Much thought and care is given to selecting the name of a child in Saudi Arabia for all of the Saudi names will have a meaning. These two links provide lists of male and female names and their meanings. But I have been told when naming a Saudi child, one should always keep in mind the religious aspects of the name. The name should be viewed as acceptable from a religious point. For example, if a Saudi couple wished to name a newborn son, Joshua, that name would likely be rejected from a religious and therefore governmental perspective.
So what are the more popular names for newborn Saudi males? Asking the Saudis within my sphere of contacts, I was told that popular names can vary from region to region within Saudi but overall popular male names are:
Abdullah – servant of God
Abdulaziz – servant of the powerful or dear one
Ali – highest, greatest, noble. Name of the Prophet’s son-in-law and 4th Caliph
Hassan – beautiful, handsome
Hussain – beautiful, doer of good deeds. A descendant of the Prophet
Mohammad – Praise, praiseworthy. Name of the Prophet
Examples of Trendy or Contemporary male names are:
Adel – Just
Adnan – an old Arabic name
Khalid – Eternal
Examples of overall popular female names are:
Amal – Hope, aspiration
Aysha – living, prosperous. Youngest wife of the Prophet
Fatima – accustom, daughter of the Prophet
Khadija – First wife of the Prophet
Munira – Illuminating, brilliant
Nawal – gift
Wafa – Faithfulness
In addition to newborn children, converts to Islam may choose to take an Arabic name. It is also typical for foreign wives of Saudis to take an Arabic name too, especially if they are applying for Saudi citizenship. Many of the westerners who have taken an Arabic name seem to choose a name that is also recognizable and similar to a western name such as: Miriam, Sara or Judee.
Unlike in the American culture where there may be a tradition that the firstborn male of a family always has a particular name such as John James Sr, John James Jr, John James III, etc., it is unlikely to find such a tradition in place in Saudi names. A Saudis name will always indicate who his father and grandfather were.
Filed under: culture, gender, islam, religion, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, Saudi Living, Uncategorized Tagged: | culture, culture shock, customs, islam, KSA, religion, Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, travel
Hassan and Hussain were the grandsons of the Prophet (pbuh) – the sons of Ali and Fatimah.
thanks to know about the meaning of some of the names
now its confirmed that each name has meaning
btw, one small question in my mind (sorry it may be out of subject here)
do you have any instance of islamic following people converting into christianity? either male or female? may be after marriage?
Why is Joshua likely to be rejected?
@srinivas – While there have been cases of muslims who have left the faith to follow elsewhere it is not a subject I am comfortable addressing.
@Jerry – Actually I’ll have to follow up on more details why Joshua is not accepted. I conferred with some Saudis when I wrote post and one of them told me that citing that it was a name that would be rejected as being inappropriate by the government in regards to official documents, etc.
I chose names for my children that are found both in the Quran and Bible…so that no matter if they are in the east or west they “fit in” name wise.
I dont understand the whole “your name must be changed to something Arabic” pressure that is quite often placed on converts. As if your not legitimate until you are a Fatima or Aisha…rather than Jane or Sue.
Joshua is a lovely name and one I would have chosen if I had any more sons.
Quite simply, any name that does not conform to
religious OR Arabic culture will be flat out rejected.
In some cases ( depending upon the Region you’re
applying in ) they may even enquire as to why you
would seek to name your child such a name when
there is obviously an abundance of good Arabic
names to choose from. As obvious from my name
I am Abdulaziz, but as the child of Saudi parents of
Somali ancestry, it was always obvious that I would
get such a name, imagine my surprise when I
learned that my beloved Grandfather ( Maternal )
was the one who gave me my name. Having said
that, Somali people also have names that are
all their own. Ancient cushitic ones, and there is
also the tendency to name men after prophets
recognized in Islam ( Mousa, Isa, Idris, Shuaib )
as well as Angels ( Jibreel, Israfeel, Azrael ).
My uncle wanted to name his 4th son Jibreel,
the Minsitry of Interior said ” NO!!!!!!! “, so he went
with Mohammed ( but in family he is still called
Jibreel ). Now another uncle has long been called
Ahmad by all of us ( family and close circle of friends ).
One day a man comes to the door of my
Grandparents home and says ” Hello, is Taher
home by any chance? ” I told him there was no such
person here, and my uncle Ahmad walks out. I was
STUNNED!!!!!, lol, as stunned as an 11 year old can
get anyway. Seems the Ministry of Interior was a bit
miffed as to why a Sunni Muslim family would choose
a blatantly Shi’ie name for their son. They applied it
but said to name him something ” A little less
unsettling ” as my grandfather was told. To this day
my grandparents are known respectively as
Abu & Umm Ahmad. Sorry to drone on so long,
just felt that adding some might shed some more
light on the mechanics of how one goes naming
names here ( and how its not as easy as some
might think ).
