Articles > Names Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain
by Juliana de Luna (Julia Smith,
julias@alumni.pitt.edu)
© 2000, 2001 by Julia E. Smith. All rights reserved.
Arabic names are relatively similar across the Arabic-speaking world.
However some regional variation can be seen. This article examines names
of Andalusian people taken from biographical dictionaries (a popular genre
in the medieval Arab-speaking world). Complete information on given names
is given, but special attention is paid to locative hisba (descriptive
bynames based on place names) specific to al-Andalus.
The lists of Andalusian names were collected and transcribed by a group
of Spanish scholars and published in Estudios Onomastico-Biograficos
de al-Andalus. They range in time from around 700 AD until around 1200
AD. In this list, I have followed the transcription system used by Da'ud
ibn Auda rather than the trancription system used by scholars, which involves
a wide range of diacritical marks. Arabic names are generally longer than
European names. A typical individual in these sources may have the following
name elements (for a more complete description of name elements, see Da'ud
ibn Auda, "Arabic
Naming Practices and Period Names List"):
- A given name ('ism): A given name: This can be a
biblical name or a traditional Arabic name. Those given names which are not
Arabic, but rather in a Magribi language, are marked with an asterisk
(*). Some people do not use given names, but replace them with a certain
type of devotional name (see below) or more rarely with honorific names
(see below). In either case, the person presumably had a given name as
well.
Devotional name -
One specific type of lakab can be used in place of a given name.
Male devotional forms are made by adding one of the "Hundred Names of God"
to 'abd 'servant of' to make 'Abd Allah 'servant of Allah'
or 'Abd al-Aziz 'servant of the Strong'. Female devotional forms
are made by adding one of the "Hundred Names of God" to Amat 'maidservant
of' to make Amat al-Wahid 'maidservant of the Unique'. The female
devotional forms are not documented in al-Andalus, but are found elsewhere.
- An honorific name as the parent of a child, usually the eldest son
(kunya):: abu Asim 'father of Asim' or umm Badr
'mother of Badr'. The names are used in unmodified form, so you can create
this name created by choosing a masculine name from the list below to be
your son (I have not seen cases in which daughter's names were used to
create these names in period).
- A patronymic name: 'son of Moses' or 'daughter of Hasan'
(nasab): ibn Musa 'son of Moses' or bint Hasan
'daughter of Hasan'. An individual often traces back several generations of
his or her ancestry by stringing these together ibn Musa ibn Yahya
ibn Ibrahim'son of Moses who was son of John who was son of
Abraham'. These names are created by selecting a masculine name from the
list below to be your father. Matronymics (names based on your mother's
name) are not used in Arabic, except for one special case: 'Isa ibn
Maryam (Jesus the son of Mary).
- Nicknames based on occupation, place of residence, or a
personal characteristic (hisba or lakab): al-Andalusi
'the man from al-Andalus' or al-Andalusiyya 'the woman from
al-Andalus'. These descriptive bynames generally begin with al-
'the'. In spoken Arabic, the consonant 'l' was often assimilated to the
following consonant, so that al-Zahra 'the radiant' would have been
pronounced \ahz zah rah\.
In the lists of nicknames below, I have provided the English translation
of some of them; I'd like to fill in the ones that are missing. If you
know the meaning of any of these names, please
contact me.
Table of Contents
Men's given names that were found at least twice in
these name lists include:
Aban |
Hamid |
Razin |
Abbad |
Hammad |
Ridwan |
Abbas |
Hani |
Rushd |
Abd al-Aziz |
Harith |
Sabah |
Abd al-Basir |
Haroun/Harun |
Sa'd |
Abd al-Gafur |
Hasan |
Sa'dan |
Abd al-Haqq |
Hatim |
Sa'dun |
Abd al-Jabbar |
Hayyan |
Safwan |
Abd al-Jalil |
Hazm |
Sahl |
Abd al-Kabir |
Hisham |
Sa'id |
Abd al-Karim |
Humam |
Sajr/Sahr |
Abd al-Majid |
Husain |
Salama |
Abd al-Malik |
Ibrahim |
Salih |
Abd al-Mun'im |
Idris |
Salim |
Abd al-Qadir |
Isa |
Sawwar |
Abd al-Rahim |
Ishaq |
Sayyid |
Abd al-Rahman |
Isma'il |
Shakir |
Abd al-Salam |
Jabir |
Shamir |
Abd al-Samad |
Ja'far |
Shu'ayb |
Abd al-Wahhab |
Jahhaf |
Shurayh |
Abd al-Wahid |
Jalaf |
Siraj |
Abd al-Warit |
Jalid |
Sufyan |
Abdullah |
Ja'qub |
Sulaiman |
Affan |
Jasib |
Sumayl (Samuel?) |
Aflah |
Jattab |
Tabit |
Ahmad |
Jawar/Jahwar |
Tahir |
A'id |
Lubb (Lope) |
Talha |
Ali |
Mahbub |
Tamim |
Amir |
Majlad |
Tammam |
Amira |
Makki |
Tariq |
Amr |
Malik |
Tasufin |
Asad |
Mansur |
Tawd |
Asbag |
Marwan |
Tayyib |
Asbat |
Marzuq |
Ubada |
Asim |
Masarra |
Ubaid |
Aslam |
Maslama |
Ubaid Allah |
Atiq |
Mas'ud |
Ufayr |
Atta' |
Mawhab |
Ulaym |
Attab |
Maymun |
Umar |
Attiyah |
Miswar |
Umayyah |
Ayman |
Mu'awiya |
Usama |
Ayshun |
Mufarrij |
Utba |
Ayyub |
Mufawwiz |
Uthman |
Badr |
Muhammad |
Wadah |
Bakr |
Muharib |
Wahb |
Baqi |
Mujahid |
Walid |
Darras |
Mundir |
Wasil |
Da'ud |
Musa |
Wasim |
Fadl |
Mus'ab |
Yahyah |
Faris |
Mutarrif |
Ya'ish |
Farraj |
Najah |
Ya'qub |
Fath |
Najih |
Yazid |
Galib |
Nasr |
Yunus |
Garsiyya (Garcia) |
Nizar |
Yusuf |
Hafs |
Nuh |
Zakarriyya' |
Hajib |
Nusayr |
Zayd |
Hajj/Hajja |
Qasim |
Ziyad |
Hajjaj |
Qays |
Ziyadatallah |
Hakam |
Rabi |
Zuhayr |
Hamdin |
Rahhu |
Zuhr |
Hamdun |
Rashid |
Women's given names found in these name lists include:
Non-Arabic names from Magribi languages are marked with an asterisk (*).
