Boy · Arabic · Muslim
Husain
حسینSay it hu-SAIN
- Meaning today
- Good, handsome
- Original meaning
- "diminutive of ḥasan, 'good'; also a high mountain" Lane, p. 571
- Say it
- hu-SAIN
- Written
- حسین
- Other spellings
- Hussain, Hussein, Husein
Husain
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Husain meaning
Husain (حسین) is a Muslim boy's name of Arabic origin.
Diminutive of ḥasan, 'good'; also a high mountain
Also used to mean: handsome
Husain (حسین) is the Arabic ḥusayn, which Lane gives as the diminutive of ḥasan, "good, goodly", so it means something like "the little good one". He also records the sense "a high mountain", from which, his source says, it was used as a boy's name. Name lists today usually give Husain as "good", "handsome" or "beautiful", the meaning of the root word without the diminutive. The name is inseparable from al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, the Prophet's grandson through his daughter Fāṭima, who refused to recognise the Umayyad caliph Yazīd and was killed with his small band at Karbalāʾ in 680. Shia Muslims mourn him each year on Ashura, the tenth of Muharram. Hussain, Hussein and Husayn are other spellings.
Source: Lane, An Arabic–English Lexicon (1863–93), Book I, Part 2, p. 571 · entry ḥusayn (حُسَيْنٌ), root ḥ-s-n · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Lane, An Arabic–English Lexicon, ḥusayn (حُسَيْنٌ), p. 571 · Britannica, Husayn ibn Ali · Britannica, Ashura
Famous namesakes
- al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, the Prophet's grandson, killed at Karbalāʾ (680)
Spellings
Husain · Hussain · Hussein · Husein