Hamza — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: ح-م-ز (ḥ-m-z), which in classical Arabic carries "sharpness, pungency, strength" — the sting of something sharp to the taste, and by extension a strength that does not yield. It is also given as a name for the lion.

From the same root: ḥamz (sharpness), and the letter hamza (ء) itself, named for the sharp catch of the glottal stop.

Who carried it: Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's ﷺ uncle and close in age to him, called Asad Allāh — the Lion of Allah. He was killed at Uhud in the third year of the Hijra, and the Prophet ﷺ named him Sayyid ash-Shuhadā', master of the martyrs.

Spellings: Hamza, Hamzah, Hamza (Turkish), Hamzah (Indonesian), حمزة.

Pronunciation: ḤAM-za, opening with the deep throat ḥ.

Note: the final tāʾ marbūṭa in حمزة is not a feminine ending here — a small number of male Arabic names carry it, Talha and Muawiya among them.