Suleika

Meaning of Suleika

Suleika is a feminine name of Arabic origin, tracing back to the root s-l-k and commonly rendered as “little dark one” or “charming beauty.” It entered European consciousness through Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan, where Suleika personifies the exotic beloved in a collection of orientalist poems. The name preserves its original pronunciation in Arabic (soo-LAY-kuh) and adapts to zoo-LAY-kuh in German, marking its phonetic variation across languages. Despite its poetic pedigree, it has never become a runaway bestseller among baby names, though it reached a modest peak at number 84 in Puerto Rico in 2002. Today, Suleika offers parents a blend of literary heritage and understated elegance, appealing to those who appreciate a name with depth and discretion.

Pronunciation

Arabic

• Pronunced as soo-LAY-kuh (/suːˈleɪkə/)

German

• Pronunced as zoo-LAY-kuh (/zu:ˈlaɪkə/)

• Sulema
• Selika