Pronunciation | Arabic: [sˤafija] |
---|---|
Gender | Female |
Language(s) | Arabic |
Origin | |
Meaning | Pure, "Sincere Friend", cielo limpido, "Wisdom" |
Region of origin | Arab world |
Other names | |
Alternative spelling | Saffiyah, Safia, Safya, Safie, Safeia, Safieh |
Variant form(s) | Safiye |
Safiya (Arabic: صفية, romanized: Ṣafiyya) is an Arab name, meaning "pure." Alternative transliterations include Saffiyah, Safiyyah, Safie, Safia, Safija, Safya, Sophie, Safiyah, Safeia, etc.
Notable bearers of the name include:
Medieval
- Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib (late 560s–c. 640), Sahaba and a prominent person in Islamic history
- Safiyya bint Huyayy (c. 610–c. 670), one of the wives of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
- Safiyyah bint Abi al-As, daughter of Abu al-As ibn Umayyah
- Safiye Sultan (wife of Murad III), Ottoman Valide sultan
- Safiye Sultan (daughter of Mustafa II) (1696–1778), the daughter of Ottoman sultan Mustafa II
Modern
Safiya Rim (1977-present) American Business Owner
- Safiya Zaghloul (1876–1946), Egyptian political activist
- Safia Ahmed-jan (1941–2006), Afghan women's rights advocate and critic of the Taliban
- Safia Tarzi, Afghan fashion designer.
- Safia El Emari (born 1949), Egyptian actress
- Sfia Bouarfa (born 1950), Moroccan-Belgian politician
- Safiya Henderson-Holmes (1950–2001), African-American poet
- Safia Farkash (born 1952), Libyan wife of Muammar Gaddafi
- Safiya George, U.S. Virgin Islands nurse practitioner and academic administrator
- Safia Abdi Haase (born 1959), Somali nurse and women's rights activist
- Safia Middleton-Patel (born 2004), Welsh footballer
- Safia Minney (born 1964), British social entrepreneur and author
- Safiya Nygaard (born 1992), American YouTuber
- Safia Taleb Ali al-Suhail (born 1965) Iraqi politician
- Safia Shah (born 1966), British writer, editor and television news producer
- Safiya Hussaini (born 1967), Nigerian condemned to death for adultery, later acquitted
- Safia Abukar Hussein (born 1981), Somali sprinter
- Safiya Songhai (born 1984), American film director
- Safia Boukhima (born 1991) Algerian volleyball player
- Siti Safiyah, Malaysian ten-pin bowler
- Safiya Abdel Rahman, Egyptian active in girl guiding and scouting
Fictional characters
- Safiyah Sohail, a DC comics character
- Safie, a character Frankenstein
- Safiya fon Hasstrell, a character from Susan Dennard’s Witchlands series
See also
- Safiye, Turkish form
- Sophia (name) (unrelated Greek name)
References
- Salahuddin Ahmed (1999). A Dictionary of Muslim Names. London: Hurst & Company.
- S. A. Rahman (2001). A Dictionary of Muslim Names. New Delhi: Goodword Books.
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