From Arabic, Kiswa refers to a covering or robe, especially the sacred covering of the Kaaba.
Kiswa (also spelled Kiswah or Kiswa) holds one of the most sacred meanings in the Islamic world: it is the name of the magnificent black cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, the cubic structure at the center of the Grand Mosque toward which Muslims across the world direct their prayers. The word comes from the Arabic root *K-S-W* (كسا), meaning "to cover" or "to clothe," and the Kiswa is renewed annually, embroidered with Quranic verses in gold and silver thread, representing both divine protection and the unity of the global Muslim community. To give a child this name is to invoke one of the most powerful objects in Islamic sacred geography.
The tradition of the Kiswa is ancient, predating Islam: pre-Islamic Arabs also draped the Kaaba in cloth, and the practice was continued and elevated under the Prophet Muhammad. For centuries, the Kiswa was produced in Egypt, a fact that gave Egyptian craftsmen a source of immense religious prestige. Since 1927, it has been manufactured in Saudi Arabia at a dedicated factory in Mecca.
The cloth costs millions of dollars to produce and is renewed each year during the Hajj pilgrimage, with pieces of the old Kiswa distributed as sacred relics. As a given name, Kiswa is rare — the weight of its referent gives parents pause — but it has been used in Muslim communities seeking names of deep spiritual resonance. A child named Kiswa carries a reference to protection, covering, and sacred devotion, a name that functions almost as a prayer.