Fotima
Barely 15 women in Poland carry it, so meeting one would stay with you. Greek at root, it means "one who abstains", the woman who holds back.
Fotima Pronunciation
Fotima is pronounced fo-TEE-mah (/fɔˈtima/).
What Fotima means
Where Fotima comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Fotima begins in Greek. Its root is phos, photos, meaning light, the source of the name Fotini and of the ordinary word photograph.
The name most people hear inside Fotima, though, is Arabic. It stands next to Fatima, the name of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, built on the verb fatama, to wean or to abstain. In Uzbek and Tajik, Fotima is simply how Fatima is written and pronounced, the a bending toward o. From that Arabic verb comes the meaning attached to Fotima: one who abstains.
Real women carry the spelling. Fotima Borukhova, a Central Asian lawyer and writer, holds it on the public record. On a Polish class register, the name would sit apart from the Zofias and Amelias, and a teacher would slow over it. The Greek light of phot- and the Arabic verb hold together in one short reading: one who abstains.
How many people are named Fotima
1 in 1502922 women in Poland is named Fotima. 15 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #12017 among female names.
Fotima's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.