Are you sometimes confused by Emirati names when you meet someone from the UAE?

Let’s take a look at UAE names and how Emiratis are referred to, but before that you should know that Arabic names are more than just a way to identify someone; Arabic names all have specific meanings.
How Emiratis are named
Let’s look at this name as an example:
Mohammed Abdulla Ali Mohammed Al Hamadi
In this case, the forename is Mohammed who is the son of Abdulla, so Abdulla is Mohammed’s father and is himself the son of Ali. Ali is Abdulla’s father who’s Mohammed’s grandfather. Mohammed is Ali’s father and Al Hamadi is the family name.
So, the forename is followed by the father’s name followed by the grandfather’s name followed by the father’s grandfather name followed by the family name.
It is also the same, in the case of females; they take their father’s name, then their grandfather’s name and so on. However, naming UAE females and males can sometimes be different, especially if we look at the names of members of a royal family. Let’s have a look at the name of the Economy Minister of the UAE:
Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi
Look at her first name, Sheikha. Actually, this is not her first name at all, but the title Sheikha which denotes that she comes from a royal family. Her actual forename in this case is Lubna. The third part of her name, which differs from normal people’s names, is bint which means “daughter of”. For males, usually you will see bin which means “son of”. Finally, Al Qasimi is her family name which is like her surname.
Commonly used names:
Abdul: slave of. eg. Abdullah (slave of God), Abdurrahman (slave of the Merciful One)
Abu: father of. This is often used as a term of respect for someone. E.g. if Ali has his first son who is called Mohammed, he would be referred as “Abu Mohammed.” If Ali’s wife is called Fatima, she would be referred as “Umm Mohammed.” Abu is sometimes also used as a nickname; e.g. if you see someone carrying a black briefcase, you could call him “Abu black briefcase”.
Bin: son of
Bint: daughter of
Common UAE names and meanings:
Male names
Abd-Al-Aziz (Abdelaziz): servant of the powerful
Abd-Allah: servant of God
Hamid: praised
Faysal: a judge or arbiter

Female names
Aisha: alive
Amal: hope
Asma: prestige
Fatima: to abstain
Not only do people’s names have meanings, but cities and countries name’s can have meanings sometimes. In fact, the UAE cities have meanings. Next month we look at the origins and meanings of some of the country’s place names.

Mariam Ali Al Naqbi,
Member of Phi Theta Kappa, Fujairah Women’s College