Suhail, name meaning in Islam

Suhail (سُهَيْل) is an Arabic name for boys. It means the star Canopus. When Suhayl came to Hudaybiyyah the Prophet ﷺ said "your matter has been made easy (suhila)" (Sahih al-Bukhari).

Meaning and root

In Arabic, words are built from a root of usually three letters. Suhail comes from the root س ه ل, and words from the same root share its core meaning. Similar names from the same family of words are listed below.

Is Suhail in the Quran?

No. Suhail is not a word in the Quran. A name does not need to be in the Quran to be a good Muslim name: what matters is that its meaning is good. The Prophet ﷺ changed names with bad meanings and kept names with good ones.¹

How to say and write Suhail

Say it su-HAIL. The capital letters show the stressed part. In English it is also spelled Suhayl and Sohail. In Arabic it is written with 4 letters, from right to left: س sin + ه ha + ي ya + ل lam.

Choosing Suhail

Suhail is a name with a good meaning, which is what the Sunnah asks for. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The most beloved of your names to Allah are Abdullah and Abdur-Rahman",³ and after these, any name with a good meaning is a sound choice. With the father's name it becomes Suhail bin (and the father's name): see what bin, bint and abu mean.

Famous people named Suhail

• Suhayl ibn Amr, who agreed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah for Quraysh and later became Muslim

Names like Suhail

• Tariq
• Thurayya
• Badr

1. Sahih Muslim 2139, the Prophet ﷺ changing a name with a bad meaning.
2. Sahih Muslim 2315.
3. Sahih Muslim 2132.
4. Meanings follow classical Arabic usage and the standard name dictionaries; our teachers will check each one.

Our teachers will check the Arabic spelling and meaning on this page before launch.