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

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### Ism

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The ism (اسم) is the given name, first name, or personal name; e.g. "Ahmad" or "Fatima". 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

### Nasab

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See also: Patronymic § Arabic

The nasab (Arabic: نسب, lit. 'lineage') is a patronymic or matronymic, or a series thereof. It indicates the person's heritage by the word ibn (ابن "son of", colloquially bin) or ibnat ("daughter of", also بنت bint, abbreviated bte.).[citation needed] In the 1995 book Name Studies (De Gruyter), Wolfdietrich Fischer [de] wrote that, although the nasab was still common contemporarily, ibn and bint were omitted "in almost all Arab countries".[1]

Ibn Khaldun (ابن خلدون) 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.[2]

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 'Abnā for males and Banāt for females. However, Banu or Bani is tribal and encompasses both sexes.

### Laqab

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The laqab (لقب), pl. alqāb (ألقاب), can be translated to English as agnomen; cognomen; nickname; title, honorific; last name, surname, family name.[3] The laqab could be purely descriptive of a person, express admiration or be insulting and derogatory.[4]

An example is the name of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, which uses the definite article al-. Harun is the Arabic version of the name Aaron and al-Rasheed 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.[4]

Another common form of laqab is that of compounds ending with al-Dīn (lit. 'of the faith' or 'of the religion'), al-Dawla ('of the State'), al-Mulk ('of the Kingdom'), or al-Islām ('of Islam').[5] 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.

### Nisbah

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Main article: Nisba (onomastics)

The nisbah (نسبة) 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 الحلبي al-Halabi, meaning that the person is originally from Aleppo or a descendant of people from Aleppo. For a profession example, الخياط al-khayyat meaning "the tailor".

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

### Kunya

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Main article: Kunya (Arabic)

A kunya (Arabic: كنية, kunyah)[6] 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.[7] 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

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See also: List of Arabic theophoric names

### Arab Muslim

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A common name-form among Arab Muslims is the prefix ʿAbd ("Worshipper", fem. Amah) combined with the word for God (Allah), Abdullah (عبد الله "Worshipper of God"), or with one of the epithets of God.

As a mark of deference, ʿAbd is usually not conjoined with the prophet's names.[8] Nonetheless, such names are accepted in some areas. Its use is not exclusive to Muslims and throughout all Arab countries, the name Abdel-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

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Generally, Arab Christians have names indistinguishable from Muslims, with the exception of some explicitly Islamic names, e.g. Muhammad. Some common Christian names are:

* Arabic versions of Christian names (e.g. saints' names: Buṭrus 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, Copts and Syriac Christians.
* Use of European names, especially French, and English. 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:

ʿAbd al-Yasuʿ (masc. ) / Amat al-Yasuʿ (fem.) ("Servant of Jesus")
ʿAbd al-Masiḥ (masc.) / Amat al-Masiḥ (fem.) ("Servant of the Messiah")
Derivations of Maseeḥ ("Messiah"): Masūḥun ("Most Anointed"), Amsāḥ ("More Anointed"), Mamsūḥ "Anointed" and Musayḥ "Infant Christ". The root, M-S-Ḥ, means "to anoint" (as in masah) and is cognate to the Hebrew Mashiah.

## Dynastic or family name

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Some people, especially in the Arabian Peninsula, when descendant of a famous ancestor, start their last name with Āl "family, clan" (آل), like the House of Saud ﺁل سعود Āl Suʻūd or Al ash-Sheikh ("family of the sheikh"). Āl is distinct from the definite article (ال). If a reliably-sourced version of the Arabic spelling includes آل (as a separate graphic word), then this is not a case of the definite article, so Al (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 أهل.

Dynasty membership alone does not necessarily imply that the dynastic آل is used – e.g. Bashar al-Assad.

Arabic  | Meaning  | Transliteration  | Example

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ال | 'the'  | al- | Maytham al-Tammar
آل | 'family'/'clan of'  | Al | Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
أهل | 'tribe'/'people of'  | Ahl | Ahl al-Bayt

### Example

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محمد بن سلمان بن أمین الفارسي
Muḥammad ibn Salmān ibn Amīn al-Fārisī

Ism – Muḥammad (proper name, lit. 'praised')
Nasab – Salmān (father's name, lit. 'secure')
Nasab – Amīn (grandfather's name, lit. 'trustworthy')
Nisbah – al-Fārisī (lit. 'the Persian').

