Tafsir of Maryam 19:7

{ A namesake (samiyyan) } No one was named Yahya before him. This is evidence that unique, noble names are worthy of being chosen. The Arabs used to strive for such names because they are more prominent, more renowned, and further removed from derogatory nicknames. A poet said in praise of a people: Noble of names, trailing their garments, Red, sweeping the earth with the fringes.

When the genealogist al-Bakri asked Ru’bah about his lineage, he replied, "I am the son of al-Ajjaj." He said, "You have been brief and you have made yourself known."

It is also said, according to Mujahid, that it means "a likeness or a peer," as in the verse: {Do you know of any namesake for Him?} (19:65). It is called samiy (namesake) for a likeness because for any two things that resemble one another, each is called by the name of the likeness, the peer, the form, and the equal; thus, each is a samiy to the other.

Names like "Yahya" among them include "Ya'mar" (he lives long) and "Ya'ish" (he lives), if the naming is Arabic. They have even named [someone] "Yamut" (he dies), such as Yamut ibn al-Mazra'.

It is said: He had no equal in that he never disobeyed, nor did he ever contemplate disobedience; that he was born between a decrepit old man and a barren old woman; and that he was chaste (hasur).

{ He said, "My Lord, how will I have a boy when my wife has been barren and I have reached the extreme of old age?" }