Arabic name

Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given, middle, and family names but rather a chain of names. This system remains in use throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Name structure

The () is the given name, first name, or personal name; e.g. "sami" or "Shamna". Most Arabic names have meaning as ordinary adjectives and nouns, and are often aspirational of character. For example, Muhammad means 'Praiseworthy' and Ali means 'Exalted' or 'High'.

The syntactic context will generally differentiate the name from the noun or adjective. However, Arabic newspapers will occasionally place names in brackets, or quotation marks, to avoid confusion.

In fact, the name Muhammad is so popular throughout parts of Africa, Arabia, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia, that it is often represented by the abbreviation "Md.", "Mohd.", "Muhd.", or just "M.". In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, due to its almost ubiquitous use as a first name, a person will often be referred to by their second name:

• Md. Dinar Ibn Raihan
• Mohd. Umair Tanvir
• Md. Osman

The nasab (Template:Langx) is a patronymic or matronymic, or a series thereof. It indicates the person's heritage by the word ibn ( "son of", colloquially bin) or ibnat ("daughter of", also bint, abbreviated bte.). In the 1995 book Name Studies (De Gruyter), Template:Interlanguage link wrote that, although the nasab was still common contemporarily, ibn and bint were omitted "in almost all Arab countries".

Ibn Khaldun () means "son of Khaldun". Khaldun is the father's personal name or, in this particular case, the name of a remote male ancestor.

ʿAmmār ibn Sumayya means "ʿAmmār son of Sumayya". Sumayya is the personal name of ʿAmmār's mother, the same person can also be identified by his father's personal name "ʿAmmār ibn Yasir". In later Islamic periods the nasab was an important tool in determining a child's father by means of describing paternity in a social (i.e. to whom was the mother legally married during the conception of the child), not a biological sense, because the father's biological identity can be grounds for speculation. In early Islamic contexts this function is not yet well established. This stems from a legal principle introduced by Islam regarding the legal status of children (they can only arise from marriage) and changes to waiting periods relating to divorce to establish an undisputed legal father for any child. This function only developing with Islam means that one can find many Companions of the Prophet bearing a maternal nasab, as the naming conventions reflected in their names still stem from pre-Islamic attitudes and beliefs.

Several nasab names can follow in a chain to trace a person's ancestry backwards in time, as was important in the tribal society of medieval 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). The plural is for males and for females. However, or is tribal and encompasses both sexes.

The laqab (), pl. alqāb (), can be translated to English as agnomen; cognomen; nickname; title, honorific; last name, surname, family name. The laqab could be purely descriptive of a person, express admiration or be insulting and derogatory.

An example is the name of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, which uses the definite article al-. is the Arabic version of the name Aaron and means "the Rightly-Guided".

The laqab was used as a regnal title by the caliphs. This was most prominent in Abbasid times, for example al-Manṣūr bi’llāh.

Another common form of is that of compounds ending with (Template:Lit), ('of the State'), ('of the Kingdom'), or ('of Islam'). Examples include Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, Shams al-Dīn, Nūr al-Dīn, Izz al-Din, Nāṣir al-Dawla, Niẓām al-Mulk, Sayf al-Islām.

In ancient Arab societies, use of a laqab was common, but today is restricted to the surname, or family name, of birth.

The () surname could be an everyday name, but is mostly the name of the ancestral tribe, clan, family, profession, town, city, country, or any other term used to show relevance. It follows a family through several generations. A demonym example is , meaning that the person is originally from Aleppo or a descendant of people from Aleppo. For a profession example, meaning "the tailor".

The laqab and nisbah are similar in use, but they could be used simultaneously. For example: Sayf Al-Dīn Al-Halabi.

A kunya (Template:Langx, kunyah) is a teknonym in Arabic names. It is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet, in theory referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter. By extension, it may also have hypothetical or metaphorical references, e.g. in a nom de guerre or a nickname, without literally referring to a son or a daughter. For example, Sabri Khalil al-Banna was known as Abu Nidal, "father of struggle".

Use of a kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting.

A kunya is expressed by the use of abū (father) or umm (mother) in a genitive construction, i.e. "father of" or "mother of" as an honorific in place of or alongside given names in the Arab world.

A kunya may also be a nickname expressing the attachment of an individual to a certain thing, as in Abu Bakr, "father of the camel foal", given because of this person's kindness towards camels.

