Ayyub is the Arabic form of Job, the name of the biblical and Quranic prophet famed for his patience, and it is usually explained as "he who returns to God" or "persecuted". The medieval sultan Saladin belonged to the Ayyubid dynasty named after his father Ayyub. The name has climbed from number 5536 among US boys in 2015 to number 2676 in 2024 and ranks 2801 in 2025.