Haifa

Slender; slender-waisted.

Haifa is an Arabic feminine name meaning “slender”, more specifically “slender-waisted”. Written هيفاء, it comes from a descriptive Arabic adjective. As a name, that inherited meaning is part of its background, not an expectation about someone’s appearance. The personal name and the city Haifa look alike in Latin letters, but Arabic makes the difference clear: هيفاء for the name, حيفا for the city. Their first letters differ, and the personal name has a final hamza. The shared Latin spelling alone does not make this Arabic name a place name. In the formal Arabic pronunciation /hajˈfaːʔ/, the airy h and f open into a long final vowel. That gives Haifa an elegant, spacious sound despite its brief written form. It may appeal if you like a name with a clear outline and a lingering finish.

Etymology: From Arabic هَيْفَاء (Hayfāʾ), a feminine adjective meaning slender-waisted, used as a personal name.