Regards
Khadija is the feminine form of ‘khadij’, which means ‘prematurely born baby’.
It has always irked me that we Saudis don’t even have the freedom to choose the name of our children. Many once popular names have been put on the ban-list, like Iman (Faith) and Malak (Angel) and many others..
My youngest son is Jibreel…Im glad it was up to me.
Some people say you shouldn’t use the name of an angel, but what’s their problem with “Iman”?
Jawa, although I do agree with what you said, there
have also been instances where some have justified
it, neighbors of ours ( from Hijaz ), had a cousin over
once, and you could imagine the stupified expression
on my face when I learned his name was Daniel,
yes, you read that right, apparently they were able to
justify it by saying there was a prohpet Daniel. I dont
know how accurate this is, as the prohpets identified
in Islam do not state of a prophet named Daniel
anywhere. And lets not forget the Shammari people
of Northern Saudi Arabia, the people who still to
this day sometime call the eldest son of a family
” Orance “, an Arabazation if you will of Lawrence,
I am ofcourse speaking of T.E. Lawrence, they
still revere him for throwing off the yolk of Turkish
aggression, and this is how they honor him. LOL,
will always remember one day during ECON 101
when roll call came and the instructor said
” Orance Al-Shammari…………. is that you real
name? “, he replied in the affirmative and then we
were regailed with a story that explained what I’ve
expanded upon.
@munaqabah:
The reasoning (as I remember it) was that it was forbidden to name people after religious properties or some such.
@Aziz:
Daniel isn’t mentioned in the Quran, but is acknowledged by many notable scholars as part of “Isrealieat” (accepted bible lore). I’ve always liked the name Daniel (or rather it’s Arabic pronunciation “Dan-yal”).
As for Orance, why not? It sounds nice (to my ears), and has no negative meaning.
@ Saudi Jawa
lol, I agree. Mind you, I never said anything was
wrong with either, but I do find it ironic that my uncle
being checked from calling his son Jibreel whilst
Orance’ father had no problem registering his son as
such. Although I’m sure the Turks would see it as
being in ” Bad Taste ” to allow people to name the
man who effectively brought an end to their rule
here, I suspect the Qasr Ajyad controversy plagues
them alot more. Speaking of which, has the Ministry
of Islamic Affairs rebuilt it as they said they would
before tearing it down?
Aziz, thank you for the interesting explanations. I enjoyed reading them.
I am named after my grandmother which is an old custom in the Netherlands. It’s a totally pagan name, but nobody knows that anymore.
I had heard last year from a couple who wanted to name their daughter Malak and weren’t allowed to. I think it’s too stupid to have restrictions on names.
And I get different explanations about what the name Tariq stands for. Who can enlighten me?
I enjoy learning about names and their meanings. What a fun post!
I, too, would be very surprised to learn of a Saudi named Daniel. (Ironically I “met”a Saudi just this week who uses Daniel as his Facebook name because he is studying in America…weird timing to see this post now.) It’s a very popular Bible name and there are many Daniels in my family and around the nation. Daniel was one of the young Hebrew men taken captive by the Babylonians and was chosen to work as one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men. Great stories in that book of the Bible.
Anyway…thanks for another interesting post. I was amazed at how many Ahmads and Mohammads I met in Syria although I know why they are popular.
@carol:
Nice Article on Names, appreciate it. I would like to ask can you throw some light on the family names (like Al-????,etc.) how did they came to be named that, etc. if possible.
@Aziz, Coolred38:
I have friend named Jibreel too.
Also i don’t think it is a requirement for a Revert Muslim to change his/her name.
And Islaam does recognize the original Scriptures of Torah and Gospel, so names coming out of these books are ok. Also common hindu names such as Sumathi (meaning peace) and Kavita (meaning poem), etc. are ok to be carried forward by former Hindus who Revert to Islam. Infact many Indonesians still carry non-arabic names.
And to those middle eastern or muslim families who would like to name their children from the Gospel or the Torah, they must realize that the Gospel was originally revealed in Armaic which is closer to Hebrew and Arabic, but the original Gospel got transmitted to Latin/Greek and then to English and other languages (correct me if i am wrong). So the bibilical names which we hear in the west are the anglicised versions from the original scriptures.
