Muslim Names

Traditional Muslim names consist of some or all of a number of elements:

Ism: The name given at birth. This may be an Arabic name, the Qur'anic form of a biblical name, a compound name consisting of "Abd" (servant of) plus one of the names of God (among men; women might use "Amat" in place of "Abd," but this is much less common), or a non-Arabic name.

Nasab: Pedigree. The nasab in Arabic consists of "ibn" (son of) or "bint" (daughter of), followed by either the father's ism or a family ism.

Kunya: This is the term "abu" (father of) or "umm" (mother of), prefixed to either the name of a child or an attribute, acquired either upon becoming a parent or as an epithet. This may appear before the ism or after the nasab.

Laqab: An honorific or descriptive title, or occasionally a nickname, often held by nobility, religious notables or other important figures. Many laqabs consist of a compound term ending in "al-Din" (of the faith) or "al-Dawla" (of the state), while another common form is to start with "al-Malik" (the king), followed by a descriptive term. Individuals may have more than one laqab.

Nisba: A broad term denoting profession, place of origin or birth, or tribe or family. It can also be a descriptive element. Nisbas often begin with the definite article "al-" and end in "i," in the case of men, or "iyya," in the case of women. An individual may have several nisbas.

As an example, the full name of Saladin is: Al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Abu'l-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadhi al-Kurdi. This breaks down into:

Name: Al-Malik al-Nasir Meaning: The King who Aids

Element: laqab

Name: Salah al-Din Meaning: Righteousness of the Faith

Element: laqab

Name: Abu'l-Muzaffar

Meaning: Father of al-Muzaffar

Element: kunya

Name: Yusuf Meaning: Joseph Element: ism

Name: ibn Ayyub Meaning: Son of Job Element: nasab

Name: ibn Shadhi Meaning: Son of Shadhi

Element: nasab

Name: al-Kurdi Meaning: The Kurd Element: nisba