Safia is a form of the Arabic Safiyya and means "pure" or "sincere", from the same root as the word for a chosen friend. Safiyya bint Huyayy was a wife of the Prophet Muhammad, which makes the name a traditional choice in Muslim families from Morocco to Pakistan. In the United States Safia has risen from number 4270 in 2000 to number 2403 in 2025, its best rank so far.