Where do the names of the Qur’anic chapters come from?

The Qur’anic chapters take their names either from the personalities included in them, for example, the stories of Prophets Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Mary, or the family of Imran, or from the communities included in them, for example, the civilization of Sheba or the Children of Israel, or from the first word of the chapter like najm, asr, or kawthar, or from an unusual word used in the chapter, like ra’d or nahl, or from the huruf al-muqatta’at (Qur’anic initials of different letters of the alphabet), like the individual Arabic letters of “qaf”   and “sad,” found at the beginning of the Sura Qaf   or Sura Sad, or sets of letter, for example “ta ha” and “ya sin, ” found at the beginning of Sura Ta. Ha   and   Sura Ya. Sin. While sometimes a chapter has more than one name, for example, Sura Insan is also called Dahr ,  Sura Fatir may also be called Malaika, or Sura Isra is also Banu Isra’il, two or more chapters sometimes share a name. For instance, Sura Baqara and Sura Al Imran   are called together Zahrawan, which means “two bright chapters.” Similarly, the Qur’anic chapters of Falaq and Nas are known as Muawwizatayn. When Sura Ikhlas   is included, they are given the title of Muawwizat, which means “suras of refuge or shelter.”

 

Akgul, Muhittin (2009). The Quran in 99 Questions (Abdullah Erdemli Trans.). New Jersey: Tughra Books. (Originally published in Turkish as Kur’an İklimine Seyahat)