Unisex · Persian · Sikh · Muslim
Mehtab
ਮਹਿਤਾਬSay it meh-TAAB
- Meaning
- Moonlight, the light of the moon Mahan Kosh
- Say it
- meh-TAAB
- Written
- ਮਹਿਤਾਬ
- Other spellings
- Mahtab, Mehtaab
Mehtab
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Mehtab meaning
Mehtab (ਮਹਿਤਾਬ) is a Sikh and Muslim unisex name of Persian origin, used for both girls and boys.
Moonlight, the light of the moon
Mehtab (ਮਹਿਤਾਬ, مہتاب) is Persian mahtāb, which Platts breaks down as māh, "moon", and tāb, "light": the moon, or moonlight. The Mahan Kosh of Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha gives the light of the moon, and both dictionaries add a kind of firework that burns with a moon-like glow. The word does not occur in the Guru Granth Sahib, but it has long been a personal name in Punjab among Sikhs and Muslims alike. Sikh history remembers Bhai Mehtab Singh, an eighteenth-century warrior and martyr, and Mehtab Kaur, the first wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Name lists give the same meaning, "moonlight".
Source: Mahan Kosh, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha (1930) · entry ਮਹਤਾਬ · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Mahan Kosh, ਮਹਤਾਬ (srigranth.org) · Platts, mah-tāb (P), p. 1098 · Wikipedia, Mehtab Singh Bhangu · Wikipedia, Mehtab Kaur
Famous namesakes
- Mehtab Singh Bhangu, 18th-century Sikh martyr
- Mehtab Kaur, first wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Popularity abroad
- #668 England and Wales, boys 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Mehtab · Mahtab · Mehtaab