100+ Best Arabic Boy Names And Their Meanings (With Audio)

While Arabic girl names lean more towards the notion of femininity, physical beauty, and shyness, Arabic boy names tend to connote chivalric and religious values, and don’t pay much attention to appearances.

Below you’ll find a list of the most common Arabic boy names in the Middle East and North Africa.

There are obviously more than 100 male names in the Arabic language, but you could use the following table as a starting point and experiment with the suggested names. You can always derive a second name from the initial one (example: Mohammad -> Ahmad -> Mahmoud.)

While going through this list, keep these things in mind:

• Many names contain religious connotations: this is not a shocking point because the Arabic language relies heavily on the Quran as a linguistic reference. Adjectives and nouns that have a positive meaning in the Quran tend to be used as male names.
• Many names are derivatives: some are derivatives of content words such as adjectives and nouns, while some others are derivatives of other similar names. You will notice the frequency of the phrase “A derivative of” and hopefully manage to create a connection between the name and its semantic source.
• Some names have no semantic explanation, but refer to heroic or religious figures, such as “Zakaria.”
• Many names refer to strong animals, mainly the lion. Given the symbolic figure of the signified (the lion), the signifier (what a lion stands for) makes the lion an attractive option.

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NOTE: Names can have alternative spellings in English and sometimes even Arabic (e.g. you might see some names written with a ‘taa marbuta’ or ‘aleph’ ending). It doesn’t change the pronunciation of the name.

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Names starting with A