A (Very) Brief History of the Middle East Part 15: What's in a Name?

Explainer: How do Muslims get their names?

This is not necessarily relevant to the conversation at hand, but it piqued my curiosity and I couldn’t leave it alone. There seems to be a pattern to the way Muslims are named, but what is it? I set out to discover the method. Here’s what I found:

The main part of a persons name is known as the “ism” (like Christian first names). They are typically either Arabic words with a significant meaning (ex: Amal=hope, Mahmud=praiseworthy) or a combination of “abd” (which means servant) and another word, usually one of the Muslim names for God (ex: Abdullah=servant to the God). One common mistake made with this part of the name is that “Abdul” is not in itself an “ism.” “Abdul” is a variation of “abd” and alone means only “servant of.” Also, any word following “Abdul” is a part of that man’s personal name, and the two need to be said in conjunction.

At times, a “kunya” precedes or replaces the “ism.” A “kunya” refers to the persons first born son (ex: Abu Karim=father of Karim).

The “nasab” indicates the patriarchal heritage using either “ibn” (no idea how to pronounce this) or “bin.” Both of these mean “son of.” So Osama bin Laden is “Osama, son of Laden.”

The “nisba” most closely resembles the Christian last name and indicates a person’s occupation, geographic home, or descent. This name will travel with families through many generations.


Interesting stuff…at least I thought so. Come back tomorrow. It is the beginning of the end.

Thanks for reading.