Common naming practices

Arab Muslim

A common name-form among Arab Muslims is the prefix (, "servant", "worshipper") combined with the word for God (Allah), or with one of the epithets of God. For example,

• ( "servant of God"),
• ( "servant of the Exalted")
• ( "servant of the Most Merciful")

As a mark of deference, is usually not conjoined with the prophet's names. Nonetheless, such names are accepted in some areas. Its use is not exclusive to Muslims and throughout all Arab countries, the name Abdul-Massih, ( "servant of Christ"), is a common Christian last name.

Converts to Islam may often continue using the native non-Arabic non-Islamic names that are without any polytheistic connotation, or association.

Arab Christian

Generally, Arab Christians have names indistinguishable from Muslims, with the exception of some explicitly Islamic names such as Muhammad, which are not usually borne by Christians. Some common Christian names are:

• Arabic versions of Christian names, e.g. saints' names: () for Peter, Boulos () for Paul.
• Names of Greek, Armenian, and Aramaic origin, which are also used by ethnically non-Arab Christians such as Armenians, Assyrians, or Copts.
• Use of European names, especially names French and English names. This is a recent convention for Christian Arabs, which mainly started with the British and French mandates in the Levant. Examples include George Habash, Michel Aflaq, and Charles Helou.
• Names in honor of Jesus Christ:

(masc. ) / (fem.) ("Servant of Jesus")

(masc.) / (fem.) ("Servant of the Messiah")

Derivations of ("Messiah"): ("Most Anointed"), ("More Anointed"), "Anointed" and "Infant Christ". The root, , means "to anoint" (as in masah) and is cognate to the Hebrew .

Dynastic or family name

Some people, especially in the Arabian Peninsula, when descendant of a famous ancestor, start their last name with Āl "family, clan" (), like the House of Saud Āl Suʻūd or Al ash-Sheikh ("family of the sheikh"). Āl is distinct from the definite article (). If a reliably-sourced version of the Arabic spelling includes (as a separate graphic word), then this is Template:Em a case of the definite article, so (capitalised and followed by a space, not a hyphen) should be used. Ahl, which has a similar meaning, is sometimes used and should be used if the Arabic spelling is .

Dynasty membership alone does Template:Em necessarily imply that the dynastic is used – e.g. Bashar al-Assad.

Arabic	Meaning	Transliteration	Example
	'the'		Maytham al-Tammar
	'family'/'clan of'		Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
	'tribe'/'people of'		Ahl al-Bayt

Example

Muḥammad ibn Salmān ibn Amīn al-Fārisī

Ism – Muḥammad (proper name, Template:Literally)

Nasab – Salmān (father's name, Template:Literally)

Nasab – Amīn (grandfather's name, Template:Literally)

Nisbah – al-Fārisī (Template:Literally).

"Muḥammad, son of Salmān, son of Amīn, the Persian"

This person would simply be referred to as "Muḥammad" or by his kunya, which relates him to his first-born son, e.g. Abū Karīm "father of Karīm". To signify respect or to specify which Muḥammad one is speaking about, the name could be lengthened to the extent necessary or desired.

Common mistakes

Non-Arabic speakers often make these mistakes:

