Several relatives of the Islamic prophet Muhammad had the name, including his daughter Fatima as the most famous one.
The colloquial Arabic pronunciation of the name in some varieties (e.g., Levantine and Egyptian) often omits the unstressed second syllable and renders it as Fatma when romanized.
Fatima is also used by non-Muslims: the town of Fátima, Portugal (originally named after an Arab princess) was the site of a famous Marian apparition in 1917, after which it achieved some popularity as a female personal name among Catholic populations, particularly in the Portuguese-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries.
Spelled as Fátima, the name is also common amongst Spanish and especially Portuguese speaking peoples in Iberia as well as in the Americas.
Due to the Berber influence on Moroccan Arabic, other variations exist in Morocco, such as Fatna, Fadma, Fettoosh, Fattoom.