A Name Story by Houdhoud
شَاكِرَة
Shakira
SHAA-ki-rah
“Thankful, grateful.”
About Shakira
Shakira is a Muslim baby girl's name meaning "thankful, grateful" — an Arabic name carried for centuries across the Muslim world.
From the Arabic root ش-ك-ر meaning 'to give thanks'. The feminine active participle: one who is grateful. (Ash-Shakur, 'the Appreciative', is one of the names of God; Shakira is the ordinary human form.)
Used across the Arab world and South Asia; internationally recognisable.
Origin & roots
Origin
Arabic
Gender
Girl
Also spelled
Shakirah, Shaakira
Root letters
In Arabic, root letters are the seed that gives a word its meaning. Every word built from them inherits that family of meaning — and Shakira is one such word.
How to say it
Stressed syllable in capitals
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Common questions about Shakira
- What does the name Shakira mean?
- Shakira (شَاكِرَة) means "Thankful, grateful". From the Arabic root ش-ك-ر meaning 'to give thanks'. The feminine active participle: one who is grateful. (Ash-Shakur, 'the Appreciative', is one of the names of God; Shakira is the ordinary human form.)
- Is Shakira a name from the Qur'an?
- Shakira does not appear directly in the Qur'an in our verified records, though it is an Arabic name long carried across the Muslim world. We only list a Qur'anic verse when it's verified against the Tanzil corpus.
- Is Shakira a boy or a girl name?
- Shakira is traditionally a girl's name.
- Where does the name Shakira come from?
- Shakira is an Arabic name, built on the root letters SH-K-R. Used across the Arab world and South Asia; internationally recognisable.
- How is Shakira spelled?
- Shakira is the most common English spelling. The same Arabic name (شَاكِرَة) is also written Shakirah and Shaakira. They are one name, not different names — the spelling only reflects how each family or country transliterates the Arabic.
Browse names like Shakira
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