Sumaya is from the Arabic Sumayya (سمية — elevated, exalted, proud). A modern American baby name in the broader Arabic-heritage aesthetic. Sumayyah bint Khabbat (d. 615 CE) — iconic foundational figure of early Islam; widely venerated as the first martyr of Islam (Shahidat al-Awwaliyya); an enslaved Abyssinian woman from Mecca who was tortured and killed by the iconic Quraysh tribesman Abu Jahl for refusing to renounce her acceptance of Islam; one of the foundational early converts to Islam — among the first 7 Muslims; mother of the foundational companion Ammar ibn Yasir (one of the iconic ten Companions promised paradise by Prophet Muhammad); appears throughout the foundational early Islamic biographical literature including the iconic Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq (8th century) and Ibn Hisham (9th century); central to traditional Islamic teaching on martyrdom and feminine spiritual courage; her foundational story is taught throughout Islamic religious education globally; one of the most-celebrated women in Islamic history. Sumayyah in modern Arab-Muslim naming — one of the most-popular Arab-Muslim feminine names worldwide; reflects the broader Islamic cultural emphasis on early Muslim heritage. Sumaya Genç — Turkish handball player. Sumaya Mukhtar — Sudanese-American figure. Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan (born 1971) — Jordanian princess; daughter of Prince Hassan bin Talal; President of the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan. Princess Sumaya — Arab-Muslim royal heritage naming.
Featured throughout Islamic heritage.
Sumaya reduces to eight.