For example If you want to name your kid Tabitha (which is a Bibilical name refer Acts 9:36) its Armaic equivalent is Talitha.
So my take is that if a middle eastern couple wants to name their kid it is better to stick to your mother tongue or atleast closer to it.
Also some of the guidelines that I would like to follow for naming my kid is that, I would like:
1. A name which has a good and a religious meaning
2. A name for the children which would connect them to my family
3. A name which would help them blend into a society where they live, etc…
At the end of the day as a Parent I beleive our kids should be proud or atleast like the name they were named when they grow up.
I didnt know some names were banned in Saudi. In some Nordic countries they have laws which cover names. I always thought that stupid.
We have an Egyptian family that are friends with our family and she just had a girl and named it Malak.
Anyway, when we picked names for our two little guys we wanted Muslim names, but ones that were not that common anymore.
Sinan, meaning “spear” in Arabic was the first one we choose. The full name being Sinan ad-Deen or “Spear of the Faith” in Arabic. Sinan isnt that common of a name in Arab countries, it is used mostly in Syria and other places in the Levant. It is more common in Turkey.
Sayf was the other name we picked. It means “Sword” in Arabic and is a more old fashioned name in the Gulf. It went well with his brother’s name, both martial type names. The full name would be Sayf ad-Deen or “Sword of the Faith” in Arabic.
@Aafke
It is always a pleasure to speak and share and
educate, as one might learn something in return.
It honors me that I can shed some light on my
beloved country whilst not appearing hostile,
something alot of my compatriots would do
themselves honor in aspiring to do as well.
Pagan names are popular anywhere before
the advent ( and in some cases even after ) the
arrival of monothiestic religions. I know of some
Somali people who still go by the cushitic names that
their ancient ancestors held before the first Arab
merchants arrived on the Somali coast. Names like
Ashkir ( Stallion ), Gurey ( Left Handed ) and my
personal favorite, Liban ( Lion ). Tariq is usually
meant for someone knocking, as in the Arabic
saying ” Man Il Tariq? ” ” Who is that knocking on
the door? ”
Ofcourse, external influences play a role in how
names come. I’m always amazed at how my mothers
family have names one would find more frequently
encountered in Cairo then Khobar, lol, Egyptian
culture influenced them. My grandmother,Aisha
and my great grandmother ( Allah rest her soul ),
Khadija. As I’ve said before, Somali’s do usually
tend to use more religious names, but factors
play into how they would be named. My grandfather
however is named Jama ( Large Mosque, one
usually reserved for Friday prayers). As far as I can
tell, this is a unique Somali name, in that I’ve only
encountered it here in Saudi families as a Surname,
Al-Jama,usually for a family from a larger tribe who
wish to differentiate which branch they are from.
In fairness though, most of the Somali people who
do carry the names that somehow still bond them
to our ancestral homeland are not Saudi citizens,
as if they were, they would not be allowed to sport
” Heretical ” names in the first place. A rather sad
state of affairs, but what can one do.
@Susanne430
I agree Daniel is a rather biblical name, but I’m
happy the young mans family were able to achieve
a small victory in seeking to apply that name to him
and succeeding.
@Abu Abdullah
“Al-” is just the definitive article in Arabic, equivalent to “The” in English. And the word in the surnames after “Al-” can be anything. It can a reference to the person’s tribe (i.e. Al Harbi is a person from the Harb tribe), or some profession that an ancestor became famous for (i.e. Al Najjar means the carpenter) … etc.
@Aafke
Tariq is derived from Tarq which means “to knock (on doors)” and, like many Arabic names, has more than one meaning. The ones I know of are:
1. Night visitor.
2. Shooting star.
3. Morning star.
Since we are talking about names. Other Syrians or Palestinians I met earlier this year include:
Men
Khalid aka Abu Muhammad
Joni
Hussein
Samer
Barea
Basem
Baher
Wasim
Louai
Ahmad
Mohammad
Hassan
John
Sami
Basheer
Amer
Faisal
Anthony
Hachen or Hachem (?)
Eyad
Women
Rusha
Rana
Dania
Nahed
Maha
Fatima
Claudia
Susanna
A few others were too exotic for my American brain to understand how to repeat, but they were pretty.
Aziz, oh, I am happy about that, too! I find it cute.
My brother named his daughter Payton…when I asked him why he chose that unfamiliar name…he said…everyone should have at least one interesting thing about them.
