Fatima
Meaning
one who weans / one who abstains (Arabic root ف-ط-م fatama, "to wean/abstain"); often associated in Islamic tradition with being weaned/kept away from Hellfire
Famously borne by the Prophet's daughter Fatima.
The story
Fatima comes from the Arabic fatama, to wean or to abstain, and it is one of the most revered names in the Muslim world. It was borne by Fatima, the beloved daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and the wife of Ali, honored across Islam and especially cherished in Shia tradition as a model of devotion and dignity. By a striking turn of history the name also belongs to a town in Portugal, itself named for a Moorish princess, where in 1917 three children reported visions of the Virgin Mary, making Our Lady of Fatima a Catholic devotion too. Few names are so deeply loved by two faiths at once. In the United States Fatima reads as current as it has ever been, carried by growing Muslim and Latino communities alike. Graceful and profound, Fatima hands a child a name that means reverence in more than one language of the heart.
Fatima in song
Fatima
Capital Inicial (1986)
An early Brazilian rock single with lyrics by Renato Russo, still a staple of eighties nights in Brazil.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Fatima peaked in the 2020s.
Popularity in Brazil
149,310 people · the #228 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,361 · median age 56
Among people named Fatima living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 452 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Fatima
Most people given the name Fatima in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Fatima deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Fatima truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Fatima fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Fatima travels
Arab American · name of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, deeply significant across the Muslim world
Urdu and Pakistani · famously borne by the Prophet's daughter Fatima; in Pakistan often the anchor of a compound (Fatima Zahra)
Arabic · one who abstains, captivating
Keep exploring
Names like Fatima · Urdu and Pakistani baby names · Arab American baby names · Arabic baby names
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