Arabic name

Long ago, Arabic names were based on a long naming system; most Arabs did not simply have given/middle/family names, but a full chain of names. This system was in use throughout the Arab world. Today however, Arabic names are similar in structure to those of Modern and Western names. Because of the importance of the Arabic language in Islam, a large majority of the world's Muslims use Arabic names (ism).

Structure of the Arabic name

Ism

The ism (Arabic: اسم‎) is the personal name (e.g. "Kareem" or "Fatimah"). Most names are Arabic words with a meaning, usually signalling the good character of the person. Such words are employed as adjectives and nouns in regular language.

Karīm means "generous"

Maħmūd means "praiseworthy"

Generally, the context and grammar should differentiate between names and adjectives, but Arab newspapers sometimes try to avoid confusion by placing names in brackets or quotation marks.

Muslim Practices

A common form of Muslim Arab names is the combination of ʿAbd for males or ʿAmah for females (both English: servant) followed by an adjective of God. A particularly common masculine example is Abdullah (Arabic: عبد الله‎ / English: servant of the One God); the feminine counterpart being Amatullah.

This practice creates a possibility of 99 names for each sex, as there are 99 exclusive adjectives for God in Islam.

Notable points:

ʿAbd is not used upon the usage of one of the prophets' names.

This practice is not exclusive to Muslims in the Arab world. For example, in Lebanon, AbdelMassih (servant of the Messiah) is commonly used as a Christian last name.

Christian Practices

To an extent, most Christian Arabs have names that are indistinguishable from those of their Muslim counterparts, but they do not usually use specifically Muslim names, such as Muhammad. The following is most common:

• Arabic versions of Christian names (e.g. saints' names: Botros for Peter).
• Names of Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian / Aramaic origin.
• Use of European names, especially French, Greek and, to a lesser extent, Spanish ones in Morocco. (This has been a centuries-long convention for Christian Arabs, especially in the Levant. For example: George Habash, Charles Helou, Camille Chamoun, etc.
• Names in honor of Jesus Christ.

Abd al-Yasu (masc.) / Amat al-Yasu (fem.) (servant of Jesus)

Abd al-Maseeh (masc.) / Amat al-Maseeh (fem.) (servant of the Messiah)

Abd al-Ilaah: An equivalent to the common Muslim name Abdullah or Abdallah, meaning servant of God, is also used by Christians.

Laqab

The laqab (Arabic: لقب‎) is intended as a description of the person.

The famous Abbasid Caliph Haroun al-Rashid (of A Thousand and One Nights fame). Haroun is the Arabic form for Aaron and "al-Raashid" means "the rightly-guided".

The laqab was very popular at Ancient Arab society, ca 1000 years ago. Today, the Laqab is only used if it is actually a person's birth Surname/Family name.

Nasab

The nasab (Arabic: نسب‎) is a patronymic or series of patronymics. It indicates the person's heritage by the word ibn (colloquially bin) (Arabic: ابن‎), which means "son" (bint for "daughter").

Ibn Khaldun (Arabic: ابن خلدون‎) means "son of Khaldun". Khaldun is the father's proper name or, in this particular case, the proper name of a remote ancestor.

Several nasab can follow in a chain to trace a person's ancestry backwards in time, as was important in the tribally based society of the ancient Arabs, both for purposes of identification and for socio-political interactions. Today, however, ibn or bint is no longer used. (Unless it is the official naming style in a country, region, etc.: Adnen bin Abdallah)

Nisbah

The nisbah (Arabic: نسبة‎) Surname. It could be an everyday name, but is mostly the name of the ancestors' tribe, city, country, or any other term used to show relevance. It follows a family through several generations.

Note: The Laqab and the Nisbah are similar in use, thus, a name rarely contains both.

