Shihab as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Shihab

What is the meaning of the name Shihab ?

The baby name Shihab is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ʃiˈhaːb/ — shee-HAHB.

Shihab is Arabic in Origin.

Shihab (Arabic: شهاب, shihāb) is an Arabic masculine name meaning “meteor,” “shooting star,” or “flame/torch.” It derives from the root sh-h-b, linked to blazing light, and appears in the Qur’an (e.g., 15:18; 37:10) describing fiery meteors that repel evil, lending the name connotations of brilliance, swiftness, and protective radiance.

Used across the Islamic world from early Islam onward, it frequently formed the honorific compound Shihab al-Din/Shihabuddin (“meteor of the faith”), borne by scholars and rulers such as the philosopher Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi and the historian Shihab al-Din al-Umari. In Mount Lebanon it became the dynastic surname Chehab/Chihab, notably with Emir Bashir II. Modern spellings vary by region: Shihab and Shehab (Levant, Egypt), Chihab/Chehab (French transliteration), and Shahab/Shahabuddin in Persian and South Asian usage. The name functions both as a given name and a family name.