Changing name

[Abdullah101]

Hello! I guess I better explain myself a bit before I can ask the question I need to ask, so here I go
My name is Christopher Allen Chavis, and I'm still a boy in High School. My family is very strong in their Christian beliefs, but honestly I am not. I've never ever in my entire life had a feeling that Christianity was right. I've now been religion-less for about two years, and just this year I am really finding Islam. I have a Muslim friend named Mustafa in my class, in High School, and he is guiding me a bit to Islam. I'm absolutely in love with it, and I believe Islam is the right religion. I've been studying Islam now for weeks, and yesterday I memorized Al-Fatiha (after I received a Quran that has transliteration in it). And after I post this, I will begin to memorize Al-Ikhlas! I am 1st generation to America (I'm pure blooded German) so I'll need to explain a bit of family history. After World War 2 my Grandmother was divorced by my Grandfather, and my step-grandfather who was deployed to Germany fell in love and married my Grandmother. My pregnant grandmother had a baby in Germany (my father) who was named Klaus Chavis because of the new marriage to my step-grandfather Charlie Chavis. My dad's real father is the dude that divorced my grandmother. He actually made my grandmother pregnant, then left her, a shame. Anyhow - If my step-grandfather would not have come along my last name would have probably been Zefus (which is my blood related grandfather's last name). So my father and mother were both machinists, and they got together through their job (as they had the same job). My dad and mom came to America, and had my brother, than me. (Just two years ago, my parents both became American Citizens). ATM me and my family live in Virginia, which is a state in the US.

Now I can actually ask my question.

If I would convert to Islam, I'm wondering if I would have to change my name (because it could possibly be haram?) I actually would WANT to change my name, I'm just wondering if I HAVE do.
Christopher means "bearing Christ"
Allen means "handsome"

I don't know what Chavis, or Zefus means, sorry!

[Abdullah101]

And one more thing (Sorry for not including this in the original post)

If I would have to change my name, what would my last name be?
ibn Zefus (my blood related grandfather's last name) or ibn Chavis (the last name of my step-grandfather), since my father's last name is Chavis?

[glo]

Hi there

I am German too. Chavis doesn't sound like a particularly German name to me and I haven't found any meaning for it either.
It's more likely to be a Germanised version of the Spanish/Portuguese Chavez - which either means 'somebody from Chaves (which is a region)' or 'key maker'.
Nothing particularly un-Islamic there, I would have thought.

Wishing you well on your faith journey. :)

[YusufNoor]

And one more thing (Sorry for not including this in the original post)

If I would have to change my name, what would my last name be?
ibn Zefus (my blood related grandfather's last name) or ibn Chavis (the last name of my step-grandfather), since my father's last name is Chavis?

hi Chris,

you never change your last name and you are not responsible for your last name. the Prophet's name was Mohammed ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttaalib. Abdul Muttaalib would be considered a haram name because we can only be the slave of Allah, or one of his names, attributes. but that was his grandfather's kunya, so thus he was called.

good question about Chris, i don't know! Christ means messiah, Jesus was the Messiah. Isa, Jesus' name in Arabic, is not haram. you would have to check with a scholar on that one. if, for any reason, you felt it was haram, then by all means, go ahead and change it.

it's OK to be called handsome. but you may check the origins further if you wish. generally though, the name that follows your name would be your father's name (followed by your grandfather's.)

Dr Bilal Philips' name was Dennis. because the name derives from Dionysius, he changed it.

happy to hear you are considering reverting. May Allah make it easy on you!

ma salaama,

Yusuf

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[greenhill]

Peace to you Abdullah101,

If I remember correct, change name if has 'bad' connotations to it. If you must, then keep your family name. Unless of course you don't want it. Then choose a suitable one(s) for yourself.

Talking about the surah's that you have learnt and about names, Al Fatihah has the names of Allah in there, iLlah, Rob, Rahman, Rahiim, and Maalik. 5 in total. Al Ikhlas has a further 2, Ahad and Somad. That makes it 7 in total that you will know out of the total of 99 names. If you learn it with the surah and the transliteration, you will also understand the significance of the names :statisfie and help remember the meanings.

Peace :shade:

[Abdullah101]

Thanks for all the help guys!

Chavis is my last name because of my step-grandfather (My last name WOULD be Zefus, which is the last name of my real grandfather)

and My parent's named me Christopher with a Christian meaning. Like, they meant for it to go with Christianity (because they are strong with their belief in Christianity)

I'll look for some first names, because if I convert to Islam, I would be very very strict about my beliefs (ie. center my entire life around Allah) (Plus, I don't like the name "Christopher" XD)

Thanks again everyone!
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
​I love the Quran, I'm about to read Az-Zumar again :D

[Nur Student]

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
​I love the Quran, I'm about to read Az-Zumar again

Masha'Allah.:thumbs_up Congratulations Abdullah! If you happen to have any questions about Islam or Qur'an, don't hesitate to ask. Insha'Allah brothers and sisters in the forum will be more than happy to assist.

Questions are good means of thinking and learning both for the one asking and the one answering. They trigger further attention, investigation, and contemplation.

Salam alayka (Allah's peace be on you)