Zaynab, also spelled as Zainab, Zaenab, Zayneb, Zeinab, Zenab, Zineb, Zinab, Zynab, Zaineb, and Zeynep. (Arabic: زينب, [ˈzeːnæb, ˈziːnæb, ˈzajnab]) is an Arabic female given name meaning "a fragrant tree". However, it may also mean "adornment of a father" or "father's jewel" with zain meaning "adornment" or "decoration" and ab meaning "father."
Zaynab is the name of a daughter and a granddaughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and two of his wives: Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zaynab bint Khuzayma.
In 2021, the Chicago Tribune found that Zeinab was the most popular name for girls among names unusually frequent in Michigan, "17.2 times more common than nationwide."
Bosnian forms of the name are "Zeineb", "Zejneb" and "Zejneba", the Somali form of the name is Seynab, and the Turkish form is Zeynep.
People
- Zainab Abbas, Pakistani sports presenter
- Zaynab al-Awadiya, medieval physician
- Zainab Ahmad, American prosecutor
- Zainab Ahmed, Nigerian politician
- Zainab bint Muhammad, daughter of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and Muhammad. Mother of Umamah wife of Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
- Zaynab bint Ali, daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the sister of Husayn ibn Ali, and granddaughter of Muhammad
- Zaynab bint Khuzayma, a wife of Muhammad
- Zaynab bint Jahsh, a wife of Muhammad
- Zaynab Dosso, Italian sprinter
- Zeinab Sade Elhawary, American politician and community organizer
- Zeinab Soleimani, manager of the Qasem Soleimani Foundation International, daughter of Qasem Soleimani
- Zainab Chottani
- Zainab Cobbold, Anglo-Scot convert to Islam
- Zainab Fasiki
- Zeynab Jalalian, a Kurdish Iranian, often described as a political activist
- Zainab Johnson, an American actress and comedian
- Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyat, an influential figure in the Almoravid movement
- Zeinab Badawi, Sudanese-British television and radio journalist for the BBC
- Zainab Khawla (born 1969), Syrian politician
- Zainab al-Khawaja, Bahraini human rights activist
- Zainab Tari (a queen of Sindh)
- Zainab Masood, a character in the British TV soap opera EastEnders
- Zainab Biisheva (1908–1996), Bashkir poet and writer
- Zeynab bint Al-Harith, Jewish woman who poisoned Muhammad
- Zainab Salbi (b. 1969), American activist