''Yahya'' (), also spelled '' Yehya'', is an Arabic male

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

. It is an Arabic form of the

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

given name ''

Yohanan Yohanan ('), sometimes transcribed as Johanan, is a Hebrew male given name that can also appear in the longer form of ('), meaning "YHWH is gracious". The name is ancient, recorded as the name of Johanan, high priest of the Second Temple around ...

'' () of

John the Baptist in Islam Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā (), identified Biblically as John the Baptist, is considered in Islam a prophet of God who was sent to guide the Children of Israel. He was the maternal cousin of Isa (Jesus) and believed by Muslims to have been a witness ...

, who is considered

a prophet ''A Prophet'' () is a 2009 French prison crime film directed by Jacques Audiard with a screenplay by Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri and Nicolas Peufaillit, from a story by Dafri. The film stars Tahar Rahim in the title role as an ...

. For this reason, Yahya is a comparatively common name in the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

. The related Biblical name of Jehiah () has the Arabic form ''Yaḥiyyā'' ().,Van Dyck Bible
1 Chronicles 15:24 with the exact Arabic consonantal text as the name Yahya.

Mononym

* Yahya ibn Sarafyun (9th century), Arab medical writer known in medieval Europe as Johannes Serapion * Yahya ibn Khalid (died 806), Vizier of the

Barmakids The Barmakids ( ''Barmakiyân''; ''al-Barāmikah''Harold Bailey, 1943. "Iranica" BSOAS 11: p. 2. India - Department of Archaeology, and V. S. Mirashi (ed.), ''Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era'' vol. 4 of ''Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum' ...

Yahya ibn Umar Yaḥyā ibn ʿUmar was an Alid Imam. In the days of the Abbasid caliph Al-Musta'in, he marched out from Kufa and lead an abortive uprising from Kufa in 250 A.H. (864-65 C.E.), but was killed by the Abbasid forces led by Husayn ibn Isma'il, wh ...

ibn Yahya ibn Husayn ibn

Zayd ibn Ali Zayd ibn ʿAlī (; 695–740), also spelled Zaid, was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, and great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib. He led an unsuccessful revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate, in which he died. The event gave rise to t ...

ibn

Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd a ...

, Alid imam * Yahya ibn al-Batriq (fl. 796–806), translator of Greek scientific texts *

Yahya ibn Asad Yahya ibn Asad (died 855) was a Samanid ruler of Shash (819–855) and Samarkand (851/852–855). He was a son of Asad. In 819, Yahya was granted authority over the city of Shash by Caliph Al-Ma'mun's governor of Khurasan, Ghassan ibn 'Abbad, as ...

(died 855), Samanid ruler of Shash (819–855) and Samarkand (851/852–855) *

Yahya ibn Muhammad Yahya ibn Muhammad (; died 863) was the fifth Idrisid ruler of Morocco. Life Yahya was a younger son of the fourth Idrisid emir, Muhammad ibn Idris, and took over the rule in Morocco after the death of his brother Ali I in January 849. Fo ...

(829-863),

Idrisid The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids ( ') were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid dynasty descended from Mu ...

ruler (848–863) * Yahya ibn Yahya (died 874), sixth Idrisid ruler and sultan of Morocco *

Yahya of Antioch Yahya of Antioch, full name Yaḥya ibn Saʿīd al-Anṭākī (), was a Melkite Christian physician and historian of the 11th century. He was most likely born in Fatimid Egypt. He became a physician, but the anti-Christian policies of Caliph Al ...

(died 1066), 11th-century Syrian chronicler *

Yahya ibn al-Mundhir Yahya ibn al-Mundhir al-Tuğībī al-Mudhaffar () was the second head of the Banu Tujib clan and emir of the Taifa of Zaragoza The taifa of Zaragoza () was an independent Arab Muslim state in the east of Al-Andalus (present-day Spain) with i ...

(died 1036), 11th century ruler of the

Taifa of Zaragoza The taifa of Zaragoza () was an independent Arab Muslim state in the east of Al-Andalus (present-day Spain) with its capital in Saraqusta (Zaragoza) city. It was established in the early 11th century as one of the many Taifa kingdoms that foll ...

Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi ( nisba of Sirhind in Punjab) was a 15th century Indian Muslim historian who wrote ''Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi'', a Persian language chronicle of the Delhi Sultanate. Written during the reign of Mubarak Shah, his work is ...

, 15th century Persian language writer from the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

* Count Alexander of Montenegro (1585–1649), birth name Yahya, son of Sultan Mehmed III, a

Christian convert A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

and a

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term may often be used to either refer to a descendant of a deposed monarchy or a claim that is not legitimat ...

to the Ottoman throne * Yahya bey Dukagjini (1498–1582), Ottoman diwan poet

Given name

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films ''Aquaman'' (2018) and '' Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal d ...

(born 1986), American actor * Yahya Al-Shehri (born 1990), Saudi footballer *

Yahya Ayyash Yahya Abd-al-Latif Ayyash (, ; 6 March 1966 – 5 January 1996) was the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In that capacity, he earned the nickname "the Engineer" (). Ayyash ...

(1966–1996), member and chief bombmaker of Hamas *

Yahya Black Yahya Black (born April 21, 2002) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was selected by the Steelers in the ...

(born 2002), American football player * Yahya El Hindi (born 1998), Lebanese footballer * Yahya Goba, Yemeni-American terrorist suspect arrested and charged as part of the War on Terror together with the other members of the "Lackawanna Six" *

Yahya Golmohammadi Yahya Golmohammadi (; born 19 March 1971) is an Iranian association football, football coach and a former player who coaches Persian Gulf Pro League club Foolad F.C., Foolad. He is one of only eleven Iranians to score in a FIFA World Cup, World ...

(born 1971), Iranian footballer *

Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (or Imam Yahya) (, 18 June 1869 – 17 February 1948) was the first king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen from 1918 until his assassination in 1948. He became Imam of the Zaydis, a branch of Shia Islam, in 1904 af ...

(1869–1948), imam of the Zaydis (1904) and king of Yemen (1926) * Yahya Hassan (1995–2020), Palestinian-Danish poet and political activist *

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 ...

(born 1965), president of The Gambia *

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

(1917–1980), former Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff * Yahya Mahmassani (born 1935), Lebanese diplomat * Yahyah Michot (1952–2025), Belgian Islamologist and academic *

Yahya Rahim Safavi Yahya "Rahim" Safavi (, born 1952) is an Iranian military commander who served as the chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Currently , Safavi is serving as a senior military advisor to the leader of the Islamic revolution. Ad ...

(born 1958), commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) *

Yahya Sinwar Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar (; 29 October 1962 – 16 October 2024) was a Palestinian militant and politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from August 2024, and as the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from February ...

(1962–2024), Palestinian politician * Mirza Yahya Nuri, Subh-i Azal (1831–1912), Persian religious leader of Azali Bábism *

Yahya Petra of Kelantan Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim ( Jawi: ; 10 December 1917 – 29 March 1979) was Sultan of Kelantan from 1960, and the sixth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch of Malaysia, from 1975, until his death in 1979. E ...

(1917–1979), sixth

King of Malaysia The King of Malaysia, officially ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'' ( Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), is the constitutional monarch and Figurehead, ceremonial head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957, when the Federation of Malaya gained ...

(829–864), fifth Idrisid ruler of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

* Yahya ibn Yahya (died 866), sixth Idrisid ruler

Yahya ibn al-Qasim Yahya III ibn al-Qasim () was an Idrisid ruler of Morocco. Life Yahya was the son of al-Qasim, a younger son of the second Idrisid ruler of Morocco, Idris II (). The family of al-Qasim controlled northern Morocco, with the cities of Tangier, ...

(died 905), eighth Idrisid ruler of

* Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar (died 946), ninth Idrisid ruler of

Yahya ibn Ibrahim Yahya Ibn Ibrahim () (c. 1048) N. Levtzion and J. F. P. Hopkins, ''Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History'' (Cambridge, 1981) was a leader of the Godala tribe in the Adrar plateau modern day Mauritania. Yahya Ibn Ibrahim's primary ...

, one of the founders of the

Almoravid dynasty The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Umar ibn Talagagin ibn Turgut ibn Wartasin, commonly suffixed al-Lamtuni al-Sanhaji, (d. near Azuggi, 1056; Arabic : يحيى إبن عمر) was a chieftain of the Lamtuna, a tribe in the Sanhaja confederation. Yahya ibn ...

