Girl · Arabic · Muslim
Rehana
ریحانہSay it ray-HAA-naa
- Meaning today
- Sweet basil, fragrant
- Original meaning
- "a sweet-smelling plant; sweet basil" Lane, p. 1181–1182
- Say it
- ray-HAA-naa
- Written
- ریحانہ
- Other spellings
- Rihana, Rayhana, Raihana, Reyhana
Rehana
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Rehana meaning
Rehana (ریحانہ) is a Muslim girl's name of Arabic origin.
A sweet-smelling plant; sweet basil
Also used to mean: fragrant
Rehana is the South Asian spelling of Arabic rayḥāna, the singular of rayḥān, 'any sweet-smelling plant', and in particular sweet basil. Lane's lexicon gives rayḥān in that sense and also, figuratively, as a bounty or gift of God and the means of subsistence. Lane records a saying in which the Prophet Muhammad called his grandsons al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn 'my two rayḥānas', a tender image of children as fragrant plants. Rayḥān itself appears in the Quran (55:12), where aromatic plants are listed among the gifts of the earth. Baby-name lists give 'sweet basil' or 'fragrant', the dictionary sense. The masculine form is Rehan.
Source: Lane, An Arabic–English Lexicon, Book I, Part 3 (1867), p. 1181–1182 · entry رَيْحَانَة (under رَيْحَان, root روح) · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Lane, rayḥān and rayḥāna, pp. 1181–1182 (scan of p. 1182) · Quran 55:12 (quran.com)
Spellings
Rehana · Rihana · Rayhana · Raihana · Reyhana