Example Name

محمد سعيد بن عبد العزيز الفلسطيني
Muhammad Saeed ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Filasteeni
muḥammad saʻīdi-bni ʻabdi l-ʻazīzi l-filasṭīnī

Ism - Muhammad (Proper name). Muhammad: praised.

Nasab - Saeed (Father's name). Saeed: happy

Nasab - Abd al-Aziz (Grandfather's name). Abd al-Aziz: Servant of the Magnificient.

Nisbah - al-Filasteenee (The Palestinian). Filasteen: Palestine.

Muhammad Saeed, son of Abdu l-Aziz, the Palestinian

This person would simply be referred to as "Muhammad" or by relating him to his first-born son, e.g.:"Abu Kareem" (father of Kareem). To signify respect or to specify which Muhammad one is speaking about, the name could be lengthened to the extent necessary or desired.

Westernization of Arabic naming practices and names

Almost all Arabic countries (excluding for example Saudi Arabia or Bahrain) have now adopted a Westernized way of naming. This is the case for example in the Levant and Maghreb countries where French conventions are followed, and it is rapidly gaining ground elsewhere.

Also, many Arabs adapt to Western conventions for practical purposes when travelling or when residing in Western countries, constructing a given name/family name model out of their full Arab name, to fit Western expectations and/or visa applications or other official forms and documents. The reverse side to this is the surprise of many Westerners when asked to supply their first name, father's name, and family name in some Arab visa applications.

The Westernization of an Arab name may require transliteration. Often, one name may be transliterated in several ways (Abdul Rahman, Abdoul Rahman, Abdur Rahman, Abdurahman, Abd al-Rahman, or Abd ar-Rahman), as there is no single accepted Arabic transliteration system. A single individual may try out several ways of transliterating his or her name, producing even greater inconsistency. This has resulted in confusion on the part of governments, security agencies, airlines and other: for example, especially since 9/11, persons with names written similarly to those of suspected terrorists have been detained.

Common mistakes

Westerners often make these mistakes:

• Separating "the X of Y" word combinations (see idafa):
  • With "Abdul": Arabic names may be written "Abdul (something)", but "Abdul" means "servant of the" and is not, by itself, a name. Thus for example, to address Abdul Rahman bin Omar al-Ahmad by his given name, one must say "Abdul Rahman", not merely "Abdul". If he introduces himself as "Abdul Rahman" (which means "the servant of the Merciful"), one must not say "Mr. Rahman" (as "Rahman" is not a family name but part of his (theophoric) personal name); instead it would be Mr. Ahmad, being the family name).
  • People not understanding Arabic sandhi in genitive constructions: Habību-llāh = "beloved (Habīb) of (ul) God (Allāh)"; here a person may in error report the man's name as 'forename "Habib", surname "Ullah"'. Likewise, people may confuse a name such as Jalālu-d-dīn ("The Majesty of the Religion") as being "Jalal Uddin", or "Mr. Uddin", when "Uddin" is not a surname, but the second half of a two-word name (the desinence -u of the construct state nominative, plus the article, appearing as -d-, plus the genitive dīn[i]). To add to the confusion, some immigrants to Western countries have adopted Uddin as a surname, although it is grammatically incorrect in Arabic outside the context of the associated "first name". Even Indian Muslims commit the same error. If a person's name is Abd-ul-Rahim (Servant of the Merciful), his companions may call him as Mr Abdul (Servant of) erroneously which will sound quite odd to a native speaker of Arabic.
• Confusing "`alā'" with "Allah": Some Muslim names include the Arabic word `alā' علاء = "nobility". (Here, ` represents the ayin sound, the voiced pharyngeal fricative, and ' represents the hamza sound, the glottal stop, and L is spelled and pronounced once. In Allāh, L is spelled twice and pronounced separately.) In Arabic pronunciation, `alā and Allāh are clearly different. But Europeans, Iranians, and Indians often cannot pronounce some Arabic sounds as precisely, and tend to pronounce these two names the same. For example, the Muslim male name `Alā'-ad-dīn = "the nobility of the religion" (commonly known to English speakers as Aladdin) is often misspelt as Allah-ad-din. Because these two words are different, there is an Arabic male given name "`Ala' Allah" (Aliullah), meaning "the nobility of God."
• Grammar errors: These can result from differences between Arabic grammar and the grammar of some other languages. Arabic forms noun compounds in the opposite order from Indo-Iranian languages. For example, during the war in Afghanistan in 2002, a BBC team found in Kabul an internal refugee whose name they stated as "Allah Muhammad". This may be a misspelling, as described in the previous paragraph, but if not, by the rules of Arabic grammar, this name means "the Allah who belongs to Muhammad", which is not acceptable as a man's name and is ideologically and logically incorrect; however, by the rules of Iranian and most Indian languages this name means "Muhammad who belongs to Allah", which is acceptable; the Arabic equivalent is "Muhammad Ullah". Most Afghans speak Iranian languages. Such Arabic-and-Iranian or Arabic-and-Indian mixed-language compound names are not uncommon in Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan. Compare the Pakistani/Indian name "Allah Ditta".

