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What is the ruling on naming a baby girl "Maya," and is this name Arabic?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Islamic religion has paid great attention to names because they signify the named. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, changed many names with bad meanings to good names due to their impact. Umar ibn al-Khattab changed the name of a man from Jamrah ibn Shihab, from "the burning ember" residing in the "fire pit" to "with the blazing fire," and Umar realized that his family had been burnt, and it was indeed so. It is the right of a child upon their parents that they choose a good name for them. A Muslim should not name their daughter with a foreign name unless they know its meaning, as it might contain a bad meaning or a slogan that contradicts religion and morals. It is preferable to name children with the names of prophets, companions, their successors, and the righteous. It is permissible to name with other names if there is no Sharia prohibition in them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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