Boy · Arabic · Muslim
Rahim
رحیمSay it ra-HEEM
- Meaning today
- Merciful, kind, compassionate
- Original meaning
- "merciful, having much mercy; an epithet of God, also used of people" Lane, p. 1057
- Say it
- ra-HEEM
- Written
- رحیم
- Other spellings
- Raheem, Rahem
Rahim
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Rahim meaning
Rahim (رحیم) is a Muslim boy's name of Arabic origin.
Merciful, having much mercy; an epithet of God, also used of people
Also used to mean: kind, compassionate
Rahim (رحیم) is the Arabic raḥīm, from the root r-ḥ-m, whose noun raḥma Lane's lexicon explains as tenderness of heart. Lane gives raḥīm as an intensive form, "having much mercy". Al-Raḥīm, "the Merciful", is a name of God, paired with al-Raḥmān in the bismillah that begins every surah but one and in the Fatiha (1:3), yet Lane notes that, unlike al-Raḥmān, raḥīm may also describe a person. Name lists give Rahim as "merciful" or "kind". In India the name recalls Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, the Mughal general whose Hindi couplets, Rahim ke dohe, remain widely known.
Source: Lane, An Arabic–English Lexicon (1863–93), p. 1057 · entry raḥīm (رَحِيمٌ), root r-ḥ-m · See the entry
In the Quran: 1:3 (al-raḥīm (ٱلرَّحِيمِ)) · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Lane, Arabic–English Lexicon, raḥīm, al-Raḥmān, pp. 1056–1057 · Quran 1:3 · Wikipedia, Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan
Famous namesakes
- Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan (Rahim), Mughal-era poet of Hindi dohas
Popularity abroad
- #811 England and Wales, boys 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Rahim · Raheem · Rahem