What are your opinions on the name Safiya?

Love it, beautiful name

I would go for the double ff - Saffiya. I have known a few girls with this name over the years and it's lovely. Alhthough they have a variety of spellings - Safiya, Suffiyah, Safiyah...

I don't but only because in my language/culture it is a very old name normally associated with old ladies but not in a retro good way if that makes sense BUT with everything, if you love it - go for it! X

Lovely name! I think she may have trouble with people confusing it with "Sophia" though.

MN really does exist in its own bubble sometimes. Where do some of you live? Chipping Norton? (As an aside DH and me went to chipping norton on holiday. Wow. It was like something out of the league of gentleman. I mean it was beautiful like all of the Cotswolds but we were the only brown faces that we saw for DAYS. Felt sooo weird. Then we saw another ethnic couple and got really excited. 'Look. Black people!!')

You realise that vast swathes of the U.K. are almost exclusively white Brits?!?

I like the name

I really like it too. Very pretty name.

Oh Henry is a heavy name, i knew a dour Henry once and it must be because he was weighed down by his name. Must have been cos of all those kings.

Sounds ridiculous doesnt it?

Totally agree neon. MN baby name board really disappoints me at times.

the ones I've known who were called Safiyah seemed to be overloaded/weighed down by it.

What does that even mean?

I'm from a small town in NI and in comparison to the rest of the Uk we aren't known for our multiculturism. I haven't travelled much at all but I've heard of the name safiya many times with different variations on spellings. I was under the impression it was a pretty popular name. Yes there would be questions on spelling but you have to do that with Catherine or Lindsay or Rebecca.

Wowee so people should avoid drawing attention when naming their children of different ethnicities so that racists don't notice them and give them a hard time?
That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on mumsnet.

I think it's really pretty , I like Zarin and Amanah too.

So.....because some people are racist and some are ignorant and some have to ask a spelling all us ethnic people should just call our kids Eva and Milo and Tabitha??

MN really does exist in its own bubble sometimes. Where do some of you live? Chipping Norton? (As an aside DH and me went to chipping norton on holiday. Wow. It was like something out of the league of gentleman. I mean it was beautiful like all of the Cotswolds but we were the only brown faces that we saw for DAYS. Felt sooo weird. Then we saw another ethnic couple and got really excited. 'Look. Black people!!')

In 36 years I've had to spell my name a lot. A. Lot. Big whoop.

Saffiya isn't even an unusual name!

To eatspam

To be honest racists will be racist anyway if you are Muslim, not because of a name.

Love it, it's gorgeous.
I'm a bit surprised that people don't recognise it as a name, I'm from a rather white area but even I know this is a name that isn't even that unusual. It definitely doesn't look yoonique, it just looks lovely.

How are you pronouncing it? I've known several Safia s (saf - ee - ya ) which I think sounds pretty. Or are you going for saf - eye - ya? I'm not so keen on that, personally. But I don't find it offensive in any way.

^^ exactly this, neonrainbow

Lovely!

Lovely.

I think it's beautiful and timeless. I live in a big city with a large Muslim population so it's a familiar (though not over-used) name to me. There have often been Safiya's in the schools I've worked in but not lots of them. Go for it :)

That's thing though, there are A LOT of uneducated people out there. If someone can look at my daughter's (fairly common) Irish name and ask a shed load of questions about vowels, the IRA (FFS!) and all manner of other totally unrelated shit then they will do it about anything. It doesn't make the people on this thread uneducated, unworldly or anything else it means they know that there are people out there who don't understand anything out of the ordinary. My UKIP loving neighbour would have a frigging field day with it like she did when she heard the name of my youngest DD.

As for the name I don't like it but then I also don't like Sophia.

Congratulations on your baby. I think Safiya is a beautiful name and it can be shorted to Safi too.

I can't believe some of the responses on here but these people would have had something unkind to say whatever name you chose.

You'd have to be a bit uneducated/igjorant to think it was just a unique spelling

Can't believe some of these responses. It's a lovely name and easily recognisable.

I love it - and I know one who is one of the kindest, most helpful and most cheerful people I've ever met!