Saadia ( ar, سعدية, he, סעדיה) or Saadiya is an Arabic, Hebrew and Berber masculine and feminine proper name. It is used as a forename and more rarely as a surname. According to some classical rabbinical sources, the name derives from the Hebrew verb Sa'ad ( he, סעד, support), and means "God has supported". According to researchers at the Wissenschaft des Judentums, however, it is an artificially Hebrewised form of the Arabic name Sa'id (Happy سعيد).
Wilhelm Bacher
Wilhelm Bacher ( hu, Bacher Vilmos; yi, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בּאַככֿר, he, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בכר ''Benjamin Ze'ev Bacher''; 12 January 1850 – 25 December 1913)SAADIA B. JOSEPH (Sa'id al-Fayyumi) in
Jewish Encyclopedia
''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
, éd. Funk & Wagnalls, 1901-1906 It is indeed common that in Arabic speaking countries, people called Saadia are also known as Sa'id.
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...
, who seems to have been the first to have borne this forename, and is often just referred to as "Saadia," without further explanation; signing himself 'Sa'id ben Yosef "at the beginning of his career, he went on, in his work 'Sefer haGalouï' to call himself "Saadyahou" (סעדיהו) ; Moses ibn Ezra also uses the form Sa'adel (סעדאל).
People with the given name
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Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...
(892-942), rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period
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Saadia Ibn Danan
Rabbi Saadiah ben Maimon ben Moshe ibn Danan ( he, סעדיה אבן דנאן) (born 2nd half of 15th century in Granada, Spain – died 1493(?) in Oran, Algeria) was a grammarian of Hebrew and Arabic, poet and a halachic authority. He served as ...
(died 1493), rabbi, poet, and Dayan in Grenada
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Saadia Marciano
Saadia Marciano ( he, סעדיה מרציאנו; 1 May 1950 – 21 December 2007) was an Israeli social activist and politician, and founder of the Israeli Black Panthers.
Biography
Born in Oujda, Morocco in 1950, Marciano's family immigrated to ...
(1950–2007), Israeli social activist, politician, and founder of the Black Panthers
* Saadia Himi (born 1984), Dutch model and beauty queen
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Saadia Kobashi
Saadia Kobashi ( he, סעדיה כובשי; ar, سعديه كوبشي, 1904–1990) was a leader of the Yemenite Jewish community in Israel, and one of the signatories of the country's declaration of independence.
Biography
Born in Yemen, he mi ...
(1904–1990), leader of Yemenite Jews in Israel and one of the signatories to Israel's declaration of independence
* Saadiya Kochar, Indian woman photographer and solo traveller