• Separating "the X of Y" word combinations (see iḍāfah):
  • With "Abdul": Arabic names may be written "Abdul (something)", but "Abdul" means "servant of the" or "follower 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 says "Abdul-Rahman", not merely "Abdul". If he introduces himself as "Abdul-Rahman" (which means "the servant of the Merciful"), one does not say "Mr. Rahman" (as "Rahman" is not a family name but part of his theophoric personal name); instead it would be Mr. al-Ahmad, the latter being the family name. Therefore, it is better to write "Abdul Rahman" as "abdu r-rahmān" and "abdul ghafār" as "abdu l-ghafār" .
  • People not familiar with Arabic sandhi in iḍāfah: Habībullāh = "beloved (Habīb) of 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"), others may call him Mr. Abdul ("servant of the") which would sound quite odd to a native speaker of Arabic.
• Not distinguishing from : Some Arabic names include the Arabic word ( "nobility"). Here, ⟨ʻ⟩ represents the ayin, a voiced pharyngeal fricative, ⟨ʾ⟩ represents the hamza, a glottal stop, and ⟨l⟩ is spelled and pronounced at ordinary length, /l/. In , the l is written twice (⟨ll⟩) and pronounced twice as long (a geminate), as /l/ or /ll/. In Arabic pronunciation, and are clearly different. But Europeans, Iranians, and Indians may not pronounce some Arabic sounds as a native Arabic speaker would, and thus tend to pronounce them identically. For example, the name (Aladdin, "the Nobility of the Faith") is sometimes misspelled as by Europeans and Indians. There is another name (Aliullah, "the Nobility of God"), which uses both distinctly. Therefore, the name "علاء" must be written in Latin in the form of "Halāʾ " or "Halaa'e" to differentiate it between "Allāh" the name of God in Arabic, and also the female name آلاء "Ālāʾ " (Alaa'e) Which means "blessings" (God's blessings).
• Taking or for a middle name: As stated above, these words indicate the order of the family chain. English-speakers often confuse them with middle names, especially when they are written as "Ben", as it is the case in some countries. For example, Sami Ben Ahmed would be mistakenly addressed as Mr. Ben Ahmed. To correctly address the person, one should use Mr. Sami or Mr. Sami Ben Ahmed.
• Grammar: As between all languages, there are differences between Arabic grammar and the grammar of 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 internally displaced person whose name they stated as "Allah Muhammad". This may be a misspelling for , for if not, by the rules of Arabic grammar, this name means "the Allah who belongs to Muhammad", which, assuming the person is an Arabic speaking Muslim would be unacceptable religiously. However, by the rules of Iranian languages and most languages of India, this name does mean "Muhammad who belongs to Allah", being the equivalent of the Arabic "Muhammadullah". Most Afghans speak Iranian languages. Such Perso-Arab or Indo-Arab multilingual compound names are not uncommon in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan. There is, for example, the Punjabi name Allah-Ditta which joins the Arabic Allah with the Punjabi Ditta "given".

Arab family naming convention

Conventionally, in Arab culture, as in many parts of the world, a person's ancestry and family name are very important. An example is explained below.

Assume a man is called 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 and bin 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 paternal 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 Khalid; who is of the family of al-Fulan."

The Arabic for "daughter of" is bint. A woman with the name Fatimah bint Abdullah ibn Omar al-Rashid translates as "Fatimah, daughter of Abdullah, son of Omar; who is of the family al-Rashid."

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 were an Egyptian, he would be called Saleh Tariq Khalid al-Fulan and Fatimah would be Fatimah Abdullah Omar al-Rashid.

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, not Mohammed ibn Saleh ibn Tariq ibn Khalid al-Fulan (too long).

However, not all Arab countries use the name in its full length, but conventionally use two- and three-word names, and sometimes four-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 father's family name.

Biblical names and their Arabic equivalent

The Arabic names listed below are used in the Arab world with correspondent Hebrew, English, Syriac and Greek equivalents in many cases. Most are derived from Syriac transliterations of the Hebrew Bible.

