What does sheikh mean?
Definitions for sheikh
sheikh
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sheikh.
Princeton's WordNet
sheik, tribal sheik, sheikh, tribal sheikh, Arab chiefnoun
the leader of an Arab village or family
ChatGPT
sheikh
A sheikh is an honorific title in the Arabic culture that is given to a man who is a leader or elder of a community, tribe, or family. The title is also used for a religious scholar, or a man who has achieved mastery in Islamic sciences or spirituality. In a wider context, it can also refer to a head of state or royalty in certain Arab and Muslim countries.
Wikidata
Sheikh
Sheikh —also spelled Sheik or Shaikh or Shekh, or transliterated as Shaykh—is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor". It is commonly used to designate the front man of a tribe who got this title after his father, or an Islamic scholar who got this title after graduating from the basic Islamic school. Sheikha is the female equivalent of the term. A sheikh who is wise is called ḥakīm adjective حكيم, ḥākim noun حاكم, yaḥkum verb يحكم; and can govern. The scholar sheikh here can govern but cannot lead directly because the leader is the imam which is based upon the Qur'an and authentic Sunnah; on the other hand the family sheikh can always lead but cannot govern unless he is wise. Although the title generally refers to a male, a very small number of female sheikhs have also existed. It also refers generally to a man over forty years of age. While even a new Muslim can be called a sheikh if he is diligent in seeking the knowledge of Islam based upon the Qur'an and authentic Sunnah, he can be referred to as such by those he teaches. Usually, a person is known as a sheikh when he has completed his undergraduate university studies in Islamic studies and is trained in giving lectures. The word sheikh under this meaning is a synonym of Alim, plural Ulama, Mawlawi, Mawlānā, Muhaddith, Faqīh, Qadi, Mufti, Hadhrat or Hafiz.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
Sheikh
the chief of an Arab tribe; used often as a title of respect, Sheikh-ul-Islam being the ecclesiastical head of Mohammedans in Turkey.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
SHEIKH
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Sheikh is ranked #5384 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Sheikh surname appeared 6,462 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 would have the surname Sheikh.
71.6% or 4,628 total occurrences were Asian.
14.2% or 921 total occurrences were Black.
8% or 518 total occurrences were White.
3.8% or 250 total occurrences were of two or more races.
2.1% or 137 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
0.1% or 8 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
Matched Categories
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1780","2"],["1798","1"],["1799","44"],["1804","2"],["1806","1"],["1808","5"],["1812","125"],["1814","1"],["1815","7"],["1816","25"],["1817","5"],["1820","8"],["1821","8"],["1822","27"],["1823","124"],["1824","28"],["1825","211"],["1826","1701"],["1827","117"],["1828","2282"],["1829","58"],["1830","440"],["1831","583"],["1832","200"],["1833","54"],["1834","184"],["1835","429"],["1836","401"],["1837","226"],["1838","136"],["1839","127"],["1840","61"],["1841","38"],["1842","57"],["1843","77"],["1844","518"],["1845","558"],["1846","322"],["1847","253"],["1848","248"],["1849","466"],["1850","594"],["1851","180"],["1852","478"],["1853","374"],["1854","345"],["1855","941"],["1856","205"],["1857","2061"],["1858","202"],["1859","1022"],["1860","476"],["1861","296"],["1862","268"],["1863","137"],["1864","261"],["1865","634"],["1866","968"],["1867","290"],["1868","482"],["1869","489"],["1870","831"],["1871","261"],["1872","155"],["1873","262"],["1874","416"],["1875","329"],["1876","666"],["1877","160"],["1878","366"],["1879","347"],["1880","467"],["1881","648"],["1882","319"],["1883","494"],["1884","527"],["1885","464"],["1886","657"],["1887","653"],["1888","277"],["1889","468"],["1890","687"],["1891","625"],["1892","402"],["1893","450"],["1894","392"],["1895","602"],["1896","876"],["1897","376"],["1898","473"],["1899","343"],["1900","558"],["1901","199"],["1902","377"],["1903","254"],["1904","377"],["1905","297"],["1906","310"],["1907","902"],["1908","411"],["1909","298"],["1910","392"],["1911","619"],["1912","1346"],["1913","613"],["1914","223"],["1915","237"],["1916","268"],["1917","269"],["1918","338"],["1919","257"],["1920","426"],["1921","435"],["1922","162"],["1923","741"],["1924","463"],["1925","413"],["1926","290"],["1927","1415"],["1928","455"],["1929","190"],["1930","802"],["1931","685"],["1932","843"],["1933","603"],["1934","586"],["1935","622"],["1936","619"],["1937","456"],["1938","332"],["1939","311"],["1940","491"],["1941","250"],["1942","214"],["1943","246"],["1944","115"],["1945","152"],["1946","277"],["1947","824"],["1948","397"],["1949","351"],["1950","222"],["1951","436"],["1952","257"],["1953","316"],["1954","463"],["1955","474"],["1956","406"],["1957","770"],["1958","604"],["1959","341"],["1960","465"],["1961","617"],["1962","735"],["1963","847"],["1964","1024"],["1965","1619"],["1966","1311"],["1967","1018"],["1968","1145"],["1969","955"],["1970","1042"],["1971","762"],["1972","816"],["1973","779"],["1974","704"],["1975","856"],["1976","709"],["1977","1078"],["1978","1085"],["1979","952"],["1980","1051"],["1981","2272"],["1982","1655"],["1983","2455"],["1984","984"],["1985","2002"],["1986","1491"],["1987","1622"],["1988","1569"],["1989","1634"],["1990","1259"],["1991","2001"],["1992","2803"],["1993","2354"],["1994","2652"],["1995","2337"],["1996","2533"],["1997","4028"],["1998","2347"],["1999","2786"],["2000","3486"],["2001","3034"],["2002","4393"],["2003","4830"],["2004","4928"],["2005","5615"],["2006","7469"],["2007","8138"],["2008","11267"]]
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of sheikh in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of sheikh in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of sheikh in a Sentence
The reason the British government advised all airlines to stop flying to Sharm is that they believed there was a device in the hold of the Metrojet aircraft, they had inside intelligence giving them that information, so that's not surprising to anybody in the airline industry, given that the British government took very strong action immediately. Clearly, that is why security has got to be enhanced at Sharm el-Sheikh.
In August 2009 Sheikh Salman then Bahrain FA president was accused of using FIFA financed sports development budgets to fund Sheikh Salman unsuccessful campaign for FIFA executive committee election, in a leaked letter received by the Al Bilad newspaper it was claimed that Sheikh Salman had spent upwards of 850,000 dinars( 1.6 million GBP) on Sheikh Salman campaign and that some of Sheikh Salman money had come from FIFA financed football development projects.
I am Asian and Sheikh Salman is the president of Asia and represents Asia …( but) the main support is for Michel Platini. After Sheikh Salman case, we have to wait and see what is going to happen.
The safety and security of our customers will always be our top priorities and we have suspended our flights from Gatwick to Sharm al-Sheikh indefinitely.
We will not resume flying until we are told unequivocally by the government that it is safe to operate at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for sheikh
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for sheikh »
Translation
Find a translation for the sheikh definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"sheikh." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 22 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/sheikh>.
Discuss these sheikh definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In