"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

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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 ʻalāʾ from Allah: Some Muslim names include the Arabic word ʻalāʾ (علاء "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 Allāh, the l is written twice (⟨ll⟩) and pronounced twice as long (a geminate), as /l/ or /ll/. In Arabic pronunciation, ʻalāʾ and Allāh 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 ʻAlāʾ al-dīn (Aladdin, "the Nobility of the Faith") is sometimes misspelled as Allāh al-dīn by Europeans and Indians.[citation needed] There is another name ʻAlaʾ-Allah (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 bin or ibn 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 ʻalāʾ, 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

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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

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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

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ʿĀbir /ʾĪbir عابر / إيبر  | Éver
ʻĒḇer עֵבֶר  | Eber | ܥܵܒ݂ܵܪ ʿĀḇār |
Alyasaʿ اليسع
| Elisha
Elišaʿ אֱלִישָׁע  | Elisha | ܐܹܠܝܼܫܲܥ Ēlīšaʿ | Ἐλισσαῖος
ʿĀmūs عاموس  | Amos
ʿĀmōs עָמוֹס  | Amos | ܥܵܡܘܿܣ ʿĀmōs | Ἀμώς
Andrāwus أندراوس  |  | Andrew | ܐܲܢܕܪܹܐܘܿܣ Andrēōs | Ἀνδρέας
ʾĀsif آصف  | Asaph
ʾĀsaf אָסָף  | Asaph | ܐܵܣܵܦ ʾĀsāp |
ʾAyyūb أيّوب  | Iyov / Iov
Iyyov / Iyyôḇ איוב  | Job | ܐܝܼܘܿܒ݂ Īyōḇ | Ἰώβ
ʾĀzar
Āzar / Taraḥ آزر / تارح  | Téraḥ / Tharakh תֶּרַח / תָּרַח  | Terah | ܬܲܪܚ Tar(ə)ḥ | Θάρα
Azarīyā أزريا  | Azaryah עֲזַרְיָהוּ  | Azariah | ܥܲܙܲܪܝܵܐ Azar(ə)yā |
Barthulmāwus بَرثُولَماوُس
| bar-Tôlmay בר-תולמי  | Bartholomew | ܒܲܪ ܬܘܼܠܡܲܝ Bar-Tūlmay | Βαρθολομαῖος
Baraka
Bārak بارك  | Barukh
Bārûḵ בָּרוּךְ  | Baruch | ܒܵܪܘܿܟ݂ Bārōḵ | Βαρούχ
Binyāmīn بنيامين  | Binyamin
Binyāmîn בִּנְיָמִין  | Benjamin | ܒܸܢܝܵܡܹܝܢ Benyāmēn | Βενιαμίν
Būlus بولس  |  | Paul | ܦܲܘܠܘܿܣ Pawlōs | Παῦλος
Butrus بطرس  |  | Peter | ܦܸܛܪܘܿܣ Peṭrōs | Πέτρος
Dabūrāh دبوراه  | Dvora
Dəḇôrā דְּבוֹרָה  | Deborah | ܕܒ݂ܘܿܪܵܐ D(ə)ḇōrā | Δεββώρα
Dānyāl دانيال  | Daniel
Dāniyyêl דָּנִיֵּאל  | Daniel | ܕܵܢܝܼܐܹܝܠ Dānīyyēl | Δανιήλ
Dāwud / Dāwūd / Dāʾūd داود / داوُود / داؤود  | David
Davīd דָּוִד  | David | ܕܵܘܝܼܕ݂ Dāwīḏ | Δαυίδ, Δαβίδ
Fīlīb/Fīlībus فيليب / فيليبوس  |  | Philip | ܦܝܼܠܝܼܦܘܿܣ Pīlīpōs | Φίλιππος
Fāris فارص  | Péreẓ
Pāreẓ פֶּרֶץ / פָּרֶץ  | Perez | ܦܲܪܨ Parṣ |
ʾIfrāym إفرايم  | Efraim
Efráyim אֶפְרַיִם/אֶפְרָיִם  | Ephraim | ܐܲܦܪܹܝܡ Ap̄rēm | Ἐφραίμ
Ḥūbāb حُوبَابَ  | Chobab
Ḥovav חֹבָב  | Hobab |  |
Ḥabaqūq حبقوق  | Ḥavaqquq חֲבַקּוּק  | Habakkuk |  | Ἀββακούμ
Ḥajjai حجاي  | Ḥaggay חַגַּי  | Haggai |  | Ἁγγαῖος
Ānnāh آنّاه
| Ḥannāh חַנָּה  | Anna |  | Ἄννα
Hārūn هارون  | Aharon אהרן  | Aaron |  | Ἀαρών
Ḥawwāʾ حواء  | Chava / Hava
Ḥavvah חַוָּה  | Eve | ܚܘܐ Hwuh*/Khwuh*  | Εὔα
Hūshaʾ هوشع  | Hoshea
Hôšēăʻ הושע  | Hosea |  | Ὡσηέ
Ḥassan حسن  | Choshen
ẖošen חֹשֶׁן  | Hassan |  |
Ḥazqiyāl حزقيال
| Y'khez'qel
Y'ḥez'qel יְחֶזְקֵאל  | Ezekiel |  | Ἰεζεκιήλ
ʾIbrāhīm إبراهيم  | Avraham אַבְרָהָם  | Abraham |  | Ἀβραάμ
Idrees / Akhnookh
Idrīs / Akhnūkh أخنوخ / إدريس  | H̱anokh חֲנוֹךְ  | Enoch / Idris |  | Ἑνώχ
ʾIlyās / ʾIlyāsīn / Īliyā إلياس / إل ياسين / إيليا
| Eliahu / Eliyahu
Eliyahu אֱלִיָּהוּ  | Elijah | 'Eliya  | Ἠλίας
ʾImrān عمرام / عمران  | Amrām עַמְרָם  | Amram |  | Ἀμράμ
ʾIrmiyā إرميا  | Yirməyāhū יִרְמְיָהוּ  | Jeremiah |  | Ἱερεμίας

