Girl · Arabic · Muslim
Nafisa
نفیسہSay it na-FEE-saa
- Meaning
- Precious, highly prized, excellent of its kind Lane, p. 2829
- Say it
- na-FEE-saa
- Written
- نفیسہ
- Other spellings
- Nafeesa, Nafisah, Nafeesah
Nafisa
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Nafisa meaning
Nafisa (نفیسہ) is a Muslim girl's name of Arabic origin.
Precious, highly prized, excellent of its kind
Nafisa is the feminine form of Arabic nafīs, from the root n-f-s. Lane's lexicon defines nafīs as something held in high estimation: precious, valuable, excellent of its kind, and therefore wanted by many people at once. The related verb nafusa means 'to be precious', and the same root gives nafs, 'soul', and nafas, 'breath'. The best-known bearer is Sayyida Nafisa (about 762–824), a great-granddaughter of Hasan ibn Ali, who taught hadith in Cairo and is remembered there as one of the city's patron saints; a mosque in Cairo bears her name. In India the actress Nafisa Ali is a well-known bearer. Baby-name lists give 'precious' or 'valuable', the dictionary sense.
Source: Lane, An Arabic–English Lexicon, Book I, Part 8 (1893), p. 2829 · entry نَفِيس (root نفس) · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Lane, nafīs, p. 2829 (scan) · Wikipedia, Sayyida Nafisa
Famous namesakes
- Sayyida Nafisa, 8th–9th-century scholar of hadith in Cairo
- Nafisa Ali, Indian actress
Spellings
Nafisa · Nafeesa · Nafisah · Nafeesah