'A'isha |
Kitman |
Sitt al-'Arab |
Amat |
Judur |
Su'a' |
Amina |
Lubna |
Sukayna |
Asma' |
Mahja |
Suna |
Baraka |
Maryam |
Sut* |
Bazzu |
Maymuna |
Tamu* |
Fatimah |
Nuzha |
Ta'zunt* |
Hadija |
Rima |
Urtatim/Urtatlim* |
Hafsa |
Safiyya |
Yamina |
Hamda/Hamduna |
Safya |
Yanduza* |
Hind |
Sama |
Zannu* |
Ishraq |
Sara |
Zarru* |
Jariya |
Sayyida |
Zaynab |
Jawla |
Sitt |
Zummurrud |
Locative names recorded in al-Andalus:
Masculine form
(documented) |
Feminine form
(documented) |
Modern Place Name |
|
Names based on places in al-Andalus |
|
al-Andalusi |
al-Andalusiyya |
Andalucia |
al-Isbili |
|
Sevilla |
al-Mari |
|
Almeria |
al-Mursi |
|
Murcia |
al-Balansi |
|
Valencia |
al-Jayyani |
|
Jaen |
al-Rundi |
|
Ronda |
al-Qurtubi |
al-Qurtubiyya |
Cordoba |
al-Garnati |
al-Garnatiyya |
Grenada |
al-Mayurqui |
|
Mallorca |
al-Talamanki |
|
Talamanca |
al-Tulaytuli |
|
Toledo |
al-Dani |
|
Dania |
|
Names based on places outside al-Andalus |
|
al-Ifriqi |
|
Africa |
al-Magribi |
|
Magrib |
al-Tunayzi |
|
Tunis |
Other descriptive names:
al-'Abbar |
al-Hadda' |
al-Majid |
al-Abbas |
al-Haddad |
al-Majzumi |
al-Abdari |
al-Hadrami |
al-Malaki |
al-As |
al-Hafiz |
al-Qal'i |
al-Asadi |
al-Hajj |
al-Qasim |
al-Ashjai |
al-Hakam |
al-Qaysi |
al-Asili |
al-Hamdani |
al-Qurtubi |
al-'Attar |
al-Hariti |
al-Ru'ayni |
al-Azdi |
al-Hassar |
al-Sabti |
al-Bahrani |
al-Hijari |
al-Sadafi |
al-Bajjani |
al-Himsi |
al-Santarini |
al-Baji |
al-Himyari |
al-Sayyid |
al-Bakri |
al-Hubab |
al-Shafi'i |
al-Batalyawsi |
al-Ilbiri |
al-Shatibi |
al-Baytar |
al-Iyyadi |
al-Sinhaji |
al-Bazzaz |
al-Jabab |
al-Sulami |
al-Birzali |
al-Jasur |
al-Ta'labi |
al-Dabbag |
al-Jat'ami |
al-Tamini |
al-Dabbaj |
al-Jawlan |
al-Tarabulusi |
al-Fadl (the reward) |
al-Jazrajii |
al-Tujibi |
al-Faradi |
al-Jilyani |
al-Umawi |
al-Farisi |
al-Judami |
al-Undi |
al-Fath (the opening) |
al-Justani |
al-Wahid |
al-Fazari |
al-Kala'i |
al-Wahrani |
al-Fihri |
al-Kinani |
al-Walid |
al-Gafiqi |
al-Kutami |
al-Zahiri |
al-Gasani |
al-Lajmi |
al-Zubaydi |
al-Habib |
al-Ma'afiri |
al-Zuhri |
Other women's bynames:
al-Abdariyya
al-'Abida
al-'Arudiyya
al-'Ashiyya
al-Awfiyya
al-Fihriyya
al-Kafiba
al-Nisa
al-Sa'ima
al-Sawda'
al-Tujibiyya
al-Wadi
al-Zahra' (the radiant)
Some complete women's names:
Some of these names are partially translated into English. In the original
sources, of course, they appeared entirely in Arabic.
'A'isha al-Andalusiyya, wife of 'Abd allah ibn 'Umar al-Andalusi
'A'isha bint Ibrahim ibn Musa ibn Jamil al-Andalusi
Asma' bint Galib, "maula" of al-Nasir
Baraka, "mu'taqa" of Ibn al-Qassam al-Faqih
|