Fatima — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: ف-ط-م (f-ṭ-m), "to wean, to sever from". Fāṭima is the active participle in the feminine: she who weans, and by the sense the classical dictionaries give it, one who is kept away from harm.

From the same root: fiṭām (weaning), fuṭima (to be weaned).

Who carried it: Fatima bint Muhammad ﷺ, the Prophet's youngest daughter, wife of Ali and mother of Hasan and Husayn. She is called az-Zahrāʾ, the radiant, and the Prophet ﷺ said of her that she was part of him. She was the only one of his children to outlive him, and did so by a few months.

Spellings: Fatima, Fatimah, Fatma (Turkish), Fatimah (Indonesian), Fatima (Urdu), Fatiha is a different name, فاطمة.

Pronunciation: FAA-ṭi-ma — the ṭ is the emphatic ṭāʾ, heavier and further back than an English t.

Also given as: Fatima Zahra, joining the name to the epithet.

Masculine counterpart: none in common use.