Arabic name	Hebrew name	English name	Syriac name	Greek name
عابر / إيبر	Éver עֵבֶר	Eber	ܥܵܒ݂ܵܪ
اليسع	Elisha אֱלִישָׁע	Elisha	ܐܹܠܝܼܫܲܥ	Ἐλισσαῖος
عاموس	Amos עָמוֹס	Amos	ܥܵܡܘܿܣ	Ἀμώς
أندراوس		Andrew	ܐܲܢܕܪܹܐܘܿܣ	Ἀνδρέας
آصف	Asaph אָסָף	Asaph	ܐܵܣܵܦ
أيّوب	Iyov / Iov  /  איוב	Job	ܐܝܼܘܿܒ݂	Ἰώβ
ʾĀzar آزر / تارح	Téraḥ / Tharakh תֶּרַח / תָּרַח	Terah	ܬܲܪܚ	Θάρα
أزريا	Azaryah עֲזַרְיָהוּ	Azariah	ܥܲܙܲܪܝܵܐ
بَرثُولَماوُس	בר-תולמי	Bartholomew	ܒܲܪ ܬܘܼܠܡܲܝ	Βαρθολομαῖος
Bārak بارك	Barukh בָּרוּךְ	Baruch	ܒܵܪܘܿܟ݂	Βαρούχ
بنيامين	Binyamin בִּנְיָמִין	Benjamin	ܒܸܢܝܵܡܹܝܢ	Βενιαμίν
بولس		Paul	ܦܲܘܠܘܿܣ	Παῦλος
بطرس		Peter	ܦܸܛܪܘܿܣ	Πέτρος
دبوراه	Dvora דְּבוֹרָה	Deborah	ܕܒ݂ܘܿܪܵܐ	Δεββώρα
دانيال	Daniel דָּנִיֵּאל	Daniel	ܕܵܢܝܼܐܹܝܠ	Δανιήλ
Dāwud / Dāwūd / Dāʾūd داود / داوُود / داؤود	David   דָּוִד	David	ܕܵܘܝܼܕ݂	Δαυίδ, Δαβίδ
فيليب / فيليبوس		Philip	ܦܝܼܠܝܼܦܘܿܣ	Φίλιππος
فارص	Péreẓ פֶּרֶץ / פָּרֶץ	Perez	ܦܲܪܨ
إفرايم	Efraim אֶפְרַיִם/אֶפְרָיִם	Ephraim	ܐܲܦܪܹܝܡ	Ἐφραίμ
حُوبَابَ	Chobab חֹבָב	Hobab
حبقوق	Ḥavaqquq חֲבַקּוּק	Habakkuk		Ἀββακούμ
حجاي	Ḥaggay חַגַּי	Haggai		Ἁγγαῖος
آنّاه	Ḥannāh חַנָּה	Anna		Ἄννα
هارون	Aharon אהרן	Aaron		Ἀαρών
حواء	Chava / Hava חַוָּה	Eve	ܚܘܐ Hwuh*/Khwuh*	Εὔα
هوشع	Hoshea הושע	Hosea		Ὡσηέ
Ḥassan حسن	Choshen חֹשֶׁן	Hassan
حزقيال	Y'khez'qel  יְחֶזְקֵאל	Ezekiel		Ἰεζεκιήλ
إبراهيم	Avraham אַבְרָהָם	Abraham		Ἀβραάμ
Idrees / Akhnookh أخنوخ / إدريس	H̱anokh חֲנוֹךְ	Enoch / Idris		Ἑνώχ
إلياس / إل ياسين / إيليا	Eliahu / Eliyahu אֱלִיָּהוּ	Elijah	'Eliya	Ἠλίας
عمرام / عمران	Amrām עַמְרָם	Amram		Ἀμράμ
إرميا	Yirməyāhū יִרְמְיָהוּ	Jeremiah		Ἱερεμίας
/  عيسى / يسوع	Yeshua   יֵשׁוּעַ / יֵשׁוּ	Jesus	Eeshoʿ	Ἰησοῦς
جوشيا	יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ	Josiah		Ιωσιας
إسحاق	Yitzhak / Yitzchak יִצְחָק	Isaac		Ἰσαάκ
إشعيا	Yeshayahu יְשַׁעְיָהוּ	Isaiah		Ἠσαΐας
Ismail إسماعيل	Yishmael  /  יִשְׁמָעֵאל	Ishmael		Ἰσμαήλ
إِسرائيل	Israel / Yisrael  /  ישראל	Israel		Ἰσραήλ
/  جِبْريل / جَبْرائيل	Gavriel גַבְרִיאֵל	Gabriel		Γαβριήλ
/  جاد	Gad גָּד	Gad		Γάδ
/  / Julyāt جالوت / جليات	Golyāṯ גָּלְיָת	Goliath		Γολιάθ
/  جشم / جوشام	Geshem גֶשֶׁם	Geshem (Bible)	Gashmu
/ Ǧirğis / Ǧurğ / Ǧurayğ جيرجس		George		Γεώργιος
/ Kalb كلاب/ كلب	Kalev כָּלֵב	Caleb
لاوي	Lēvî לֵּוִי	Levi		Λευΐ
ليا	Leah לֵאָה	Leah		Λεία
مدين	Midian מִדְיָן	Midian		Μαδιάμ
مجدلية	Migdal	Magdalene	Magdala	Μαγδαληνή
ملكي صادق	Malki-ṣédeq מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶֿק	Melchizedek		Μελχισεδέκ
ملاخي	Mal'akhi מַלְאָכִי	Malachi		Μαλαχίας
Maryam / Miriam مريم	Miriam / Miryam מרים	Mary	ܡܪܝܡ	Μαρία
مَتُّوشَلَخَ	Mətušélaḥ מְתֿוּשָלַח	Methuselah		Μαθουσάλας
	Amittai אֲמִתַּי	Amittai
متى / متتيا	Matitiahu / Matityahu מַתִּתְיָהוּ	Matthew	Mattai	Ματθαῖος
ميكائيل / ميكال / ميخائيل	Michael / Mikhael מִיכָאֵל	Michael		Μιχαήλ
موسى	Moshe מֹשֶׁה	Moses		Μωυσῆς
نحميا	Neḥemyah נְחֶמְיָה	Nehemiah		Νεεμίας
نُوح	Noach / Noah נוֹחַ	Noah		Νῶε
قارون / قورح	Kórakh קֹרַח	Korah
راحيل	Rakhél רָחֵל	Rachel		Ραχήλ
صفنيا	Tzfanya  / Ṣəp̄anyā צְפַנְיָה	Zephaniah		Σωφονίας
صفورة	Tzipora  / Tsippora צִפוֹרָה	Zipporah		Σεπφώρα
سام	Shem שֵם	Shem		Σήμ
سامري	Zimri זִמְרִי	Zimri	Zamri
Samuel صموئيل / صموال	Shmu'el / Šəmûʼēl שְׁמוּאֶל	Samuel		Σαμουήλ
سارة	Sara / Sarah שָׂרָה	Sarah / Sara		Σάρα
شمشون	Shimshon / Šimšôn שִׁמְשׁוֹן	Samson		Σαμψών
Suleiman  /  سليمان	Shlomo שְׁלֹמֹה	Solomon		Σολομών
Saul طالوت / شاول	Sha'ul שָׁאוּל	Saul		Σαούλ
طوماس / توما		Thomas (name)	Te'oma	Θωμᾶς
Obaidullah عبيد الله / عبيدييا	Ovadia / עבדיה	Obadiah		Ὁβαδίας, Ἀβδιού
عمري	Omri עמרי	Omri
عُزَيْرٌ	Ezra עזרא	Ezra
يَعْقُوب	Yaakov יַעֲקֹב	Jacob, (James)		Ἰακώβ
/ ** يحيى / يوحنا	Yochanan / Yohanan יוחנן	John		Ἰωάννης
يهوه	YHWH יְהֹוָה	Jehovah	ܝܗܘܗ, ܝܗ, ܞ
Yessa يَسَّى	Yishay יִשַׁי	Jesse		Ἰεσσαί
Yathrun (?) / Shu'ayb / شعيب	Yitro יִתְרוֹ	Jethro
You'il يوئيل	Yoel יואל)	Joel		Ἰωήλ
Younos / Younes  / /Yūnān يونس /يونان.	Yona / Yonah יוֹנָה	Jonah	Yuna	Ἰωνάς
Youssof / Youssef  /  يوسف	Yosef יוֹסֵף	Joseph	ܝܲܘܣܸܦ	Ἰωσήφ
Youshaʿ / Yashūʿ يُوشَعُ / يَشُوعُ	Yĕhôshúa יְהוֹשֻׁעַ	Joshua		Ἰησοῦς
Zakaria  /  زَكَرِيَّا	Zecharia /Zekharia זְכַרְיָה	Zachary or Zechariah		Ζαχαρίας

