How Most Parents in Middle East Country Decide Baby's Name - Essay Example

The paper "How Most Parents in Middle East Country Decide Baby's Name" is a great example of a culture essay. The naming conventions in the Middle East and in Islamic culture in general strictly adhere to the Prophet's suggestion. According to the Hadith, the parents are required to give meaningful and religious names to their children since the Muslims believe that the child's name reflects their personality and also because they believe that individuals will be called by their names on the day of judgment. Hence the names such as Abdullah or Abdur Rehman which are closer to Allah are suggested by the Prophet. With regard to naming a child, the Prophet says "Keep the names of the noble Prophets, Allah loves most the names, Abdullah and Abdur Rehman. The most truthful names are Harith and Humam, while the most disliked are Harb and Murrah (war and bitter)" (Isconline.org). 

Structure:
In the Middle East, the child is perceived as a critical generational link within the family unit and hence the name given to the child is of crucial significance. All traditional Arabic / Middle Eastern names are comprised of five key components each signifying the child's past and present familial ties and status in the family unit. These include Ism- which refers to the personal name given to the child. The personal names are mostly adjectives which indicate the desired character or trait that the parents wish for the child. Such as Karim - which means generous, or Mahmud- meaning praiseworthy. This is followed by a Nasab which is the name of one or more of the child’s ancestors. It is indicated by the male prefix ibn which means son of and binte which means daughter of. The kunya is used to connect the father or mother to their descendants; the Iaqab traditionally was a title or a nickname and lastly the Nisbah which is the last name of the family or ancestors tribe or city. This last name is mostly used by the family through several generations (Palls, 2008: p. 277). Read More