(died 1056), chieftain of

Lamtuna The Lamtuna () are a nomadic Berber tribe belonging to the Iẓnagen / Sanhaja (Zenaga) confederation, who traditionally inhabited areas from Sous to Adrar Plateau. During the Almoravid period, many Lamtunas emigrated northwards. Currently, the L ...

and the first emir of the Almoravids *

Makhdoom Yahya Maneri Kamaluddin Yahya Maneri (; Died 1323) popularly known as Makhdoom Yahya Maneri was an Indian Sufi saint of the 13th century. His tomb is known as Badi Dargah, near a mosque located in Maner Sharif, 29 km from Patna, Bihar, India. Early life an ...

(died 1323), sufi of the Suhrawardi and the Maner Sharif Khanqa in

Maner, Bihar Maner, also known as Maner Sharif, is a historic town and a block in Patna district of Bihar, India. Situated approximately 24 km west of Patna on NH-922, it is renowned for its Mughal-era dargahs and as an important Sufi pilgrimage center. ...

Surname

Umm Hakim bint Yahya Umm Hakim bint Yahya () was an 8th-century Umayyad noblewoman and famous principal wife of the tenth Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Life At first, One of Yahya's daughters, Amina, was wed to Abd al-Malik's son, Hisham.Robinson, p. 153. h ...

, wife of caliph Hisham. *

Ahmad bin Yahya Ahmad bin Yahya Hamidaddin (; June 18, 1891 – September 19, 1962) was the penultimate king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, who reigned from 1948 to 1962. His full name and title was Majesty, H.M. al-Nasir-li-Dinullah Ahmad bin al-Mutawak ...

(1891–1962), Yemeni imam * Ali Yahya (1947–2014), Israeli Arab diplomat *

Izz al-Din Yahya ʻIzz ad-Dīn Yaḥyā (; ; died 1338) was the Governor of the provincial Satgaon who reigned from 1328 to 1338. History Izzuddin was appointed the governor under the Tughlaq Delhi Sultanate. Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah took service under Izzuddin. Izzu ...

(died 1338), 14th-century ruler of Satgaon, Bengal *

Tahir Yahya Tahir Yahya (; 1916–1986) was Prime Minister of Iraq twice, from 1963 to 1965 and a short term in 1967 to 1968. He was educated at the Baghdad Military College and the Staff College. Born in Tikrit 1916, he was the 4th child to Mulla Yahya el-og ...

(1956–2007), Iraqi politician * Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq (died 1258),

Marinid The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

emir at Fez * Yaghmurasen ibn Zyan (1206-1283), also called Abu Yahya I, first sultan of the

Zayyanid dynasty The Zayyanid dynasty or Ziyanids (, ''Ziyāniyyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids (, ''Bānu ʿAbd āl-Wād'') was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of Tlemcen in northwest Algeria. Th ...

of the

Kingdom of Tlemcen The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen () was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached ...

* Abu Hafs Umar bin Yahya (died 1295), Hafsid caliph of

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

* Abu Yahya Abu Bakr ash-Shahid (died 1309),

Hafsid The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

caliph of

and a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

Abu Zakariya Yahya Abu Zakariya Yahya (, Abu Zakariya Yahya I ben Abd al-Wahid (12031249) was the founder and first sultan of the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiya. He was the grandson of Abu Hafs Umar ibn Yahya al-Hintati, the leader of the Hintata and second in command ...

(1203-1249), founder and the first sultan of the

Hafsid dynasty The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berbers, Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tu ...

* Yaish Ibn Yahya (died 1196), 10th century, son of poet

Hiyya al-Daudi Hiyya al-Daudi (born circa 1085 in Babylonia, died Kingdom of Castile, 1154) () was a prominent rabbi, composer, and poet of Andalusia. His hymns are still used in Sephardic congregations throughout the world. Hiyya al-Daudi was the son of David, s ...

and military leader for king

Afonso I of Portugal Dom Afonso IOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician languages, Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on th ...

References

{{John-surname Arabic-language surnames Arabic-language masculine given names Turkish masculine given names Masculine given names

Mononym

Given name

Surname

See also

References