Zulfiya

Syllable breakdown

Name meaning and origin

Origin

Tatar (Russia — Republic of Tatarstan)

Meaning

a Tatar and Central Asian feminine name from the Arabic and Persian zulfiyya or zulfa (ذلفاء) meaning ringlets of hair, curled locks, or one with beautiful curling tresses; in Persian poetry the description of a beloved's zulf (ringlets, curls of hair) is one of the most common images of beauty — the beloved's curling hair is compared to chains that bind the lover, to the winding paths of paradise, and to the coils of the serpent that tested Adam; a name meaning ringlets carries this entire tradition of Persian-Arabic poetic beauty within it, declaring the daughter to be one whose beauty is of the type celebrated in classical Islamic poetry; Zulfiya is common throughout Tatarstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan, reflecting the shared Persian-Arabic literary culture of the Islamic Persianate world; Uzbek poet Zulfiya (1915–1996) brought the name to literary prominence in Central Asia

Gender

female

Also spelled

Zulfiya, Zulfiyya, Zulfiia