Yahia

A Quranic Name for Boys

Meaning: Kind, Compassionate and Tenderhearted

Yahia is variant of Yahya and has the exact same meaning and pronunciation (see below for full meaning). You can use either Yahia or Yahya, both are correct and acceptable. If you like this variant more and you'd like to pronounce it the way it is spelled (different than the original name), this is perfectly acceptable. For more details please see the main entry at: Yahya.

Full Meaning of Yahia

Yahia is a direct Quranic name for boys. It has a special significance since it was a divinely created and chosen name, as retold in the Surat Maryam 19:7

O Zachariah, We bring you good news of a son whose name shall be Yahia. We have not given such a name to anyone before.

Yahia is one of the high status prophets, mentioned in a number of places in the Quran, such as in the same sura as above:

12. O Yahia! take hold of the Book with strength, and We granted him wisdom while yet a child

13. And hananan (tenderness) from Us and purity, and he was one who guarded (against evil),

14. And dutiful to his parents, and he was not insolent, disobedient.

15. And peace on him on the day he was born, and on the day he dies, and on the day he is raised to life. (Quran 19:12-15)

The meaning of Yahia isn’t certain because it is not necessarily Arabic, though it is likely related to Arabic in being a Hebrew/Aramaic name. In Arabic it literally means “He lives”, and the scholars say this means that his legacy will continue to live forever. It could also refer to the fact that he was brought to life in his mother’s womb even though she was barren and her husband an old man.

The word hananan in verse 13 above, which means tenderness, is only mentioned in that one place in the Quran in regards to Yahia, and it also happens to be the root of the Hebrew name for Prophet Yahia: Yohanan. Due to this relationship between Yahia and Hanan, it is possible that the meaning of Yahia has relations to the word “tenderness”.