Azhar (transliteration: Azhar, Arabic: أزهر) (not to be confused with Azhaar) is an Arabic name for boys and girls that means “beautiful”, “bright”, “shining” (especially when describing a person’s face).12 It also means “the moon”.34 It also means “radiant” (anything that radiates light).56 It also means “a pure and radiant white color”.7
Azhar appears to have been a boy name in ancient times. Today it is also used for girls, especially in Southeast Asia.
Al-Azhar is the name of a famous Islamic teaching institution in Cairo, Egypt. There are nine Companions of the Prophet Muhammad named Azhar:
- Azhar bin Humaidhah أزهر بن حميضة
- Azhar bin Subhan أزهر بن سبحان
- Azhar bin Abd Awf أزهر بن عبد عوف
- Azhar bin Qais أزهر بن قيس
- Azhar bin Marwan أزهر بن مروان
- Azhar bin Mukammal bin Awf bin Abd أزهر بن مكمل بن عوف بن عبد
- Azhar bin Minqar أزهر بن منقر
- Azhar (freed slave of Suhail bin Amr) أزهر مولى سهيل بن عمرو
- Azhar bin Yazeed al-Muradi al-Homsi أزهر بن يزيد المرادي الحمصي
Below is the name Azhar written in Arabic naskh script:
Below is the name Azhar written in Arabic kufi script:
Footnotes
- Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane (d. 1876), زهر.
- Sultan Qaboos Encyclopedia of Arab Names (Sultan Qaboos University, 1985), أَزْهَر.
- Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane (d. 1876), زهر.
- Sultan Qaboos Encyclopedia of Arab Names (Sultan Qaboos University, 1985), أَزْهَر.
- Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane (d. 1876), زهر.
- Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, al-Muʿjam al-Wasīṭ (1998), الْأَزْهَر.
- Al-Munāwī, al-Tawqīf ʿalā Muhimmāt al-Taʿārīf (d. 1622 CE), الأزهر.