Baby Name

[fiona]

Hello. I just have a question and hope someone can help. My husband is muslim and I am a christian. Our baby girl is nine months old, my husband chose her name (Maryam) and I chose a middle name, Betty, which was my mother's name. My husband is very unhappy and wants me to remove her middle name by deed poll as it is not islamic.

However, I have done some research, Betty means "God is a vow" and I have read on islamic websites that as long as a name has a good meaning it is not a problem. His mum's name had no religious meaning, neither does his sisters, so I can't see the harm in keeping her middle name. Can someone please advise. I think he is unhappy because it is not an arabic name, and I know if I had chosen an arabic middle name he wouldn't have a problem. Thankyou

 

[Almeftah]

It doesnt matter If it has a religious meaning or not, whats important is to have a good meaning. and as you said: "Betty means "God is a vow"" You may think thats a good meaning but to us muslims it is not.

We muslims do not describe Allah or give Him names anyways we please. All descriptions and names of Allah we learn and take from the Holy Quran and Teachings of his Prophets.

Other than that, In Islam theres a ruling for naming our children..

Explanation:

First name, fathers name, grandfathers name..

Example:

my name is Khaled
my fathers name is Salem
my grandfathers name is fahad
last name (family name) is Almuftah

So my full name would be: Khaled Salem Fahad Almuftah.
Same goes with naming girls.

(Quran: 33) Allâh has not made for any man two hearts inside his body. Neither has He made your wives whom you declare to be like your mothers' backs, your real mothers. [Az¬Zihâr is the saying of a husband to his wife, "You are to me like the back of my mother" i.e. You are unlawful for me to approach.][], nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons. That is but your saying with your mouths. But Allâh says the truth, and He guides to the (Right) Way. (4) Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allâh. But if you know not their father's (names, call them) your brothers in faith and Mawâlîkum (your freed slaves). And there is no sin on you concerning that in which you made a mistake, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intend. And Allâh is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (5)

 

[a_muslimah86]

:salam2:

I think he could be unhappy due to the meaning of the name..*God is a vow*..it just sounds wrong..try to talk to him..and convince of sitting with you to pick out a name...

My name is Ann...

though it sounds very western at first glance it is actually Arabic...it means *gentleness* and *tranquility*..and it can mean THE OPPOSITE..it can mean..*fierce or fierceness*...it can also mean *a period of time* or *time* (I am not exaggerating..it can mean ALL OF THESE..depending on how you put it in a sentence and what you mean by it..lol)

Not too long ago..I looked up the name Eve in Greek..and it is *Zoe*..which means *life*..that's a Western name..but it has a good meaning..sort of "neutral"..if I can say..

So you can for example pick names of the sort above and end up with a Western middle-name (of sort)..or you can do more research and find more names..try to avoid the ones with "spiritual" connotations because chances are they will be un-Islamic (especially if they are *strictly Western*)..I don't know if I helped much..but I tried to give you a couple of examples...but I think you should try to talk to him..and have him pick names *with* you..that way he doesn't feel the name is being forced unto him and you *both* end up being happy ..but really..it seems that his concern is in the meaning of the name you picked that's all

 

[q8penpals]

Salam

I know a lot of Christian/Muslim marriages with children, and many of them simple give their children two "first" names and still put the father's name as the "middle" name (although, as I am thinking of this, it seems to be more common in my experience for GIRL names to be done like this). I think that is what you are referring to as part of the problem, not the name itself.

For instance, If the father's name is Saud and the family name is Al-Khaled, they named a baby girl Sara-Marie Saud Al-Khaled. So, you could just amend her name to be Maryam-Betty father's name family name.

What you actually CALL her is up to you anyway (so many people have nicknames!)! I have one class of students that has 4 boys named Abdulaziz! So, one is called Abdulaziz, one is Aziz, one is Abzooz, and the last is Abzoozoo. LOL!

So, it if is important to you to have your family name in there too for your daughter, just add it as part of a name.

That's just my opinion, based on what I have personally seen done.

 

[abdellah007]

why not using names which belong to both muslims and chritians like Sarah., I think there many other.