Amir — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: أ-م-ر (ʾ-m-r), "to command, to order". Amīr is the faʿīl form used with an active sense: one who commands, hence a leader, a commander, a prince. The word describes a function before it describes a rank — an amīr is whoever is put in charge, of an army or of a journey.

From the same root: amr (a command, and also a matter or affair), imāra (the office of command, an emirate), āmir (one who orders), mu'tamar (a conference — literally where a matter is taken counsel over), ma'mūr (one who is ordered), and the Qur'anic phrase ulū al-amr, those entrusted with command (an-Nisa 4:59).

Spellings: Amir, Ameer, Emir (Turkish), Amir (Indonesian), Ameer (Urdu), Amir/Emir (Bosnian and Albanian, where the name is very common), أمير.

Pronunciation: a-MEER, stress on the long second syllable. The opening letter is a plain hamza, not ʿayn.

Note: Amīr (أمير, commander) and ʿĀmir (عامر, flourishing, from ع-م-ر) are two different names that English often flattens into the same spelling. Persian and Hebrew also have an unrelated Amir; the coincidence of spelling is not a shared origin.

Feminine counterpart: Amira (أميرة).