ʿĪsā / Yasūʿ عيسى / يسوع  | Yeshua
Yešuaʿ יֵשׁוּעַ / יֵשׁוּ  | Jesus | Eeshoʿ  | Ἰησοῦς
Ǧūšiyā جوشيا
| Yôšiyyāhû יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ  | Josiah |  | Ιωσιας
ʾIsḥāq إسحاق
| Yitzhak / Yitzchak
Yitsḥaq יִצְחָק  | Isaac |  | Ἰσαάκ
ʾIshʻiyāʾ إشعيا  | Yeshayahu
Yəšạʻyā́hû יְשַׁעְיָהוּ  | Isaiah |  | Ἠσαΐας
Ismail
ʾIsmāʿīl إسماعيل
| Yishmael
Yišmaʿel / Yišmāʿêl יִשְׁמָעֵאל  | Ishmael |  | Ἰσμαήλ
ʾIsrāʾīl إِسرائيل
| Israel / Yisrael
Yisraʾel / Yiśrāʾēl ישראל  | Israel |  | Ἰσραήλ
Ǧibrīl / Gibril / Ǧibra'īl جِبْريل / جَبْرائيل  | Gavriel
Gavriʾel גַבְרִיאֵל  | Gabriel |  | Γαβριήλ
Ǧād / Jād جاد  | Gad גָּד  | Gad |  | Γάδ
Ǧālūt / Jālūt / Julyāt جالوت / جليات  | Golyāṯ גָּלְיָת  | Goliath |  | Γολιάθ
Ǧašam / Ǧūšām جشم / جوشام
| Geshem גֶשֶׁם  | Geshem (Bible) | Gashmu  |
Ǧūrğ / Ǧirğis / Ǧurğ / Ǧurayğ جيرجس  |  | George |  | Γεώργιος
Kilāb / Kalb كلاب/ كلب  | Kalev כָּלֵב  | Caleb |  |
Lāwī لاوي  | Lēvî לֵּוִי  | Levi |  | Λευΐ
Layā'ليا  | Leah לֵאָה  | Leah |  | Λεία
Madyān مدين  | Midian מִדְיָן  | Midian |  | Μαδιάμ
Majdalā مجدلية  | Migdal  | Magdalene | Magdala  | Μαγδαληνή
Māliki-Ṣādiq ملكي صادق  | Malki-ṣédeq מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶֿק  | Melchizedek |  | Μελχισεδέκ
Malākhī ملاخي  | Mal'akhi מַלְאָכִי  | Malachi |  | Μαλαχίας
Maryam / Miriam مريم  | Miriam / Miryam
Miryam מרים  | Mary | ܡܪܝܡ  | Μαρία
Mattūshalakh مَتُّوشَلَخَ  | Mətušélaḥ
Mətušálaḥ מְתֿוּשָלַח  | Methuselah |  | Μαθουσάλας
Mattā | Amittai אֲמִתַּי  | Amittai |  |
Mattā / Matatiyā متى / متتيا  | Matitiahu / Matityahu
Matityahu מַתִּתְיָהוּ  | Matthew | Mattai  | Ματθαῖος
Mikāʼīl / Mikaal / Mikhāʼīl ميكائيل / ميكال / ميخائيل
| Michael / Mikhael
Miḵaʾel מִיכָאֵל  | Michael |  | Μιχαήλ
Mūsā موسى  | Moshe
Mošé מֹשֶׁה  | Moses |  | Μωυσῆς
Nahamiyyā نحميا  | Neḥemyah נְחֶמְיָה  | Nehemiah |  | Νεεμίας
Nūḥ نُوح  | Noach / Noah
Nóaḥ נוֹחַ  | Noah |  | Νῶε
Qarūn / Qūraḥ قارون / قورح  | Kórakh
Qōraḥ קֹרַח  | Korah |  |
Rāḥīl راحيل  | Rakhél
Raḥel רָחֵל  | Rachel |  | Ραχήλ
Ṣafnīyā صفنيا  | Tzfanya  / Ṣəp̄anyā
