Boy · Arabic (Urdu usage) · Muslim
Jafar
جعفرSay it JAA-far
- Meaning
- A small river or stream; also a full or wide river Lane, p. 430
- Say it
- JAA-far
- Written
- جعفر
- Other spellings
- Jaffar, Jaffer, Jafer
Jafar
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Jafar meaning
Jafar (جعفر) is a Muslim boy's name of Arabic origin (Urdu usage).
A small river or stream; also a full or wide river
Jafar (جعفر) is the Arabic word jaʿfar, a stream. Lane's lexicon defines it as a small river or rivulet, bigger than a mere channel, and notes that it was also used for a wide, full river, so the word covers both; figuratively it was said of a camel giving plenty of milk. The name is honoured through Jafar ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet's cousin who led the emigrants to Abyssinia, and through Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, the great teacher of the Shia and Sunni scholars alike. Name lists give "stream" or "river", which matches.
Source: Lane, An Arabic–English Lexicon (1863–93), Book I, Part 2 (1865), p. 430 · entry jaʿfar (جَعْفَرٌ), root j-ʿ-f-r · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Lane, Arabic–English Lexicon, jaʿfar, Book I p. 430
Famous namesakes
- Jafar ibn Abi Talib, cousin of the Prophet
- Jafar al-Sadiq (d. 765), sixth Shia Imam and jurist
Spellings
Jafar · Jaffar · Jaffer · Jafer