Fatima

From Namespedia - Names Meaning and Origins

Name: Fatima

Gender: Feminine

Location: Asia

Language: Arabic

Thematic: History

Meaning: The weaned one, she who abstains (from evil things).

Comments: Fatima was Muhammed's daughter and only surviving child. He is reported to have said that he named her Fatima (the weaned one) 'because Allah weaned her and those who love her from hellfire'. Muslim tradition regards her - like Maryam, Umm Isa (Mary, the Mother of Jesus) - as having been sinless and therefore as a model of behaviour for both women and men. As a result, Fatima is a popular girl's name among Muslims. The town of Fatima in Portugal was named after a 12th-century Moorish princess. It was the site of a famous apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1917, after which Fatima achieved considerable popularity as a female personal name among Roman Catholics in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries.