Girl · Persian · Muslim
Shaista
شائستہSay it SHAA-is-ta
- Meaning today
- Polite, well-mannered, civilised
- Original meaning
- "worthy, honourable; suitable, decent; well-bred, polite" Steingass, p. 728
- Say it
- SHAA-is-ta
- Written
- شائستہ
- Other spellings
- Shayista, Shaistah, Shaaista
Shaista
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Shaista meaning
Shaista (شائستہ) is a Muslim girl's name of Persian origin.
Worthy, honourable; suitable, decent; well-bred, polite
Also used to mean: well-mannered, civilised
Shaista (شائستہ) is the Persian shāyista, from shāyistan, "to befit, to be worthy". Steingass's Persian dictionary defines it as worthy and honourable, suitable and decent, and well-bred or polite; the noun shāyistagī means fitness, propriety and affability. In Urdu, shāʾista is the everyday word for cultured, well-mannered speech and conduct. Name lists give Shaista as "polite" or "well-mannered", which matches. In Mughal India the word also formed men's titles, as with Shaista Khan, governor of Bengal under Aurangzeb, but today it is a girls' name.
Source: Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian–English Dictionary (1892), p. 728 · entry shāyista (شایسته) · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Steingass, Persian–English Dictionary, shāyista, p. 728 · Wikipedia, Shaista Khan
Famous namesakes
- Shaista Khan, Mughal governor of Bengal
Spellings
Shaista · Shayista · Shaistah · Shaaista