Given name & surname
Fatima
Fatima is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “the perfect woman; in the Koran, a daughter of Muhammad.”
Original Arabicفاطمة
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “the perfect woman; in the Koran, a daughter of Muhammad.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic فَاطِمَة; its root is Arabic ف ط م.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1919. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Fatima through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 38,991
- 46 boys · 38,945 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 1,517 babies
- 2025
- 931
- #330 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −8%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 931 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 330 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 7.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 1,515 in 2006. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (134). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 52,703 as a first name in 2020; 4,547 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Fatima’s family of names
In English usage, Fatima has a conventional equivalent in the Swahili form Fatma. Fatima has a related form in Fatma. In English usage, Fatima has a conventional equivalent in Fatimah.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Fatima has relatives in 16 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
Arabicwhere Fatima comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Fatimahvariant · Malay
- Fatumavariant · Swahili
- Fatmavariant · Turkish, Swahili
- Fattimalikely variant
- Fatimevariant
- Fatymavariant
- Fateemavariant
- Fateimavariant
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 15
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Fatima
- Umm KulthumEgyptian singer and actress (1904–1975)1898–1975
- NargisIndian actress (1929–1981)
- Fatima JinnahPakistani dental surgeon, biographer and stateswoman (1893–1967)
- Fatima al-FihriyaLegendary founder of the al-Qarawiyyin mosque800–880
- Fatima Sana ShaikhIndian film and television actressborn 1992
- Fatima WhitbreadBritish athlete; former javelin throwerborn 1961
- Fatimah bint AsadCompanion and aunt of Muhammad568–625
- Fatima BhuttoPakistani writerborn 1982
- Fatima MeerSouth African academic and writer (1928-2010)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Fatima, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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