• The popular romanization of the Arabized and Hebrew names are written first, then the standardized romanization are written in oblique. Arabized names may have variants.
• If a literal Arabic translation of a name exists, it will be placed after the final standardized romanization.
• If an Arabic correlation is ambiguous, (?) will be placed following the name in question.
• El, the Hebrew word for strength/might or deity, is usually represented as īl in Arabic, although it carries no meaning in classical and modern Arabic. The only exception is its usage in the Iraqi Arabic.

Some names might have different translations based on religious context:

• There are two versions of the name Jesus: Yasuʿ () is the Christian version, as used in the Bible, while ʿĪsa () is the Muslim version, as used in the Qur'an.

  Similarly, there are two versions of the name John: Yuḥannā () is the Christian version, while Yaḥya () is the Muslim version. They have different triconsonantal roots: Ḥ-N-N ("grace") vs Ḥ-Y-Y ("life"). Yuḥannā is cognate with the original Hebrew (יוֹחָנָן‎). Note that Yuḥannā may refer to either John the Baptist or John the Apostle, whereas Yaḥya refers specifically to John the Baptist.

Arabic names in English

Often Arabic names can be spelled multiple ways in English, and sometimes a person's name may be treated inconsistently. For example, the American boxer Muhammad Ali and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman share the same name, but their English spellings differ.

Indexing

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, Arabic names are indexed by their surnames. Names may be alphabetized under Abu, Abd and ibn, while names are not alphabetized under al- and el- and are instead alphabetized under the following element.

See also

• List of Arabic star names
• List of Arabic place names
• Nisba (onomastics)
• Kunya (Arabic)

External links

• 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)