Names

[jabeady]

As I understand it, when a person converts/reverts to Islam, they're encouraged to choose a new, Islamic, name, one that has a particular meaning.

In the West, names theoretically have meanings but no one pays attention to them; in many cases, I personally suspect that these "meanings" are invented by the greeting card companies. Overall, the predominant tendency is to name a child after one or more ancestors, with no regard to "meaning." In my own case, John Henry is the names of my father and grandfather, and is supposed to mean "Ruler of the household by the grace of God." I mentioned that to my wife once, which was a big mistake. :/

Most people probably don't even know that they're name supposedly has a meaning. I'm told there are people who name their children, not because of a meaning, but because they like a certain sound.

I don't know that I have an actual question here, I'm just thinking out loud. I would not like to give up my names. For one thing, there is a saying that no one truly dies so long as people remember his name (I can already hear the folks here commenting on that [emoji1] ), and I have no desire to give up my heritage, or to forget those who came before me and made me who I am. I remember another saying: "At this moment, I am the entire reason my ancestors existed."

 

[Little_Lion]

I kept my names, not only because there's nothing un-Islamic about them, but because it is such a pain in the patootie to change them.

 

[jabeady]

I've had surgery, so I'm not sure I've got a patootie.

 

[Serinity]

I don't have an Arabic name. Nor do I see a problem in having an Arabic name.

my name means "freedom" "free yourself". Or something like that. "break free".. I think something like that. Lol.

 

[Huzaifah ibn Adam]

Having a Muslim name helps people to immediately identify you as a Muslim, if they hear your name (or read it in a book/article).

Even on Hajj, not having a Muslim name can be an issue. If you don't have a Muslim name, then when applying for your Hajj visa, you will be asked to produce a document signed by a reliable Imaam in your locality which states that you are indeed a Muslim. Only then do you get issued your visa. People with Muslim names, on the other hand, do not encounter this difficulty.

Also, on the Day of Qiyaamah and in the Aakhirah, people will be called by the names they had in this Dunyaa. "So-and-so the son of so-and-so". Fulaan ibn Fulaan. So having a recognisable Muslim name is better.

Rasoolullaah صلى الله عليه وسلم informed us that the most beloved of names to Allaah Ta`aalaa are `Abdullaah and `Abdur Rahmaan (i.e. names with `Abd in it, like `Abdul Maalik, `Abdul Qaadir, `Abdul `Aleem, `Abdur Raheem, etc.)

Also, it is very good, when choosing names for yourself and for your children, to choose names of Ambiyaa and Sahaabah. This is because names have a great effect of people. A name is much more than just a name. Name a child after Fir`own and that child will grow up to have qualities like Fir`own. Name a child after a Sahaabi and he will grow up to have qualities like that Sahaabi. He may even have the same nature, the same disposition, mannerisms, etc.

 

[Search]

:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)

Shakespeare said, "What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” But then if you've seen the movie Meet the Parents, you'll have realized that your last name matters, at least in U.S. if your name is "Focker." Can you imagine a spotty teenager in high school sporting that name? Oh, the horror! I shudder at the thought of the bullying that person should suffer in the name of being a "Focker" (pun intended!)

By the way, I like your father and grandfather's name; and the name and meaning of those names are perfectly acceptable as Islamic names to have.

If people name their children without a name having a particular meaning but because they like a sound, then that's acceptable and wouldn't per my understanding need to be changed once a person converted to Islam.

If your name was a regular name and had no bad meaning (i.e. such as "satan's child" or "pagan" or "war" or "bitter"), then you wouldn't ever need to change it; it is only when you have a name that has a bad meaning does it need to be changed.

In Islam, by the way, children have some rights over their parents; one of their rights is to be given good names. Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "To whoever is born a child, the child should be given a good name and sound education. And when he becomes of age he should be married."

By the way, if you think names don't really matter in the real world, they do. In law school, we were assigned the book The Color of Crime for our class on race and crime, in which the author says, "A study done in 2003 found that job applicants who have 'Black sounding' names are much less likely to be called for an interview than those who have 'White sounding' names."

My own name is constantly butchered because my parents decided to choose a nontraditional spelling for a very traditional name; I've gotten used to the butchering of the name, and I don't really care all that much, but I have considered changing it to what is a traditional spelling and only the hassle involved makes me complacent with status quo.

All that said, I like to think that no matter what my name (though I was destined to have this one), I'd still be the person I am today and I like to think my name is not the marker of the impressions I leave in people's memories or footprints I leave on this world; I want the sum of my deeds and the difference I make as a human being to be what is the marker of both.

If tomorrow your name was Bob, you'd still be you, the person with your unique heritage and the product of your ancestors; you changing your name, if you ever wanted to do so, would not change your heritage or you being the entire reason for your ancestors existing.

You know, in some Native American tribes and cultures, they change the name of the person according to the phase in which the person is deemed to stand and another new name is revealed in keeping with the essential developing persona, and this was on account of knowing that we're all changing all the time, and the name, as important as it is, is sometimes about who we are and sometimes about who we want to be and sometimes about both.

As I understand it, when a person converts/reverts to Islam, they're encouraged to choose a new, Islamic, name, one that has a particular meaning.

In the West, names theoretically have meanings but no one pays attention to them; in many cases, I personally suspect that these "meanings" are invented by the greeting card companies. Overall, the predominant tendency is to name a child after one or more ancestors, with no regard to "meaning." In my own case, John Henry is the names of my father and grandfather, and is supposed to mean "Ruler of the household by the grace of God." I mentioned that to my wife once, which was a big mistake. :/

Most people probably don't even know that they're name supposedly has a meaning. I'm told there are people who name their children, not because of a meaning, but because they like a certain sound.

I don't know that I have an actual question here, I'm just thinking out loud. I would not like to give up my names. For one thing, there is a saying that no one truly dies so long as people remember his name (I can already hear the folks here commenting on that [emoji1] ), and I have no desire to give up my heritage, or to forget those who came before me and made me who I am. I remember another saying: "At this moment, I am the entire reason my ancestors existed."