Entry № 8791 · Arabic origin

Rokhaya Rokhaya — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ roh-KAI-ah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Arabic
Meaning
"Wolof Ruqayya (Senegalese + Rokhaya Diallo activist journalist)"
Syllables
2
First recorded
Medieval (Wolof)

A name that means "wolof ruqayya (senegalese + rokhaya diallo activist journalist)".

Rokhaya is from the Wolof / Pulaar Rokhaya — West African rendition of Arabic رُقَيَّة daughter of Prophet Muhammad. Rokhaya is one of the Senegalese + Wolof feminine names — central to traditional West African Muslim heritage. Notable bearer: Rokhaya Diallo (born 1978) — French-Senegalese journalist + filmmaker + author anti-racism + intersectional feminist activist Georgetown University Gender+ Justice Initiative Washington Post columnist + Director of documentary Where Are You Going? (2024) about post-Charlie Hebdo French Muslim identity.

Wolof Ruqayya (Senegalese + Rokhaya Diallo activist journalist) — a Arabic name.

The name in its native script.

Rokhaya
Transliteration
Rokhaya
Pronunciation
/ roʊˈkaɪ.ə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Rokhaya stands.

Rokhaya does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Rokhayas before her.

Real people
Rokhaya Diallo
French-Senegalese journalist + Washington Post + Where Are You Going? 2024.
born 1978
In fiction
Rokhaya
Wolof Ruqayya variant.

Names connected to Rokhaya.

The number behind Rokhaya.

7

The Seeker

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Rokhaya reduce to 7, The Seeker. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.