Both my kids have non-relogious indian names – I didn’t care either way but my Spouse has this weird logic.. acco to him we’ll probably yell at the kids many times
see he thought it better we don’t abuse any religion/gods etc., so we stuck to indian names ( bright like the sun and loved one)
a la ” you idiot come here right now.”
@ radha
is it kiran and preeti
at Inidia too we have variety of names – some may be weird
@tvsrinivas,
The Hindu “Kiran” always reminds me of the Irish
“Cieran”.
@ Abu Sinan
whats the meaning of cieran?
our children’s names are totally opposite to their behaviour
@tvsrinivas,
Cieran (the gaelic spelling) or Kieran (anglicised spelling) means “dark” or “black”.
Sinan (Spear) is such a nice mellow guy, so he doesnt act according to his name. Sayf (sword) is a really nice and sweet guy, but if you push him he’ll go off in a second like a little tornado and doesnt care who it is. So he fits his name. He is like dad in that respect! lol
@ Tvsrinivas
I don’t know about Saudi but there have been some rather unpleasant stories about Muslims who have converted to Christianity.
@ abu sinan
as i have seen many a times the behaviour of children would be totally opposite to their name
son, vinay is not as obedient as name suggests
@ wendy
don’t you feel that all religion canvasses the same thing – all are path of life (scripted as per experience) – at times, it gets bad tag because of interpreters
JerryM–re: Joshua, it is probably considered too Jewish, as is David “Daoud” for some Arab Muslim people and countries.
Aziz–really interesting, thanks.
I agree that this is an interesting topic and post, and that people who are multicultural or expect their children to be should pick names that work more universally. Converts or reverts only have to choose different names if their original one has a negative meaning in Arabic, or alludes to another religion, eg. Christian, Judah, Israel, etc. although it is seen as an opportunity to choose a new name for one’s new life.
I knew about the naming laws of Morocco, and those generally of Islam, but somehow didn’t think about other countries having naming laws.
The Moroccan ones include the Islamic rules of: a good, elevating name (not ugly, or dog, or idiot or Satan); one that doesn’t reference another religion (not Christian, Christine, etc.). However they add: suitably Moroccan (ie not Berber), no more than 2 first names, and not titles of the aristocracy used as names (eg. Moulay, Lalla, Sidi). The list of accepted “suitably Moroccan” names is mysterious and evolves according to the will of the specific person receiving the name registration or petition about it.
I’ve met 2 Muslim Danyals, one Iranian, the other South Asian.
Radha–LOL!
tvsrinivas–since Islam views converting out of the faith, apostasy, as punishable by death it is a very delicate topic.
I do know one Arab Muslim who converted to Christianity. He says he was disillusioned with Islam, and was open to an alternative religion, when he took refuge in, and began working as a repairman at, a Protestant missionary church based in Europe. He was planning to travel to North America to join the same group here (both times there were immigration issues involved), when he got the preacher’s daughter pregnant. They married in her church and live nearby. They have 2 children who each have a Western and an Arab name, are beautiful, and go by their Western name except with his Arab parents. They are all living happily.
@tvssrinivas – close .. daughter is Priya and my son’s i’ll just let you guess again
Oh and i didn’t know morocco,saudi etc., could reject the name you picked. isn’t it up to the parents to decide however idiotic it may seem to the rest of the world!! and boy have i heard some weird ones in the us and India.. especially the newer generation..
tvsrinivas – yes I do. I think it is not a subject to discuss here. From my personal experience it’s not a good subject to discuss at all with Muslims. I am just happy that my Muslim in-laws are okay with me and there is no pressure to leave my own religion.
@ radha
is he ravi? tejas?
my daughter is apt to the name – maanasa
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=hNlDxpC7A0o
@ wendy
i have many many muslim friends – also christian friends – my way of thinking is exactly similar to theirs – also this is my experiment with almost all religions i interacted with in these 49 years
each religion is a path of life – they shower love and compassion to the fellow human beings
those who spoil the name of religion is common in all religion – not to pinpoint only one
bedu has given wonderful platform to interact various thinking minds
@tvssrinivas .. Rohit (meaning .. first rays of the sun.. bright like the sun etc., etc.,)
@tvssrinivas.. and i love the name maanaasa.. very nice.
Does it mean – daughter of vasuki? I thought it was a more of a bengali name..
[...] Saudi Arabia, all names have meanings, notes American Bedu, an American married to a Saudi. Cancel this [...]
“…since Islam views converting out of the faith, apostasy, as punishable by death it is a very delicate topic. ..”
Just to clarify…Islam does not view it as such…Muslims do.
