Expecting a new baby is a blessing for most parents. I will share my story and advice on naming your child an Arabic name in the United States of America.
There I was sitting in bed with my laptop on typing the night away, while my wife slept the night away. The more I typed, the more this question crossed my mind. As a married couple, it’s only natural for my wife and I to start thinking about having children.
The question that kept popping up is, what to name our first child? Although there isn’t a right or wrong answer, the consequences of something as simple as a given name, could influence the future of our child. Most people probably think it’s no big deal, it’s just a name. Which is exactly the way I used to think before getting hitched. The dilemma is that wife and I would like to name our first child a unique Arabic name, unique in our country of birth, as well as being unique and simple in the United States. It’s hard enough figuring out a name that ticks all the boxes in one culture, let alone two. We have our work cutout for us.
If you thought that was hard, you should listen to what follows… Most Americans (British, Australians, Canadians, etc…) would have only one thing to worry about the first name, and a middle name that can be anything as most people won’t even use it. On the other hand, most Arabs, whether Christian or Muslim, do worry about the first name. In addition to that, they have to figure out whether to use the father’s first name as the child’s middle name. You heard that right. The father’s male name ends up being the child’s middle name whether it’s a boy or a girl. The reasoning behind it is that the name is used for identifying the family tree in a way.
That’s the tip of the iceberg. Life would be easier if either of us was passive on the subject. The truth is we are both very opinionated about naming our future child.
The only time we discuss the name is when we get in bed, which opens up what seems to be a very enjoyable hour-long conversation about names. The other night as we lay in bed, my wife said, “The name Leith is beautiful”. I responded by saying yes it is, but I could see kids calling the boy lice, as in head lice. Then there are those names that she just hates, while others that I cannot stand. See my point, it is pretty hard.
One could easily say screw it, it’s just a name.
After going through all of that we still haven’t came up with a name for a boy, but we already have a girl name in mind (talk about mom raising us).
To make it easier on everyone, I came up with a list of advice on how to pick your child’s Arabic name, especially if you live in the United States:
- Figure out if you’re pregnant prior to worrying about a name.
- Figure out the gender, to simplify and narrow down your search.
- Do not name your child an X’s name, it can end up in an embarrassment.
- Re-use someone else’s name, like grandparents names with a Jr. at the end to make things easier.
- Run the name through a joke and nickname panel test.
- To make it harder for kids to make fun of it, like the example I gave about the name Leith.
- Run the name past a few kids and teenagers and see what they come up with.
If still no luck after going through the above list, then revert to creating an Facebook opinion poll and call it a day.
You may think that I am overthinking this entire ordeal. In reality, just like any other parent on this planet, we want our children to grow into successful positive contributors to society, to value their origins and to love and appreciate the country their parents immigrated to.
At the end of the day, a child’s name, whether an Arabic name or English, only plays a small role in determining their destiny. If your child grows up to despise their name, just blame your spouse.