Tsfanya צְפַנְיָה  | Zephaniah |  | Σωφονίας
Ṣaffūrah صفورة
| Tzipora  / Tsippora
Ṣippôrā צִפוֹרָה  | Zipporah |  | Σεπφώρα
Sām سام
| Shem שֵם  | Shem |  | Σήμ
Sāmirī سامري  | Zimri זִמְרִי  | Zimri | Zamri  |
Samuel
Ṣamu’īl / Ṣamawāl صموئيل / صموال  | Shmu'el / Šəmûʼēl
Shmu'el שְׁמוּאֶל  | Samuel |  | Σαμουήλ
Sārah سارة  | Sara / Sarah
Sarā שָׂרָה  | Sarah / Sara  |  | Σάρα
Shamshūn شمشون  | Shimshon / Šimšôn
Shimshon שִׁמְשׁוֹן  | Samson |  | Σαμψών
Suleiman
Sulaymān / سليمان  | Shlomo
Šlomo שְׁלֹמֹה  | Solomon |  | Σολομών
Saul
Ṭālūt / Šāwul طالوت / شاول  | Sha'ul
Šāʼûl שָׁאוּל  | Saul |  | Σαούλ
Ṭūmās/Tūmā طوماس / توما
|  | Thomas (name) | Te'oma  | Θωμᾶς
Obaidullah
ʻUbaydallāh / ʻUbaydiyyā عبيد الله / عبيدييا  | Ovadia
ʻOvádyah / ʻOvádyah עבדיה  | Obadiah |  | Ὁβαδίας, Ἀβδιού
ʻAmri عمري  | Omri
ʻOmri עמרי  | Omri |  |
ʻUzāir عُزَيْرٌ  | Ezra
Ezrá עזרא  | Ezra |  |
Yaʿqūb يَعْقُوب  | Yaakov
Yaʿaqov יַעֲקֹב  | Jacob, (James)  |  | Ἰακώβ
Yaḥyā / Yūḥannā** يحيى / يوحنا  | Yochanan / Yohanan
Yôḥānnān יוחנן  | John |  | Ἰωάννης
Yahwah يهوه
| YHWH
Yahweh יְהֹוָה  | Jehovah | ܝܗܘܗ, ܝܗ, ܞ YH, YHWH |
Yessa
Yashshā يَسَّى  | Yishay יִשַׁי  | Jesse |  | Ἰεσσαί
Yathrun (?)
Yathrun / Shu'ayb / شعيب  | Yitro
Yiṯrô יִתְרוֹ  | Jethro |  |
You'il
Yūʾīl يوئيل  | Yoel יואל)  | Joel |  | Ἰωήλ
Younos / Younes
/ Yūnus/Yūnān يونس
/يونان.  | Yona / Yonah
Yônā יוֹנָה  | Jonah | Yuna  | Ἰωνάς
Youssof / Youssef
Yūsuf / يوسف  | Yosef יוֹסֵף  | Joseph | ܝܲܘܣܸܦ Yawsep̄ | Ἰωσήφ
Youshaʿ
Yūshaʿ / Yashūʿ يُوشَعُ / يَشُوعُ  | Yĕhôshúa
Yôshúa יְהוֹשֻׁעַ  | Joshua |  | Ἰησοῦς
Zakaria
Zakariyyā / Zakarīyā زَكَرِيَّا  | Zecharia /Zekharia
Zeḵaryah 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 (يَسُوع) is the Christian version, as used in the Bible, while ʿĪsa (عِيسَى) is the Muslim version, as used in the Qur'an.
Similarly, there are two versions of the name John: Yuḥannā (يُوحَنَّا) is the Christian version, while Yaḥya (يَحْيَى) 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 Yôḥānān (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