This is sooo off the topic of why but it begs one to question why?
Aziz, I am fascinated to learn about names, and I love names which have meaning.
Abu Sinan, Nice, I like your son’s names!
Saudi Jawa, Thanks for giving me the meanings for Tarq! My Arab horse is called Tarq! And he knocks! Or rocks!
Radha, I love the names of your children!
I think every country has some rules about names; in the U.S., you couldn’t name a child with a very vulgar name, for example. I’ve read that in Iran, even Sunnis aren’t allowed to use names like “Aisha and Umar”.
Chiara, it never would occur to me not to use Daoud because it was Jewish. He’s mentioned in the Quran, after all. One of my sons is Sulaiman.
When I became Muslim, I didn’t take a “Muslim” name; I had my name for more than 30 years by then, and it was a good name. As Chiara said, changing it is only required if it’s something objectionable about it, but some people like to take a new name then. Even so, some of them take names that are Arabic but have no Islamic significance.
With my children, though, we did make sure to pick good Islamic names, and it is recommended. The name best loved by Allah are Abdullah and AbdulRahman; other good names for boys are Abd (“servant of”) in front of one of Allah’s names, as well as names of the Prophets. For girls, Amat is equivalent to Abd, and there are the names of the best women: Maryam (Mary), Khadijah, Fatimah, Asiya. And the Prophet’s wives and daughters, and other Companions.
Coolred–Thanks, it would have been more precise to say that in the Quran apostasy is described as the worst of crimes, and one that will lead to punishment by Allah. These ayat then served Muslim legal scholars of all 4 Sunni legal schools and the Shia one to decree punishment by death by execution (decapitation), except that the Hanafi and Shia do not execute women, but make them serve a life sentence in jail. Apostates are given a chance to repent, and in fact most are given a way out of execution whether by repentance, or a declaration of incompetence (“insanity defence”) or a combination and with deportation.
Radha–yes the Moroccan laws include a pseudo-law that is nonetheless applied, which was created by the former MOI Driss Basri, to suppress Berber culture, starting with their birth names.
Wendy–the theological explanation that I have heard, from a highly knowledgeable conservative Muslim, is that one who has received the message of Islam and turned their back on it is a “criminal” in the sense of worse than one who hasn’t been aware, or never converted, and so never turned their back on the message/true path. There are however lists online of famous “apostates” or converts from Islam to Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, etc. I am sure there are also more socio-political explanations.
Munaqabah–I agree with your comment. David is one of my favourite names, ever since I can remember (? because of seeing Michelangelo’s David as an impressionable 14 yo? LOL
), so I was very disappointed to learn that among the Moroccans I know even Daoud is considered Jewish, and certainly David is off the map. Daoud is one of the names permitted on the “liste Basri” though. My husband threatened (jokingly) to buy a dog and name it David. I like any number of Muslim or Arab names, including Adam, which is very universal too. Some friends have talked about their fears of discrimination when applying for positions in North America with the name Mohamed–sad! 
I do hope the Asiah, who commented previously on the blog and had deliberately chosen that name to draw attention to Asiya, one of the 4 best women, will comment again!
Chiara, I guess that’s why it’s so easy for Muslims to accept dictatorship?? I think this is one of the reasons that I would NEVER consider converting (or reverting whatever the term). I want freedom to worship the way I choose as well as other things in life.
So its quite fine to apostate from your previous religion into Islam…but not other way round? So the whole “there is no compulsion in religion” thing is just meant for non Muslims or what?
The punishment for apostacy is in the hands of God on judgment day…there is no punishment for it prescribed while still on earth…those that have taken it upon themselves to end lives over a change of religion have murder to answer for.
I understand that there is something about killing those who leave ”the faith” adressed to one specific moment in time when the small new muslim society was under attack, and there were quite a few instances of people moving back and forth between religions, but more importantly politically, and so it really amounted to spying, moving over to the other side and then spilling secrets. So it was meant for that moment in time only.
But if you take it out of context you can work it up to mean ”Kill everybody who has second thoughts”, and use it kill people.
But that would be bidah, or shirk wouldn’t it?
Wow…I’ve been away from the blog and so enjoying catching up on all the comments and learning even more about names and Islam. One thing that surprises me that I’ve noticed among Saudi families is that many in the extended family may have the same name such as Mohammad, Abdullah or Mariam and Munira for example. I am surprised because at least in my family’s culture, unless one was specifically being named as a Jr or Sr, you chose a unique name (ie, one not already in use) for a new arrival in the family.
