Kareem — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: ك-ر-م (k-r-m), generosity and nobility held together in one word. Karīm is the intensive adjective (faʿīl): generous, noble, open-handed — one whose giving comes out of nobility of character and expects nothing back. Arabic uses it of a person, of a lineage, and of anything of high worth.

From the same root: karam (generosity), karāma (dignity, honour), ikrām (the honouring of someone — the Qur'an closes Surah ar-Rahman with dhū l-jalāli wa l-ikrām, 55:78), takrīm (wa laqad karramnā banī Ādam, "We have honoured the children of Adam", al-Isra 17:70), Akram (the elative — iqraʾ wa rabbuka l-akram, al-ʿAlaq 96:3), mukarram, and karīma, which in Arabic is also a courteous way of saying "your daughter".

In the Qur'an: al-Karīm is one of the names of Allah, and the Qur'an calls itself qurʾān karīm (al-Waqiʿa 56:77). The verse that measures human worth uses the same root: inna akramakum ʿinda llāhi atqākum — the noblest of you before Allah is the most God-fearing (al-Hujurat 49:13).

Spellings: Karim, Kareem, Kerim (Turkish, and Abdülkerim), Karim (Indonesian), Kareem (Urdu), Karim (French/Maghrebi), كريم.

Pronunciation: ka-REEM, stress on the long second syllable.

Feminine counterpart: Karima (كريمة).