[edit]

Often Arabic names can be spelled multiple ways in English, and sometimes a person's name may be treated inconsistently.[9] For example, the American boxer Muhammad Ali and the current Saudi crown prince/Prime minister Mohammed bin Salman share the same name, but their English spellings differ.

## Indexing

[edit]

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.[10]

## See also

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Fischer, Wolfdietrich (15 May 1995). "Arabische Personennamen". In Eichler, Ernst; Hilty, Gerold; Löffler, Heinrich; Steger, Hugo; Zgusta, Ladislav (eds.). Namenforschung [Name Studies]. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 873–875\. ISBN 978-3-11-011426-3.
2. ^ Mohammadi, Adeel (2016). "The Ambiguity of Maternal Filiation (nasab) in Early and Medieval Islam". The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School (11): 52–68.
3. ^ Wehr, Hans (1976). Cowan, J Milton (ed.). A Dictionary Of Modern Written Arabic Hans (3rd ed.). Spoken Language Services, Inc. p. 873\. ISBN 0-87950-001-8.
4. ^ a b Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1986). "Laḳab". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden: E. J. Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0563. ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
5. ^ Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P., eds. (1960–2007). "Ism". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3641.
6. ^ Shahpurshah Hormasji Hodivala, Historical Studies in Mug̲h̲al Numismatics, Numismatic Society of India, 1976 (Reprint of the 1923 ed.)
7. ^ Pedzisai Mashiri, "Terms of Address in Shona: A Sociolinguistic Approach", Zambezia, XXVI (i), pp. 93–110, 1999
8. ^ Metcalf, Barbara D. (8 September 2009). Islam in South Asia in Practice. Princeton University Press. p. 344\. ISBN 978-1-4008-3138-8. "One must avoid names whose ambiguity suggests something unlawful. It is for this reason that the scholars forbid having names like 'Abd al-Nabi (Slave of the Prophet)."
9. ^ Notzon, Beth; Nesom, Gayle (February 2005). "The Arabic Naming System" (PDF). Science Editor. 28 (1): 20–21\. ISSN 1535-5365.
10. ^ "Indexes: A Chapter from The Chicago Manual of Style" (Archive). Chicago Manual of Style. Retrieved on December 23, 2014. p. 25 (PDF document p. 27/56).

## External links

[edit]

* 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)

* v
* t
* e

Arabic language

Overviews|

* Language
* Alphabet
* History
* Romanization
* Numerology
* Influence on other languages

Scripts|

* Nabataean script
* Arabic script
* Ancient North Arabian
* Ancient South Arabian script
* Arabic numerals
* Eastern numerals
* Arabic Braille
* Algerian Braille
* Maltese Braille
* Diacritics
* i‘jām
* Tashkil
* Harakat
* Nunation (tanwin)
* Shaddah
* Hamza
* Dagger alif
* Maltese alphabet

Letters|

* ʾAlif
* Bāʾ
* Tāʾ
* Ṯāʾ
* Ǧīm
* Ḥāʾ
* Ḫāʾ
* Dāl
* Ḏāl
* Rāʾ
* Zāy
* Sīn
* Šīn
* Ṣād
* Ḍād
* Ṭāʾ
* Ẓāʾ
* ʿAyn
* Ġayn
* Fāʾ
* Qāf
* Kāf
* Lām
* Mīm
* Nūn
* Hāʾ
* Wāw
* Yāʾ

