Masih ( Arabic: مسيح, romanized: Masīḥ), also spelled Mesih or Maseeh, is a name of Arabic origin which means ' Messiah' or ' Christ'. The word Masīḥ is the Arabic form of the Hebrew title Māshīaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ) or the Greek title Khristós (Χριστός), 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. [1]
Masih is also a common Christian surname in India and Pakistan ( Hindi: मसीह, Urdu: مسیح). [2] Some people in India and Pakistan have adopted the surname Masih after their conversion to Christianity. [3]
In Mughal India (1526–1857), Christians such as the Bourbons of India were honoured with the title Masih. [4]
Many Christians in Pakistan have the surname Masih.
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.