Fun Facts About the Name Ruqayah
- 51 babies named Ruqayah: U.S. records list 51 babies given the name Ruqayah from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Ruqayah Mean?
Ruqayah is an Arabic feminine name. It is a diminutive form, built on the pattern fuʿaylah, of the noun ruqyah (رُقْيَة) - "a charm, incantation, or recited healing formula" - from the root ر-ق-ي. Taken literally, the name means something like "little charm" or "small incantation." The same root also forms the verb raqiya, "to ascend, to rise," and some writers explain the name through that sense as "elevation" or "ascent"; this reading is less direct than the link to ruqyah. The two derivations are sometimes given side by side, and which one the name originally rested on is not fully settled.
Ruqayah Name History & Origins
Ruqayah is a traditional Arabic name attested in the earliest Islamic period. Its best-known bearer was Ruqayah bint Muhammad, a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadijah. She married the future caliph Uthman ibn Affan and, according to the standard accounts, migrated with the early Muslim community to Medina, where she died. Her name carried weight in later Islamic history and helped keep the name in circulation.
In Shiʿi tradition the name is also borne by Ruqayah, a daughter of Husayn ibn Ali, who is linked in some accounts with the figure known as Sukaynah; the identification of the two is handled differently by different narrators. Because of these early associations, Ruqayah and its spelling variants spread widely in the Muslim world and appear in languages beyond Arabic, including Turkish (Rukiye), Persian, and Urdu, as well as among Muslim communities in Europe and North America. Common English spellings include Ruqayyah, Ruqayya, Ruqaya, and Rukaya.
How Popular is the Name Ruqayah?
Ruqayah has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2013. Its best rank was #14,325 in 2013.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #16,803 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2023 | #17,139 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2022 | #14,966 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #15,310 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2015 | #16,062 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #18,704 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2013 | #14,325 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #19,287 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #16,045 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Ruqayah Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are a law unto itself. Your tendency is to finish whatever you start. You are tolerant and like to help humanity. You are very active. You are generally warmhearted and gives freely of your time, energy, and sympathetic understanding. You have tolerance and acceptance of the frailties of others. Universal and humanitarian in outlook. This is very compassionate name. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Ruqayah's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ruqayah's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.