Hussein — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: ح-س-ن (ḥ-s-n), "to be good, to be beautiful". Ḥusayn is the diminutive of Ḥasan. In Arabic the diminutive is affectionate rather than belittling, so the sense is little beautiful one, dear small handsome one — a name given with tenderness.

From the same root: ḥusn (beauty, goodness), ḥasana (a good deed), iḥsān (excellence — doing a thing beautifully), aḥsan (best, as in aḥsan al-qaṣaṣ), muḥsin (one who does good), Ḥasan, Ḥusnā — as in al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā, the most beautiful names of Allah.

Who carried it: Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet ﷺ through his daughter Fatima, and younger brother of Hasan. The Prophet ﷺ raised the two boys in his own household and spoke of them with open affection. Husayn was killed at Karbala in Iraq, and that day is marked across the Muslim world, in different ways by different communities, as a grief that did not close.

Spellings: Husayn, Hussein, Hussain, Husein, Hüseyin (Turkish), Husein (Indonesian), Hussain (Urdu), Hocine (Maghrebi), حسين.

Pronunciation: ḥu-SAYN — the opening ḥ is the deep throat ḥāʾ; the second syllable is a diphthong, not two vowels.

Often paired: Hasan and Husayn are commonly given to two brothers, and Muhammad Husayn is a frequent compound.

Feminine counterpart: Husna, Hasna, Husayna.