Varieties|

| Pre-Islamic|

* Proto-Arabic
* Nabataean Arabic
* Old Arabic
* Old Hijazi Arabic
* Pre-classical Arabic

|

Literary|

* Classical
* Modern Standard

Modern
spoken|

| Maghrebi|

| Pre-Hilalian|

* Andalusi
* Sicilian
* Maltese
* Australian
* Cottenera
* Gozitan
* Qormi
* Żejtun
* Żurrieqi
* Urban
* Tunis (North-Eastern Tunisian)
* Village
* Eastern
* Sahili (Sahel)
* Sfaxian
* Jijel (Lesser Kabylia)
* Western
* Traras-Msirda
* Jebli (Mountain)
* Judeo-Maghrebi
* Judeo-Moroccan
* Judeo-Tripolitanian
* Judeo-Tunisian

|

Hilalian|

* Central Hilal
* Algerian koiné
* Judeo-Algerian
* Algerian Saharan
* Eastern Algerian
* Eastern Hilal
* Tunisian koiné
* Maqil
* Fessi
* Hassaniya
* Nemadi
* Moroccan koiné
* Eastern
* Western
* Western Algerian
* Sulaym
* Libyan koiné
* Western Egyptian Bedawi

Nile Valley|

* Egyptian
* Saʽidi
* Sudanese

Levantine|

| North|

* Cilician
* Lebanese
* Syrian
* Aleppine
* Damascene

|

South|

* Jordanian
* Palestinian

Mesopotamian|

| Gilit|

* Baghdadi
* Khuzestani
* Shawi
* South

|

North (Qeltu)|

* Anatolian
* Cypriot
* Judeo-Iraqi
* Baghdadi

Peninsular|

* Bahrani
* Bareqi
* Bedawi
* Dhofari
* Gulf
* Bahraini
* Emirati
* Kuwaiti
* Khamseh
* Hejazi
* Najdi
* Omani
* Shihhi
* Yemeni
* Hadhrami
* Sanʽani
* Taʽizzi-Adeni
* Tihami
* Judeo-Yemeni

Others|

* Central Asian
* Bakhtiari
* Bukhara
* Kashkadarya
* Khorasani
* Shirvani
* Chadian
* Nigerian

Sociological|

* Bedouin Arabic

Judeo-Arabic|

* Judeo-Algerian
* Judeo-Egyptian
* Judeo-Iraqi
* Baghdadi
* Judeo-Moroccan
* Kjal
* Wqal
* Judeo-Tripolitanian
* Judeo-Tunisian
* Tunisene
* Judeo-Yemeni
* Adeni
* Beda
* Habban
* Sanʽani

Creoles
and pidgins|

* Bimbashi
* Bongor
* Gulf Pidgin
* Jordanian Bengali Pidgin
* Juba
* Maridi
* Nubi
* Pidgin Madam
* Turku

Academic|

* Literature
* Names

Linguistics|

* Standard Arabic phonology
* Sun and moon letters
* Tajwid
* Imāla
* ʾIʿrāb (case)
* Grammar
* Triliteral root
* Mater lectionis
* IPA
* Quranic Arabic Corpus

Calligraphy
· Script|

* Ajami script
* Diwani
* Hijazi script
* Jawi script
* Jeli Thuluth
* Kairouani
* Kufic
* Maghrebi
* Mashq
* Muhaqqaq
* Naskh (script)
* Nastaliq
* Rasm
* Ruqʿah script
* Shahmukhi
* Sini (script)
* Taliq script
* Tawqi
* Thuluth

Technical|

* Arabic keyboard
* Arabic script in Unicode
* ISO/IEC 8859-6
* Windows-1256
* MS-DOS codepages
* 708
* 709
* 710
* 711
* 720
* 864
* MacArabic encoding

Other|

* Islam and Arabic language

* Italics indicate extinct languages
* Languages between parentheses are varieties of the language on their left.
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Personal names and anthroponymy

Personal name|

* Birth name
* Given name
* Surname
* patrilineal
* matrilineal
* affixes
* nobiliary particle

