Meaning and history
Aisha means “living, alive” in Arabic, derived from the root عاش (ʿāsha), “to live.” It was the name of Muhammad’s third wife, the daughter of Abu Bakr, who later fought against Ali, the fourth caliph, and was defeated. The name is used more often among Sunni Muslims than Shias. In the United States, it began to be used in the 1970s, possibly inspired by Princess Aisha of Jordan (born 1968), daughter of King Hussein and his British-born wife, and it gained popularity after Stevie Wonder chose it for his first daughter in 1975.