Yahya (name)
| Gender | Male (given name) Unisex (surname) |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Arabic |
| Region of origin | Arabia |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Jehiah, Yohanan, John, Evan, Giovanni, Hans, Hovhannes, Ian, Ioan, Ioane, Ioannis, Ivan, Iven, Ifan, Jack, Jackson, Jan, Jane, Janez, Jean, Jhon, Joan, João, Johan, Johannes, Jonne, Jovan, Juan, Juhani, Seán, Shane, Siôn, Yohannes |
Yahya (Arabic: يحيى, romanized: Yaḥyā), also spelled Yehia, is an Arabic male given name.
In the Qur'an, Yahya also appears as the Arabic equivalent of the given name of the prophet John the Baptist in Islam. For this reason, Yahya is now a common name in the Muslim world.
Etymologically unrelated, it was used as an Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew given name Yohanan (Hebrew: יְהוֹחָנָן, romanized: Yəhoḥānān, lit. 'Yahweh is gracious'), or John, as attested in pre-Islamic Arabian Jewish inscriptions: The related Biblical name of Jehiah (Hebrew: יְחִיָּה, romanized: Yəḥiyā, lit. 'Yahweh lives') has the Arabic form Yaḥiyyā (Arabic: يَحِيَّى).