Muslim names

When a person converts to Islam, how do they go about finding the right name. And are we suppose to change our name legally and do we have to have 2 new names, or just one? :?My real name is Paula, but my nickname is Sunnie. That has been my nickname for nearly 25 years, and I like it. I hope someone can help me.

Sunnie said:

When a person converts to Islam, how do they go about finding the right name.

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Google!

Or you could get a book of Muslim names from an Islamic shop or friends etc.

And are we suppose to change our name legally and do we have to have 2 new names, or just one? :?My real name is Paula, but my nickname is Sunnie. That has been my nickname for nearly 25 years, and I like it. I hope someone can help me.

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It's entirely up to you if you want to change your name. You're not obligated to change it if you're happy with your current name.

If you do decide to change your name, I think it would be best to do it legally for practical reasons.

Endymion said:

Its not necessary to change your name if its meaning is ok.Muhammad SAW only changed the names of those people which had a bad meaning or contradictory to Islam.Rest were remain unchanged like Omar,Salman,Bilal etc.

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x2 .
If you like your name and it does not contain Shirk then you should keep it!

All you would be doing is taking a middle eastern/Arab name rather than a Muslim one. And Alhamdullilah, welcome to Islam Sunnie!

Peace

Thank you all for responding. It helped a lot. Maybe I will add a Middle Eastern name to Sunnie. That is something to think on.

marina28 said:

i was thinking of putting a arabic name with my name like marina-(arabic name)..u know like some people r called mary-ann.. have it together..but i have no idea what to use..most them i cant pronounce

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I agree, that is my problem too. I want something that has a special meaning. I guess I will just have to look up some Arabic names, and their meanings. Let me know if you find anything special. Sunnie

I found this site, I going to look at it and see what I can find.

http://www.islamfortoday.com/female_names.htm

Well, I found a name that I like. I will add it to Sunnie. It is Sunnie Ameena. Ameena means trustworthy and faithful. I love it, and it sounds good together.

Those are cool, too. I'll be waiting to see what you choose.

I actually like the first one....marina-Haadiya. It sounds good together, but that is just my opinion. Peace, Sunnie Ameena

My birth name included my father's first and, of course, last (family) name with my given name stuck in the middle. I liked the name 'Mustafa' because it means 'chosen' and it was one of the names that Muhammad (saaws) was known by. I legally changed my name in 2004. I dropped my middle name (which I really liked BTW), kept my last name and moved my previous first name to the middle slot. I now only lack 'ibn' or 'son of' between Mustafa and my father's name.

I don't recommend that a convert to Islam change their name unless they really want to. Don't let anyone pressure you into something you may regret later. For myself it was a personal matter of commitment and a 'no-turning-back-now' point of decision. I failed to tell you though that after accepting Islam I went 15 years of not practicing Islam until June 2001. I am glad that I made the decision to practice Islam and to change my name so that I would be known by everyone as a Muslim.

MustafaMc, thank you for sharing. I don't think I will legally change my name, but one never knows, basically I just wanted to add to my name. Maybe one day I will change my mind. ;Dlol