By sequence|

* Given name
* list
* Middle name
* Surname
* list

By trait|

* Diminutive
* Double-barrelled
* Epithet
* animal
* common
* plant
* Eponymic
* Matronymic
* Metonymic
* Mononymic
* Occupational
* Patronymic
* surname
* Sobriquet
* Teknonymic
* Toponymic
* surname
* Patrial
* Unisex
* Virtue

By life situation|

* Aptronym
* Birth name
* Code name
* Maiden and married names
* Necronym
* Posthumous name
* Temple name
* Placeholder name
* Notname
* Regnal name
* Slave name

Pseudonyms (list)|

* Art name
* bugō
* Nicknames
* list
* hypocorism
* list of monarchs
* nom de guerre
* Pen name
* heteronym
* Ring name
* shikona
* Stage name
* list
* list of mononyms
* Username

By culture (surnames)|

| East Asia|

* Chinese
* art
* courtesy
* generation
* titles
* Hong Kong
* Formosan
* Japanese
* Korean
* Okinawan
* Vietnamese

|

Northern Asia
and Central Asia|

* Kalmyk
* Manchu
* Mongolian
* Sakha
* Tibetan

North Africa
and Western Asia|

* Afghan
* Arabic
* Azerbaijani
* Berber
* Coptic
* Hebrew
* Mandaean
* Pashtun
* Persian
* Somali
* Tatar
* Turkish

Oceania|

* Australian Aboriginal
* Fijian
* Hawaiian
* Māori
* Vanuatuan

Sub-Saharan Africa|

* Ashanti
* Congolese
* Eritrean and Ethiopian
* Ewe
* Ghanaian
* Igbo
* Yoruba
* Zimbabwean

Europe,
Americas,
and Australasia|

| Baltic|

* Latvian
* Lithuanian

|

Celtic|

* Cornish
* Irish
* Manx
* Scottish
* Welsh

Germanic|

* Dutch
* English
* American
* African-American
* Canadian
* German
* Gothic
* Icelandic
* Scandinavian
* Swedish

Romance|

* Catalan
* French
* Italian
* Occitan
* Portuguese
* Roman
* praenomen
* nomen
* cognomen
* agnomen
* Romanian
* Spanish
* Latin America

Slavic|

* Bulgarian
* Croatian
* Czech
* East Slavic
* Belarusian
* Russian
* Ukrainian
* Kashubian
* Macedonian
* Polish
* Serbian
* Slovak
* Suffixes

Uralic|

* Estonian
* Finnish
* Hungarian

Other|

* Albanian
* Armenian
* Basque
* Georgian
* Greek
* ancient
* Cypriot

South and Southeast Asia|

* Balinese
* Bengali
* Bhutanese
* Burmese
* Filipino
* Indonesian
* Chinese
* Javanese
* Cambodian
* Malaysian
* Mizo (Lushai)
* Indian
* Lao
* Pakistani
* Sindhi
* Sinhalese
* Tamilian
* Thai

By religion|

* Christian
* biblical
* papal
* saint
* Buddhist surname
* Dharma
* Jewish
* Hebrew
* surname
* Mandaean
* Theophoric

Manners of address (list)
Of authority and of honour|

| Styles|

* Honorific
* diplomatic
* imperial, royal, and noble
* judiciary
* religious
* ecclesiastical
* Pre-nominal letters
* Suffix
* emeritus
* Post-nominal letters
* academic
* orders, decorations, and medals

|

Titles|

* Academic
* Imperial, royal and noble
* chivalric
* courtesy
* false
* hereditary
* subsidiary
* substantive
* Military
* professional
* Academic
* educational
* honorary
* Corporate
* Diplomatic
* Judicial
* Religious
* ecclesiastical
* papal

Related traditions|

* Baptism
* Name day
* Calendar of saints

Related|

* Acronym
* Anonymity
* Anthropomorphism
* personification
* national
* Call sign
* Deadnaming
* Endonym and exonym
* Family
* Galton–Watson process
* Legal name
* name change
* Namesake
* Naming taboo
* Nomenclature
* nomen nescio
* Misnomer
* Onomastics
* -onym
* Personal identity
* identifier
* Proper noun
* Signature
* monogram
* royal cypher
* khelrtva
* signum manus
* tughra
* Surnames by country

*[lit.]: literal translation
*[fem.]: feminine
*[masc.]: masculine
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