Aziz (Arabic: عزيز, ʿazīz, [ʕaziːz]) (Hebrew: עזיז) is a Semitic Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic male name. In Arabic the feminine form of both the adjective and the given name is Aziza. In Hebrew and Aramaic Aziz is derived from the root עזז meaning "strong, powerful".[1] In Arabic it is derived from the root ʕ-z-z, again meaning "strong, powerful", while the adjective has also acquired the meaning of "dear, darling, precious" in both Arabic and Aramaic.
In the Old Testament Aziz was the son of Shema and the father of Bela.[2] In the Latinised form "Azizus" it is attested as the name of one of the Arab [3] Priest-Kings who ruled Emesa (the modern Homs, Syria) as clients of the Roman Empire.
In ancient Levantine mythology, Azizos or Aziz is the Palmyrene Aramean and Arab[4] god of the morning star.
The Arabian goddess Al-Uzza, also related to the planet Venus, is named from the same root ʕ-z-z.
Al-Aziz is one of the names of God in Islam. The "Al" makes the word "Aziz" proper. "Aziz" without "Al" is used as a royal title borne by the high nobles of Egypt, being a title borne by the prophet Joseph in the Quranic Surah-e-Yusuf, and also by the Biblical Potiphar, referred to in the Quran as Aziz.
It is used in existing Semitic languages such as Arabic, Assyrian Neo Aramaic, Mandic, Hebrew and Maltese and has also spread to non-Semitic languages like Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Persian, Urdu, Berber, Pashtu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Dari, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbek, Uyghur, Balochi, Bengali, Somali, Indonesian, Chechen, Circassian and Malaysian.
Aziz is a common masculine given name, especially in the Muslim world but it has also continued to be used by non-Muslim- non Arab peoples in the Middle East, e.g. Jews, Assyrians, Arameans, Maronites and Mandeans.
Given name
Azeez
- Azeez Abu (born 1994), Nigerian beach soccer player
- Azeez Al-Shaair (born 1997), American football player
- Azeez Ojulari (born 2000), American football player
- Azeez Shobowale Shobola (born 1992), Nigerian footballer
Aziz
- Aziz Ansari (born 1983), Indian-American stand-up comedian and actor.
- Aziz Azion (born 1984), Ugandan R&B singer-songwriter.
- Aziz Behich (born 1990), Australian footballer.
- Aziz Ibrahim (born 1964), British guitarist.
- Aziz Mian (1942–2000), Pakistani singer.
- Aziz Nesin (1915–1995), Turkish humorist and author.
- Aziz Sancar (born 1946), Turkish scientist and 2015 Nobel laureate in Chemistry.
- Aziz Shavershian (1989–2011), Russian-Australian bodybuilder and Internet personality of Kurdish descent.
- Aziz Yıldırım (born 1952), Turkish businessman.
Surname
Azeez
- A. M. A. Azeez (1911–1973), Ceylonese civil servant, educator, social worker
- Ade Azeez (born 1994), English footballer
- Dan Azeez (born 1989), British boxer
- Fatima Azeez (born 1992), Nigerian badminton player
- K. P. A. C. Azeez (1934–2003), Indian film actor in Malayalam cinema
- Ramon Azeez (born 1992), Nigerian footballer
Aziz
- Aaron Aziz (born 1976), Singaporean actor
- Arif Aziz (born 1943), Azerbaijan artist and educator
- Douglas Aziz (born 1942), Assyrian Iraqi footballer
- Fatima Aziz (1973–2021), Afghan physician and politician
- Gamal Aziz, also known as Gamal Mohammed he Abdelaziz, Egyptian-American businessman
- Lisa Aziz (born 1962), British television presenter and journalism
- Michael Aziz, American engineer
- Mohamad Aziz, Malaysian politician
- Mohammad Aziz, Indian playback singer
- Omar Aziz (born 1958), Brazilian politician
- Philip Aziz (1923–2009), Canadian artist of Lebanese ancestry
- Riza Aziz, Malaysian producer
- Sartaj Aziz (1929–2024), Pakistani economist and strategist
- Shaukat Aziz (born 1949), Pakistani Prime Minister
- Tariq Aziz (born Mikhail Yuhanna) (1936–2015), ethnic Assyrian former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister under Saddam Hussein
- Tariq Aziz (field hockey, born 1938) (born 1938), Pakistani field hockey player
- Tariq Aziz (TV personality) (1936–2020), Pakistani TV personality
- Tipu Aziz (born 1956), Professor of neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford University
- Iqra Aziz (born 1997), Pakistani Actress
See also
- Azis (disambiguation)
- Aziza (disambiguation) (equivalent feminine name)
- Abdul Aziz, Arabic theophoric name
- Azziz (disambiguation)
- Azizah
- Kfar Aziz
References
- ↑ Brown, Driver, Briggs - Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon ref H5811
- ↑ 1Ch 5.8
- ↑ The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads. Routledge. p. 409. "Later rulers are called 'kings of the Emesenians', although they carry good Arabic names like Azizus (Aziz) and Sohaemus (Suhaym)"
- ↑ Drijvers, H. J. W. (2015). Cults and Beliefs at Edessa. Brill Publishers. pp. Chapter Six: THE CULT OF AZIZOS AND MONIMOS AND OTHER ARAB DEITIES. ISBN 978-90-04-29562-9.