What Does Dreaming of a Stranger Mean?
Traditional Interpretation
According to traditional interpretation and the school of Ibn Sirin, seeing a stranger in a dream may mostly point to new people you will meet, good news, friendships to be formed, and help arriving from an unexpected quarter; some commentators read the unknown person as the dreamer's own self (nafs). Since certain scholars have interpreted this figure as a dark shadow of resentment, ambition, or enmity, the meaning may be said to shift according to one's attitude and feelings in the dream.
Psychological View
In Jungian psychology, the stranger in a dream may be a projection of aspects repressed in the unconscious and not yet owned (the shadow, or an opposite-sex figure—anima/animus); that unfamiliar face may in fact point to an unknown part of ourselves. From a Freudian perspective, the stranger can be interpreted as a disguised representation of desires, fears, or drives that cannot surface directly into consciousness.
By Context
For a Single Person
Meeting or talking with a stranger may point to new acquaintances in one's circle and the beginning of an emotional closeness.
Seeing an Unknown Woman
It is mostly interpreted favorably and may bring health, relief, and financial ease; but if the dreamer is also a woman, it may point to rivalry with another woman.
Seeing an Unknown Man
It may point to reuniting with someone long missed, or to a strong, helpful person appearing to lend a hand to someone in difficulty.
Talking with a Stranger
It may point to forming healthy new friendships in one's social circle; hesitating while speaking may reflect a feeling of withdrawal and loneliness.
Ibn Sirin / the Reading as the Self
An unknown person who resembles no one may represent the dreamer's own self and the inner world they have yet to come to know.