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cropped family names

How are family names constructed in Arabic?

In Europe or the USA we have a first name (given name), maybe a middle name, and a surname (family name). How is it in the Arab world?

LAST UPDATED: 1 month ago

In Europe or the USA we have a first name (given name), maybe a middle name, and a surname (family name). How is it in the Arab world? Family names can be tricky – especially in Arabic. Usually, you should regard them as a chain.

Family names in the Arab world Hide
  1. First name: Ism
  2. The Laqab
  3. The Nasab
  4. The Nisba
  5. The Kunya

Arab(ic) names are a string of names listing ancestors on the father's side. Usually, you will see the first name the person's own), the father's name, and the paternal grandfather's name.

Since only the person's first name is really his or hers, it is the most important name which his used together with a title (e.g. Mr., Doctor, Professor). Strangely, in Egypt, the name of former ruler Muhammad Husnī Mubārak (مُحَمَّد حُسْنِي مُبارَك) was used in the Western media to an extent that the Egyptian people adopted it and spoke of President Mubarak.

Since names reflect only the father's side, women have masculine names after their first name! The word ابن between ancestral names is especially common in the . But that is not the end of the story.

Muhammad al-Farūq 'Ibn Khālid al-Baghdādīy
('Abū Karīm)

مُحَمَّد الْفارُوق ابن خالِد الْبَغْدَادِيّ
(أَبُو كَرِيمٍ)

In general, Arabic names consist of five parts which don't necessarily have to follow a particular order. However, you will often find the following order:

1اِسْمٌ
2لَقَبٌ
3نَسَبٌ
4‎نِسْبةٌ
5كُنْيةٌ

First name: Ism

This could be a traditional Arab name that is found in the Qur'an, a (nice) attribute, a foreign name, or a compound with the most common prefix عَبْد which means servant of and is fol­lowed by one of the (attributes) of Allah.

The Laqab

The لَقَبٌ is defined as an epithet, usually a religious, honorific, or descriptive title. The لَقَبٌ can pre­cede the اِسْمٌ and some­times comes to replace it. There are mainly three possibili­ties:

  • physical qualities: الطَّوِيلُ – the tall
  • virtues: الْفارُوقُ – he who distinguishes truth from false­hood or الرَّاشِدُ – the rightly guided.
  • compounds with الدِّين (religion): light of the religion (نُورُ الذَِينِ)

The Nasab

Genealogy (family origin): son of… son of… son of…

The نَسَبٌ is the patronymic. It is more or less a list of ancestors, each introduced with son of (اِبْن) or daughter of (بِنْت).

It often relates back to two or three generations. That's why Ara­bic names can be very long: أُبَىُّ بْنُ عَبَّاسِ بْنِ سَهْلِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ

In this example, ‘Abbās is the father and Sahl the grandfather and Sa‘d the grand-grandfather.

The Nisba

Indication of origin. The is usu­ally preceded by the definite article الْ.

The نِسْبةٌ is similar to what people in the West may call the sur­name. It is rarely used in Egypt and in Lebanon where the لَقَبٌ incorporates its meaning. A person may have several نِسْبةٌ

It is usually an (نِسْبةٌ) derived from:

  • the place of birth, origin: الْبَغْدَادِيُّ (from Bagh­dad);
  • the name of a reli­gious sect or tribe or family: التَّمِيمِيُّ (be­longing to the Tamīm tribe);
  • a profession: الْعَطّاريُّ (the per­fume vendor);

The Kunya

Honorific name (street name) – to identify a person by his first-born child.

Name under which people call somebody on the street; mostly named after the first child: father of; mother of.

The كُنْيةٌ is a honorific name. It is not part of a person's formal name and is usu­ally not printed in documents. The كُنْيةٌ is very important in Ar­abic culture – even a person who has no child might have a كُنْيةٌ which makes him (or her) symbolically the par­ent of a special qual­ity, such as father of good deeds.

Watch out: In the Arab world wo­men don't take their hus­band's surname when they get married. They keep their names they were given at birth.

Children, how­ever, do take their father's name which is ex­pressed in the نَسَبٌ: daughter of (name of the father).

You can find an in-depth explanation of how names work in Arabic in Arabic for Nerds 2:

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I am sure you know that Arabic names usually convey a meaning. So, do you know what Hussein actually means?

More about Islamic and Arab culture and history:

Picture credit: Image by Lorraine Cormier from Pixabay

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Ryan Hope
Ryan Hope
1 year ago

Thanks for the summary!

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