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Hafsa

Girl name · 119 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Hafsa: 119 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 10 births in 2025.

Meaning "young lioness" in Arabic, Hafsa originates from the root ḥ-f-s and holds deep historical significance in Islam as the name of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Hafsa bint Umar, who was entrusted with preserving one of the earliest written copies of the Quran. The name has been borne by notable figures such as Hafsa Sultan, the influential mother of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and in modern times by Hafsa bint al-Haj, a respected 14th-century Moroccan scholar and poet. While not directly linked to any major place names, the name shares its linguistic root with the word "hafs" meaning "lion" in Arabic, appearing in various compound place names across the Middle East. A lovely variant is the Turkish Hafsâ, while the name has become increasingly popular among Scottish Muslim families, reflecting Scotland's growing cultural diversity since the 1990s.