musa. Praised in the Qur’an as a model of faith under tyranny.
Hajar
هاجرHagar; migrating, setting out
Wife of Ibrahim and mother of Ismail. Her search for water between Safa and Marwa is re-enacted by every pilgrim during Hajj.
Sarah
سارةPrincess; pure one
Wife of Ibrahim and mother of Ishaq. The Qur’an describes her laughter at the angels’ news of her pregnancy in old age.
Rahma
رحمةMercy; compassion
God describes the Prophet as a rahma for all the worlds. The divine name Ar-Rahman (The Most Merciful) shares this root.
Huda
هدىGuidance; the right path
The Qur’an opens its second chapter by describing itself as a huda for those conscious of God.
Iman
إيمانFaith; belief
One of the most central concepts in the Qur’an. Used for both boys and girls; in the US, most common as a girl’s name.
Noor
نورLight
The Ayat an-Nur (Verse of Light) is one of the most-quoted passages in the Qur’an. An entire chapter (Surah An-Nur) bears this name.
Salam
سلامPeace
The greeting of the people of paradise. As-Salam is also one of the 99 Names of Allah.
Sakina
سكينةTranquility; divine calm
The divine calm that descends on the believers at moments of fear. A poetic and distinctly Qur’anic word.
Hikma
حكمةWisdom
“Whoever is granted wisdom has been granted much good.” Rare as a first name but strikingly meaningful.
Ayah
آيةSign; verse of the Qur’an
Every verse of the Qur’an is called an ayah — a sign pointing to God. Also the word for natural signs: stars, rainfall, the cycling of day and night.
Baraka
بركةBlessing; abundant good
God promises blessings from heaven and earth on the people who believe and act with reverence.
Jannah
جنةGarden; paradise
The Qur’anic word for paradise — literally “garden.” Evocative and increasingly popular as a girl’s name in the US.
Amina
آمنةTrustworthy; secure
From the same root as iman (faith) and amanah (trust). Also the name of the mother of the Prophet Muhammad.
How to verify if a name is in the Qur’an
There are two practical tools. The first is a Qur’an concordance — a database indexing every word in the text. Al-Mu\u2019jam al-Mufahras li Alfadh al-Qur\u2019an by Muhammad Fu\u2019ad Abd al-Baqi is the classical Arabic reference; Quranic Arabic Corpus is the online equivalent. Search for the Arabic root (say, ن-و-ر for Noor) and you’ll see every verse it appears in.
The second is the straightforward step of reading the Qur’an with a translation and noting the names as you go — which is how many parents who chose these names encountered them in the first place. For English-language readers, the Saheeh International translation is the most common reference point in the US.
A note on transliteration
Every Arabic name in this list has multiple valid English spellings. Yusuf is sometimes Yousef or Youssef. Zakariya can be Zakaria, Zakarya, or Zachariah. Maryam can be Mariam or Miriam. The name’s meaning and religious weight is tied to the Arabic original, not to any particular English spelling. Choose the rendering that fits your family’s tradition.
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