I love how my son named his son, Jacob and my Saudi family always will ask me “How is little Yacoub doing?”
Wendy–I’m not sure I would say that, as you have framed it. Dictatorships are usually imposed, although sometimes unintentionally voted in, or fraudulently voted in. Muslims seem no more willing to accept them than Roman Catholic Latin Americans, European Christians, or South Asian Hindus or Sikhs, or East Asian Buddhists, Confucians, Taoists, etc. A good friend who would have been happy to see me revert, also warned me not to do it unless I was sure, because of the punishment for apostasy, and then taught me to say the shahada in case of capture by insurgents or extortionists, and to claim coersion later. He was very thorough in his teaching. LOL
I definitely agree with freedom of choice of religion or no religion.
Coolred–Indeed this seems to be a one way street, and men are eager to rush in where Allah has already provided his judgment.
I remember one time I had a doctor’s appointment, and I was ushered into the examining room wihout the doctor seeing me first, but she looked at my file. When she came in and saw me, she laughed and said, “Oh, you ARE English! I was thinking that you were one of us whose mother watched too many movies!”
I have an Arab friend who named her daughter after some actress – an obviously Western name (although the actress might have been Egyptian). At the time, she was young and didn’t think about the future, but later she was always sorry that she had given her that name.
I do find the subject of names and how they are given and what they may mean to be quite interesting.
There’s a lot of wild speculation in the comments.
Let’s first point out that in Islam, all names are allowed except those that fall within certain categories:
1. Names that can be deemed insulting or humiliating. You can’t call your kid Moron. This may become an issue because sometimes foreigners are in a local culture and the name they pick, which may be a common name back home, is an insulting name in the local language. A local judge/court/agency may disallow it for that reason.
2. Names whose meaning have a religious significance that contradicts Islam. The most canonical example is something like Abd-Yusuf, which means slave/servant of Yusuf. The prophet ruled that such names are forbidden (in this case because people – or at least Muslims – should only serve God – hence Abd-Allah or Abdullah).
I suppose names of prophets in other religions that Islam does not recognize may be considered questionable, though.
Other than that – all names are OK. Even if they have no meaning. Even if they are Anglicized versions of known Arabic names.
Now the above is the usual “Islamic” position. It’s possible that the Saudi agencies are more restrictive, etc. I can’t speak for them.
For example, if a Saudi couple wished to name a newborn son, Joshua, that name would likely be rejected from a religious and therefore governmental perspective.
Are you certain about this? I fail to see why they would do it. The Arabic name for Joshua is Yushua, which is actually on the list of male names that you link to!
Although looking at Wikipedia, it seems that the name has more significance in Shia Islam – so if they disallow it, it may be more to do with the Sunni/Shia issues rather than other religions.
As for Daniel, it’s a common name in the Indian subcontinent (among Muslims). It’s pronounce with a soft ‘d’ – even though the language has the characters to pronounce it like they do in English. So I don’t know if the provenance has anything to do with the Biblical Daniel.
Daoud or Dawood is common in many parts of the Muslim world. Heck, one of the main books of Hadith was written by Abu Daoud.
Person–that is a nice summation. I agree with what you’ve said about official names. My only points were that among some people, eg my Moroccan family and friends, David and by extension Daoud seem to them to sound Jewish. Prophet Daoud being one of my favourite prophets, and obviously an Abrahamic one, I disagree with their impression, but have little suasion on some. As I pointed out, Daoud is on the official list of acceptable Moroccan names. Thanks for a nice summary.
Chiara
)
future mother of twins Daoud and Yeshua (I believe very firmly in twin pregnancies LOL
Chiara…Im not sure but I dont think “belief” all by itself will bring about twin pregnancies…theres a little more to it then that…
@ radha
maanasa is the name of saraswati, brahma’s daughter born out of mind
Coolred–Is that why it hasn’t happened yet? LOL
Especially as I’d prefer a full Bobbsey complement. 
I’d better trust the wisdom of a rightfully proud mother of 5. I guess I have some “work” to do.
@Aziz – The Prophet Daniel is not mentioned in the Quran (or mentioned in great detail in the Bible either, I think) but you can find mentions of him in the stories of the prophets. It’s a completely legitimate muslim name – I don’t see why anyone would have a problem with it. The muslim version is Daniyal/Danyal.
تمتص جزيره العرب ، وأنا أكره كل عرب.
plz send me some good names for male nd female babies thank u
@Taj – A good name for girls is Lynn and a good name for boys is Steven
You’re welcome.