Persian and Urdu name meaning 'moonlight,' composed of 'mah' (moon) and 'tab' (brightness or shine).
Mehtab is a name woven from moonlight itself. A compound of the Persian words mah (moon) and tab (radiance, glow), it translates with poetic precision as 'the glow of the moon' or 'moonlight.' Persian has long been a language of exquisite astronomical imagery — the night sky, its planets and its luminaries, appear throughout classical Sufi poetry as metaphors for the divine beloved — and Mehtab is a name that belongs unmistakably to that tradition.
It is used across Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the broader Urdu-speaking world of South Asia, equally comfortable as a masculine and feminine name depending on regional convention. In Mughal literature and courtly poetry, the moon was a supreme symbol of beauty and constancy, and names invoking it carried enormous romantic prestige. Mehtab consequently appears in ghazals and nazms as both the name of beloved figures and as an epithet for anyone whose presence illuminated a room.
Historically, it was a name favored in aristocratic and educated households who wished to situate their children within the refined Persian literary tradition. Today, Mehtab bridges tradition and modernity gracefully: it is rooted enough to carry cultural depth and rare enough in the English-speaking world to feel distinctive, yet its meaning is immediately legible — moonlight, radiance, a quiet kind of brilliance that does not demand the spotlight.