Muslim name conundrum

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

Originally posted in the pregnant forum.

Hello all! I have a Muslim coworker whose youngest son is already 18 months old. His legal name is Zakariya Ian [VaguelyItalianSoundingLastName]. She hates the baby's first name: in fact, she's worried he's going to start thinking his name is "The Baby", because hardly anyone in the family uses the name at all, since no one else is super keen on it either. So she and her husband want to change his first name. They definitely want something from the Quran (and perhaps something that can be nicknamed), and they're leaning towards Benjamin. She also likes Daniel.

She asked for my opinion/suggestions, but my knowledge of the Quran is pretty much zero (I don't know how much overlaps my meagre Biblical knowledge). I asked her if it was okay if I posted on LJ for ideas. She said, "Sure! Someone may suggest something I never considered that may turn out to be perfect!" :) I just feel so bad for her. I can't imagine hating your child's name so much that you don't even like saying it. She actually cringes when she does. And before anyone asks, they just really had no idea what to call their son when he was born, apart from his middle name (a family name), so they picked a name at random in a "something has to go on the form" moment.

For perspective, her other kids are named Mujahid, Junayd, Rania, and Zayn.

Any ideas will all be passed on to her! Thank you!

Comments

[incogneato86.livejournal.com]

Hello,

Adham
Mikhail
Ahmad
Dayyan
Aazim
Amir
Amman
Yusuf
Akeem
Akhdan
Khalid
Saaleh
:)

[lil-cherub.livejournal.com]

I'm not well versed in Muslim names, but I love the name Amir from the Kite Runner.

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

I like Adham: I imagine it'd be pronounced ah-DAM, not like Adam, right?

[chaichilaquiles.livejournal.com]

Why not call the baby Zack? I really like this name. Probably the easiest of all the names for a non-Muslim person to be able to relate to. But if it doesn't fit then it doesn't fit.

I like:
Shams (sun)
Noori (my light) or Nuridean (light of the spiritual path)
Issa (Jesus pbuh)
Nurissa (light of Jesus)
Khalid
Emir (prince)
Eyad
Hamdi (the fifth)

[chaichilaquiles.livejournal.com]

yea, it sucks that in the US you have to pick a name b4 leaving the hospital. I didn't even stay overnight! In Mexico, where I live, you have 30 days to register.
Luckily, a legal name change in the US is relatively painless.

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

She told me she really dislikes everything about the name: the way it's written, the way it's abbreviated, the way it sounds in her mouth. She's originally from Pakistan, but she's been in Canada so long that she only has a very faint accent that softens certain words, so I don't personally hear anything different from the way anyone else would say it, apart from her obvious discomfort when she does.

Her first son, Mujahid, actually had a different first name as well (Malik) but they changed it within a month of his birth. She's very happy she changed it, particularly since he passed away from leukemia as a baby and she felt the name was very appropriate for what he went through. :(

I like Nuridean. Is it pronounced noor-ih-deen or noor-ih-dee-in?

[ma-ee-uh.livejournal.com]

I had a student named Shams and honestly I thought it sounded terrible as pronounced by native English speakers.

That's a nice list, though. I like Noori.

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

Omar
Issa
Adam
Nadim
Bilal
Samir
Jalil

I also know Nouriddin.