Arab family naming convention

In Arabic culture a person's ancestry and his/her family name are very important. An example is explained below.

Assume a man has the name of Saleh ibn Tariq ibn Khalid al-Fulan.

• Saleh is his personal name, and the one that his family and friends would call him by.
• ibn translates as "son of", so Tariq is Saleh's father's name.
• ibn Khalid means that Tariq is the son of Khalid, making Khalid the grandfather of Saleh.
• al-Fulan would be Saleh's family name.

Hence, Saleh ibn Tariq ibn Khalid al-Fulan translates as "Saleh, son of Tariq, son of Khaled; of the family al-Fulan."

The Arabic for "daughter of" is bint. A woman with the name Fatimah bint Tariq bin Khalid al-Fulan translates as "Fatimah, daughter of Tariq, son of Khaled; of the family al-Fulan."

In this case, ibn and bint are included in the official naming. Most Arab countries today, however, do not use 'ibn' and 'bint' in their naming system. If Saleh was an Egyptian, he would be called Saleh Tariq Khalid al-Fulan and Fatimah would be Fatimah Tariq Khalid al-Fulan.

If Saleh marries a wife (who would keep her own maiden, family, and surnames), their children will take Saleh's family name. Therefore, their son Mohammed would be called Mohammed ibn Saleh ibn Tariq al-Fulan.

All Arab countries however do not use the name to its full length, but use conventionally use 2 and 3 word names, and sometimes 4 word names in official or legal matters. Thus the first name is the personal name, the middle name is the father's name and the last name is the family name.

Arabic names and their biblical equivalent

The Arabic names listed below are used in the Arab world, as well as some other Muslim regions, with correspondent Hebrew and English equivalents. They are not necessarily of Arabic origin, although some are. For more information, see also Iranian, Malay, Pakistani, and Turkish names.

* Yassou is the Arab Christian name of Jesus, while `Īsā is the Muslim version of the name, as used in the Qur'an. Yehoshua is also the origin of Joshua.

** Youhanna is the Arab Christian name of John, while Yahya is the Muslim version of the name, as used in the Qur'an.

See also

• List of Arabic star names
• List of Arabic theophoric names
• List of traditional Arabic place names
• Iranian name
• Pakistani name
• Turkish name

References

External links

• 6000+ Muslim Names with meaning
• Searchable lists of Muslim names and meanings
• Searchable Muslim baby names online dictionary
• Muslim Names and Their Origin
• Arabic Nomenclature: A summary guide for beginners. A.F.L. Beeston (Oxford, 1971).
• Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices (2003) by Da'ud ibn Auda (David B. Appleton)
• Automated recognition of Arabic person names
• Baby Names - List of Muslim baby names along with their meanings
• Muslim Names - Database of Muslim names and their meanings