All names
Kahina
كاهنةIn ArabicⴽⴰⵀⵉⵏⴰIn Tifinagh
- Meaning
- Arabic nickname 'the woman soothsayer', given to the Amazigh queen Dihya by her enemies
- About the name
- Kahina is Arabic for a woman soothsayer. Her Muslim opponents gave this nickname to the Berber queen Dihya, who led resistance to the Arab conquest; her own Berber name is Dihya. Haddadou notes that Kabyles kept the name Kahina in her honour.
- For
- A girl
- Origin
- Amazigh, Arabic
- Other spellings
- Cahina, Kahena
Islamic naming guidance
- Discouraged
- Scholars differ about this name.
Draft: not yet reviewed by a scholar. This is not a fatwa.
Harmful or shameful meaning: disliked
Kahina is the Arabic word for a woman soothsayer, the nickname Dihya's Muslim opponents gave her. A hadith in Sahih Muslim (2230) warns against visiting diviners, so some may dislike the meaning as a name. The naming rules do not cover this case, so it is a scholar's call; in Kabylia the name is used to honour the resistance queen.
Confidence: low
Sources