Masih (name)#Given name

{{Short description|Proper name of Arabic origin meaning 'Messiah' or 'Christ'}}

{{About|the proper name|the use in religion|Masih (title)|other uses|Masih}}

Masih ({{langx|ar|مسيح|Masīḥ}}), also spelled Mesih or Maseeh, is a name of Arabic origin which means 'Messiah' or 'Christ'. The word {{transl|ar|Masīḥ}} is the Arabic form of the Hebrew title {{transl|he|Māshīaḥ}} ({{langx|he|מָשִׁיחַ|label=none}}) or the Greek title {{transl|grc|Khristós}} ({{langx|grc|Χριστός|label=none}}), meaning "anointed one". It is used as a name and title for Jesus in the Quran, and is also the common word used by Arab Christians for Christ.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Robinson|first=Neal|year=2005|title=Jesus|editor1-last=McAuliffe|editor1-first=Jane Dammen|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00099}}

Masih is also a common Christian surname in India and Pakistan ({{langx|hi|मसीह}}, {{langx|ur|مسیح}}).{{cite book |last1=Kuklin |first1=Susan |title=Iqbal Masih and the Crusaders Against Child Slavery |date=2013 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |isbn=9781466860681 |language=English |quote=Many Christians in Pakistan have the surname Masih.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZfqAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT17}} Some people in India and Pakistan have adopted the surname Masih after their conversion to Christianity.{{cite book |last1=Sahoo |first1=Sarbeswar |title=Pentecostalism and Politics of Conversion in India |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108553551 |pages=45–46 |language=English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnhTDwAAQBAJ&dq=With+their+conversion%2C+they+dropped+their+ethnic+surname&pg=PA45}}

In Mughal India (1526–1857), Christians such as the Bourbons of India were honoured with the title Masih.{{cite book |title=The Illustrated Weekly of India|volume=93, Part 1 |date=1972 |publisher=Times of India Press |page=51 |language=English |quote=The members of the royal family used to give the new-born Bourbons their own names after which "Masih" was added — a Mughal tradition of honouring Christians as well as a common North Indian Christian surname.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3M6AQAAIAAJ&q=The+members+of+the+royal+family+used+to+give+the+new-born+Bourbons+their+own+names+after+which+%22Masih%22+was+added+%E2%80%94+a+Mughal+tradition+of+honouring+Christians+as+well+as+a+common+North+Indian+Christian+surname.}}