Farah, or Farrah, is a feminine given name in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, among other languages. Derived from the concept of

Khvarenah ''Khvarenah'' (also spelled ''khwarenah'' or ''xwarra(h)'': ) is an Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept literally denoting "glory" or "splendour" but understood as a divine mystical force or power projected upon and aiding the appointed. The ...

(divine radiance,

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

) in

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

, it has more recently risen in popularity in the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...

due to association with the American celebrities

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a ...

(1947–2009) and Farrah Abraham (born 1991); the name Farrah was among the top 1,000 names for newborn girls in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

between 1976 and 1980, between 1987 and 1988, and again between 2010 and 2016.

Arabic

Farah (

: فَرَح, ''faraḥ'') is an Arabic female given name and sometimes male given name meaning "happiness, joy, gladness, gleefulness, joyful, joyfulness, merriment, rejoice" The name is based on the Arabic root ف ر ح (f-r-ḥ), variants from the root are: * Faruh/ Farouh (

: فَرُوح, ''farūḥ'') - male given name * Farhat/ Farhaat (

: فَرْحَات, ''farḥāt'') - male given name (but the written form is in the female plural form), the female form below is Farhah. * Farhan/ Farhaan (

: فَرْحَان, ''farḥān'') - male given name * Afrah/ Afraah (

: أَفْرَاح, ''afrāḥ'') - female given name in the plural or

superlative The degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs are the various forms taken by adjectives and adverbs when used to compare two entities (comparative degree), three or more entities (superlative degree), or when not comparing entities (positi ...

form * Fariha/ Fareeha (

: فَرِيحَة, ''farīḥah'') - female given name * Farhah (

: فَرْحَة, ''farḥah'') - female given name, the female form of Farhaat above * Farhah/ Faarhah (

: فَارْحَة, ''fārḥah'') -

gender-neutral Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, Gender-neutral language, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) ...

form, uncommonly used * Farah/ Faarah (

: فَارَح, ''fāraḥ'') -

form, uncommonly used

Persian

Farah (

: فَرَح, ''faraḥ''), the same as the Arabic meaning as mentioned above. Farrah/ Khwarrah ( Pahlavi: ''xwarrah'') or Khvaraenah (

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

: ( Farah salman),), in Avestan or Pahlavi meaning 'glory'. The Avestan or Pahlavi word-name used in

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

texts or name and is completely different from the Arabic.

People with the nickname

* Oisín Gallen (born 1999/2000), Gaelic footballer

People with the given name

Farah

* Farah (actress), Indian actress * Farah Zeynep Abdullah (born 1989), Turkish actress * Farah Damji (born 1966), British criminal *

Farah Fath Farah LeeAllen Fath Galfond (born May 1, 1984) is an American actress. She portrayed Mimi Lockhart on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' from 1999 to 2007, and Gigi Morasco on the ABC Daytime soap opera ''One Life to Live'' from 2007 to 20 ...

(born 1984), American actress *

Farah Guled Farah Guled (, ) was a Somali ruler. He was the second Grand Sultan of the Isaaq Sultanate and also a Hajji having completed pilgrimage to Mecca. Biography Son of Sultan Guled, he was amongst the first generation of the Ba Ambaro branch of the e ...

(died 1845), 3rd Grand Sultan of the

Isaaq The Isaaq (, , ''Banu Ishaq'') is a major Somali clans, Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. The Isaaq people claim in a traditional legend ...

clan * Farah Hussein (born 2001), Egyptian gymnast * Farah Ali Jama, Somali economist and politician * Farah Jacquet (born 1985), Belgian politician *

Farah Khan Farah Khan Kunder (; born 9 January 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, film producer, actress, dancer and choreographer who works predominantly in Hindi films. Khan has choreographed more than a hundred songs in over 80 films, winning th ...

(born 1965), Indian choreographer and director * Farah Mendlesohn (born 1968), British academic * Farah Nur (1862-1932), warrior and poet of the

clan *

Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi (; []; born 14 October 1938) is the former Queen and last Empress () of Pahlavi Iran and is the third wife and widow of the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. She was born into a prosperous Ira ...

