Ruqayya — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: ر-ق-ي (r-q-y), "to climb, to ascend". Ruqayya is a diminutive form, and the root gives it two connected senses: ascent, rising in rank, and ruqya, a supplication spoken over someone for healing — because the words are understood to rise upward.

From the same root: raqiya (to climb — the Qur'an quotes the demand "or you ascend into the sky", al-Isra 17:93), irtiqāʾ (advancement), ruqya (a healing invocation), marqā (a place of ascent), mirqāt (a step of a ladder).

Who carried it: Ruqayya bint Muhammad ﷺ, a daughter of the Prophet. She was married to Uthman ibn Affan and emigrated with him to Abyssinia in the early years of persecution, and again later to Madina. She fell ill at the time of Badr; Uthman remained in Madina to nurse her, and she died before news of the battle arrived.

Spellings: Ruqayya, Ruqayyah, Ruqaiya, Rukiye (Turkish), Ruqayyah (Indonesian), Ruqayya (Urdu), Rokaya / Roqaya (Maghrebi), رقية.

Pronunciation: ru-QAY-ya — the q is qāf, made far back against the soft palate, deeper than an English k; the yy is doubled and held.

Masculine counterpart: none in common use from this form.