Find your type now Arrow Right
AboutQuiz
Search
Search
Advanced Search
  1. Home
  2. Baby Girl Names

Fatima

Fa-tee-muh ; Fa-tim-uh
Arabic
"a woman who abstains"
Clare Green
By Clare Green
Updated Thu May 30 2024

Fatima Origin and Meaning

The name Fatima is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "a woman who abstains".

Captivating and gorgeous, powerful but with gentle sounds, Fatima is a popular name of Arabic origin. In the Quran, she is one of the Prophet Muhammad's daughters, and the wife of Ali, the forth ruler of the Muslim world. Fatima is regarded as the ideal example of a Muslim women, which makes it a favorite among Muslim parents.

Fatima is an alternative translation of the Arabic Fatimah, and the Urdu and Bosnian form of the name too. Used throughout the Muslim world, in various iterations, the name translates to "one who abstains".

Popular globally, from The Netherlands, to Bosnia, to Azerbaijan, Fatima was also one of the new entries into the UK Top 100 in 2022. In the US, Fatima ranks in the Top 400, and with its international usage, it feels very versatile, familiar but still compelling.

Fatima is also a popular name in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries and communities, as it is associated with the town of Fátima in Portugal, the site of a famous apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1917. Known as the Miracle of the Sun, a crowd of up to 40,000 people are said to have witnessed the sun spinning and zigzagging in the sky.

This has led to the name gaining popularity particularly among Catholics, and Fatima has ranked in the Top 100 in Mexico and Spain.

Notable namesakes include: Fatima Muhammad Al, a founder of one the world's oldest universities; Fatima Surayya Bajia, a Pakistani writer; Fatima Whitbread, a British javelin thrower; Fatima Jibrell, a Somali-American environmental activist; Fatima Bio, the First Lady of Sierra Leone; Fatima Sana Shaikh, an Indian actress, and Fatima Ibrahim, a climate activist - just to name a few.

There are plenty of variations of the name too, including Albanian Fatime, Turkish Fadime, Spanish Fátima, and Fatou, Fatimata and Fatimatou, used in Western African countries.

# 344 in the US

Fatima Rank in US Top 1000

# 2273 on Nameberry

Fatima Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Fatima Popularity

Famous People Named Fatima

  • Fatima Muhammad AlFihri, Moroccan founder of the world's oldest university
  • Fatima Surayya BajiaPakistani playwright and novelist
  • Fatima Ali Jinnahone of the founders of Pakistan
  • Fatima Beendu Sandimanni MassaquoiLiberian educator
  • Fatima Abdel MahmoudSudanese politician
  • Fatima SiadSomali,American model ("America's Next Top Model" Cycle 10)
  • Fatima JibrellSomali,American environmental activist
  • Our Lady of Fatimatitle of the Virgin Mary based on apparitions seen in Fatima, Portugal

Fatima in Pop Culture

  • Fatima MansurTV character in Telenovela "La Reina del Sur"
  • Fatima Masumeh ShrineIslamic shrine in Iran