(born 1938), Iranian empress consort * Farah Shah (born 1972), Pakistani actress and host

Farrah

* Farrah Abraham (born 1991), American television personality *

(1947–2009), American actress *

Farrah Franklin Farrah Laron Franklin (born May 3, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress. She is also a former member of the girl group Destiny's Child. Along with Michelle Williams, she replaced the group's original members LaTavia Roberson and LeToya ...

(born 1981), American singer *

Farrah Forke Farrah Rachael Forke (January 12, 1968 – February 25, 2022) was an American actress best known for her roles as Alex Lambert on the NBC sitcom '' Wings'' and Mayson Drake on '' Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. She also voice ...

(born 1968), American actress * Farrah Hall (born 1981), American sports sailor * Farrah Moan (born 1993), American drag queen and entertainer * Farrah Yousef (born 1989), Syrian singer

People with the surname

Farah

* Abdulrahim Abby Farah (1919–2018), Somali diplomat and politician * Caesar E. Farah (1929–2009), American scholar and historian * Cynthia Farah (born 1949), American writer and photographer * Elias Farah (1928–2013), Syrian writer and thinker *

Hassan Abshir Farah Hassan Abshir Farah (, ; June 20, 1945 – July 12, 2020) was a Somali politician. He previously served as mayor of Mogadishu and interior minister of Puntland. From November 12, 2001 to November 8, 2003, he was also prime minister of Somalia. ...

(1945–2020), Somali politician *

Joseph Farah Joseph Francis Farah (born July 6, 1954) is an American author, journalist, and editor-in-chief of the far-right website ''WorldNetDaily'' ''(WND)''. Farah gained prominence for promoting conspiracy theories surrounding the suicide of Vince Fo ...

(born 1954), American journalist and writer * Kenza Farah (born 1986), French-Algerian singer * Martha Farah (born 1955), American psychologist *

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

(born 1983), Somali-British track and field athlete *

Nuruddin Farah Nuruddin Farah (, ) (born 24 November 1945) is a Somali novelist. His first novel, '' From a Crooked Rib'', was published in 1970 and has been described as "one of the cornerstones of modern East African literature today". Farah has also written ...

(born 1945), Somali writer * Robbie Farah (born 1984), Australian rugby league footballer *

Robert Farah (tennis) Robert Charbel Farah Maksoud (; born 20 January 1987) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. A List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, he also reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 163 in J ...

(born 1987), Colombian tennis player

Farrah

Abd'Elkader Farrah Abd’Elkader Farrah (1926-2005) was a self-taught painter who later became a theatre designer of international standing. Farrah taught theatre design at Strasbourg (1955-1961) and, as guest, at the National Theatre School of Canada (1968–69). In ...

(1926–2005), Algerian painter and stage designer * Georges Farrah (born 1957), Canadian politician * John Farrah (1849–1907), British grocer, confectioner, biologist and meteorologist * Pat Farrah, American retail executive * Saleh Ali Farrah, Tanzanian politician * Shamek Farrah, American saxophone player

Fictional characters

* Farah, a character in the American television series ''Sleeper Cell'', played by

Sarah Shahi Aahoo Jahansouzshahi ( Persian: آهو جهانسوز شاهی; born January 10, 1980), known professionally as Sarah Shahi, is an American actress. She played Carmen on ''The L Word'' in 2005, Kate Reed in the USA Network legal drama '' Fairly L ...

* Farah Black, a character in the American television series ''

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' is a humorous detective novel by English writer Douglas Adams, published in 1987. It is described by the author on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romanti ...

'', played by Jade Eshete * Farah, a character in the video game series ''

Prince of Persia ''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia. The first two ga ...

'' * Farah Oersted, a character in the video game '' Tales of Eternia'' * Fareeha Amari, known as Pharah, a character in the videogame ''

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' was released in 2016 with a success ...

'' * Farah Karim, a character in the video game '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)'', played by Claudia Doumit * Amy Farrah Fowler, a character in the American television series ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

'', played by Mayim Bialik * Farah Dowling, a character in the reboot Netflix series '' Fate: The Winx Saga'' and connected works, played by Eve Best

References

{{Reflist Surnames of Somali origin Arabic-language feminine given names Feminine given names Unisex given names

Arabic

Persian

People with the nickname

People with the given name

Farah

Farrah

People with the surname

Farah

Farrah

Fictional characters

See also

References