Halimah
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- ha-LEE-ma
- Origin
- Arabic
- UK rank, 2025
- #1,247 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #5,409 for girls
Halimah is a girls' name of Arabic origin, meaning “gentle, patient”. In 2025 it ranked 1,247th for girls in the UK (27 babies) and 5,409th for girls in the US (23 babies).
What does Halimah mean?
Arabic: spelling of Halima
“gentle, patient”
Fuller spelling of Halima; Halimah al-Sadiyah was the Prophet Muhammad's foster mother.
Is Halimah a girl's or a boy's name?
Halimah is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 27 girls in the UK and 23 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Halimah in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 1,247th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 27 about 1 in 10,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Steady down 12% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 27 girls in the UK were named Halimah, making it the 1,247th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 845th. Its busiest year was 2012, with 50 girls.
Half of all the girls named Halimah in the UK since 1996 were born between 2004 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 230 girls in the UK were given Halimah or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #232, up from #1,247 for this spelling alone.
Among girls in 2025, it was 1,197th in England and Wales.
Halimah in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 27 | #1,247 |
| 2024 | 31 | #1,143 |
| 2023 | 33 | #1,107 |
| 2022 | 23 | #1,452 |
| 2021 | 37 | #1,011 |
| 2020 | 46 | #845 |
| 2019 | 32 | #1,129 |
| 2018 | 26 | #1,335 |
| 2017 | 23 | #1,497 |
| 2016 | 34 | #1,096 |
| 2015 | 34 | #1,108 |
| 2014 | 22 | #1,494 |
| 2013 | 34 | #1,117 |
| 2012 | 50 | #831 |
| 2011 | 32 | #1,141 |
| 2010 | 33 | #1,080 |
| 2009 | 22 | #1,411 |
| 2008 | 27 | #1,176 |
| 2007 | 28 | #1,117 |
| 2006 | 31 | #1,000 |
| 2005 | 34 | #883 |
| 2004 | 32 | #910 |
| 2003 | 40 | #741 |
| 2002 | 37 | #750 |
| 2001 | 36 | #751 |
| 2000 | 39 | #692 |
| 1999 | 28 | #861 |
| 1998 | 18 | #1,199 |
| 1997 | 14 | #1,387 |
| 1996 | 9 | #1,862 |
How popular is Halimah in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 5,409th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 23 about 1 in 70,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 30% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 23 girls in the US were named Halimah, making it the 5,409th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 6,625th. It first appears in the records in 1975.
2025 had the most girls named Halimah of any year since it first appeared, in 1975.
Half of all the girls named Halimah in the US since 1880 were born between 1994 and 2017, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 146 girls in the US were given Halimah or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #1,293, up from #5,409 for this spelling alone.
Halimah in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 23 | #5,409 |
| 2024 | 16 | #6,928 |
| 2023 | 18 | #6,404 |
| 2022 | 16 | #6,979 |
| 2021 | 16 | #6,962 |
| 2020 | 17 | #6,625 |
| 2019 | 13 | #8,134 |
| 2018 | 14 | #7,758 |
| 2017 | 16 | #7,088 |
| 2016 | 14 | #7,985 |
| 2015 | 7 | #13,001 |
| 2014 | 12 | #8,961 |
| 2013 | 13 | #8,575 |
| 2012 | 9 | #11,251 |
| 2011 | 12 | #9,146 |
| 2010 | 13 | #8,697 |
| 2009 | 19 | #6,808 |
| 2008 | 14 | #8,525 |
| 2007 | 14 | #8,516 |
| 2006 | 18 | #6,838 |
| 2005 | 13 | #8,325 |
| 2004 | 11 | #9,259 |
| 2003 | 11 | #9,043 |
| 2002 | 12 | #8,274 |
| 2001 | 14 | #7,311 |
| 2000 | 13 | #7,574 |
| 1999 | 13 | #7,233 |
| 1998 | 13 | #7,099 |
| 1997 | 12 | #7,278 |
| 1996 | 10 | #8,127 |
| 1995 | 0 | – |
| 1994 | 10 | #8,116 |
| 1993 | 10 | #8,045 |
| 1992 | 7 | #10,471 |
| 1991 | 11 | #7,423 |
| 1990 | 9 | #8,495 |
| 1989 | 18 | #4,842 |
| 1988 | 5 | #11,792 |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 7 | #8,315 |
| 1984 | 5 | #10,417 |
| 1983 | 9 | #6,703 |
| 1982 | 10 | #6,369 |
| 1981 | 10 | #6,321 |
| 1980 | 7 | #8,177 |
| 1979 | 8 | #7,311 |
| 1978 | 7 | #7,647 |
| 1977 | 8 | #6,890 |
| 1976 | 0 | – |
| 1975 | 5 | #9,065 |
Names like Halimah
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Aaliyah, Safa, Nusaybah, Sumayyah, Zainab, Ruqayyah, Hafsa, Hiba, Ayah, Aaminah, Umaymah, Safiya
Other spellings of Halimah
Names related to Halimah
More Arabic names
Muhammad, Layla, Mohammed, Lyla, Mohammad, Zara, Amir, Amira, Fatima, Ali, Yahya, Zayn, Aisha, Omar, Zahra, Hamza
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Halimah: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/halimah, updated 20 October 2026.