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Fatwa CenterRuling on naming a baby girl Anastasia
Question
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. I would like to ask if it is permissible to name a female Muslim baby Anastasia knowing that the name means 'resurrection' and was originally invented by early Greek Christians to honour the resurrection of Christ. The name was popularised by one of their so-called saints from the 4th century and it became one of the most popular names for Ortodox Christians, especially if the baby was born around the time of Easter or Christmas (Christian festive days). Are we allowed to take this name for a Muslim baby girl with the intention of reference to the general Resurrection of all the souls during the Day of Judgement and not that of the alleged resurrection of Jesus, alayhi as-salaam, or will the connection to Christianity be deemed too strong anyways?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The parents should give their children good names; Abu Ad-Dardaa’ 
narrated that the Prophet said, “On the Day of Resurrection, you will be called by your names, so give yourselves good names.” An-Nawawi said, “Its chain of narrators is good.” Al-Haakim classified it as saheeh (sound).
Abu Wahb Al-Jushami narrated that the Prophet said, "Call yourselves by the names of the Prophets. The dearest names to Allaah are Abdullaah and Abdur-Rahmaan, the truest are Haarith (the cultivator) and Hammaam (always thinking of initiating something), and the worst are Harb (war) and Murrah (bitter).” [Abu Daawood]
Al-Albaani 
said about it, “It is a saheeh hadeeth without the phrase that included ‘the Prophets’.”
For more benefit, please refer to fataawa 82724and 87262.
With regard to the name that you asked about, if the situation is as you mentioned in your question, then it is not permissible to name (a new-born child) with it because it includes two prohibitions:
1- The First Prohibition: It is related to the belief of the Christians concerning 'Eesa (Jesus) 
. It is not permissible to name with names that are related to the false beliefs that are contradictory to Islam. The Fataawa of the Standing Committee reads, “Manaaf is the name of an idol. It is the name that ‘Abd Manaaf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilaab, the father of Haashim, was named after; and his mother placed him in the service of this idol. With this in mind, it is not permissible to name anything after idols, such as Manaaf, Al-Laat, Al-‘Uzza, Manaat, or the like, as this involves displaying these idols favorably, and honoring and revering them, which is forbidden.”
2- The Second Prohibition: this name is widespread among the Christians, and this suggests that this name is peculiar to them; indeed, it is not permissible to name with names that are peculiar to the non-Muslims. Ibn Al-Qayyim said in Ahkaam ahlu-th-Thimmah:
“Names can be classified into three categories:
A- Names that are peculiar to the Muslims.
B- Names that are peculiar to the non-Muslims.
C- Names that are shared by the Muslims and non-Muslims.
...... The Second Category: such as George, Peter, John, Mathew and so forth; the non-Muslims are not prevented from naming with such names, but it is not permissible for Muslims to be named after such names as this is imitating them (the non-Muslims) in what is peculiar to them.
The Third Category: such as Yahya, 'Eesa, Ayyoob, Daawood, Solaymaan, Zayd, Umar, Abdullaah, Attiyyah, Mawhoob, Salaam, and so forth; the people living in a Muslim land under the Muslim rule are not prevented from such names, and the Muslims are also not prevented from them.”
Allaah knows best.
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