winterbadger | moreover, at work...

I took a class on how to 'decipher' Arabic names.

For instance, did you know that while Muslims around the world believe the Quran to be the word of God (not revelation, but actual dictation) and so no translation from Arabic is a valid Quran (this I knew), most aren't Arabic speakers. They learn to recite the text more or less by rote, to the point that they have (according to one guy who studied at a school in Cairo with non-Arabic-speaking Muslims) exceptional diction and pronunciation. But they haven't a bloomin' idea what they're reading (other than in general terms). This lack of actual ability to read Arabic, as well as a dilution the further one gets from Mecca of specifically Arabic sensibilities and religious propriety, make their mark in, among other things, names.

Arabic names, like Roman ones, have several sections. And almost all of them not only have an ultimate meaning (like 'Ethan' means 'strong'), but everyone knows them, and takes the meanings seriously.

The kunyah, sort of a nickname for friends and family, records whose *parent* you are. Umm Walid, the mother of Walid, or Abu Umar, father of Umar.

The ism, or personal name: Muhammad, Marwan, Husayn. A lot of 'theophoric' names, names that describe the bearer's relationship with god (usually 'Abd [servant/follower/slave]-al [of the]-something', the something usually being one of the 99 names of god (the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Bountiful). If the something is not one of the names of god, it's apparently a good indication they're from some other part of the world than the Arabian Peninsula, as 'proper' Muslims (i.e., Arabs) would find it distasteful to name a child 'follower" of someone other than god.

The nasab or patronymic. Bin/ibn (men) or bint/ibnat (women) plus your father's name (sorry, mums!) Sometimes two, to show both your father and his father. And the prefix is being dropped more and more, so one might see a chappie named Rashid Jamil Basam, meaning Rashid son of Jamil son of Basam.

Nisba: Occupation, place of birth, or tribe/clan. Hasan al-Qurayshi, Hasan of the tribe of Quraysh (the Prophet's tribe, so a popular one to claim); Hafiz al-Najdi, Hafiz from the Najd (the plateau in the center of the Arabian Peninsula, where Riyadh is located), Tawfiq al-Hamamsi, Tawfiq the hummus seller. To some extent, these have turned almost into family names.

Laqab: A cognomen, usually poetic or complimentary. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Abu Bakr the Truthful. Salim al-Jamil, Salim the Handsome.

Then peg a job title on the front and you have a long, long name.

So someone could be named al-Muhami Abu Bashir Abd-al-Majid Ibn Abd-al-Samad Ibn Marwan al-Alawis al-Fiqih al-Rashid. The lawyer Abd-al-Majid (servant of the Illustrious), father of Bashir (the bringer of good tidings), son of Abd-al-Samad (servant of the Everlasting), grandson of Marwan, member of the Alawis clan, who dispenses justice, the well advised one. He might introduce himself as Abd-al-Majid al-Alawis. His friends might call him Abu Bashir (Bashir's Dad). His neighbors might call him al-Muhami (Mr Lawyer). People in his family (if they didn't call him Abu Bashir) might call him Abd-al-Majid al-Rashid (to distinguish him from his cousin Abd-al-Majid al-Tabib (Abd-al-Majid the Doctor))

Gets confusing, doesn't it?