Arabic name elements may be divided into five main categories, with the last category having several sub-types. Persons are named by:
1. An ism (pronounced IZM, as the final syllable in the word dogmatism), a personal, proper name given shortly after birth, usually on the third day, but sometimes on day of birth and sometimes on the seventh day after birth. Examples of such names are Muhammad [Mohammed], Musa [Moses], Ibrahim [Abraham], Ahmad. Adults are seldom called by these names; socially it is considered a slight to address or refer to an elder or parent by their ism.
2. A kunya (pronounced COON-yah), an honorific name or surname, as the father or mother of someone; e.g., abu Da'ud [the father of David], umm Salim [the mother of Salim]. It is meant as a prefix of respect or reverence. Married persons (especially married ladies) are, as a general rule, simply called by their kunya (abu or umm + the name of their first son). When using a person's full name, the kunya precedes the personal name: Abu Yusuf Hasan [the father of Joseph, Hasan], Umm Ja’far Aminah [the mother of Ja’far, Aminah].
3. By a nasab (pronounced NAH-sahb), a pedigree, as the son or daughter of someone; e.g., ibn 'Umar [the son of Omar], bint `Abbas [the daughter of Abbas]). The nasab follows the ism in usage: Hasan ibn Faraj [Hasan the son of Faraj], Sumayya bint Khubbat [Sumayya the daughter of Khubbat]. Many historical personages are more familiar to us by their nasab than by their ism: e.g., the historian ibn Khaldun, the traveler ibn Battuta, and the philosopher ibn Sina [Avicenna].
Nasabs may be extended for several generations, as may be noted in some of the examples set forth below. However, the vast majority of nasabs found in period sources are only one or two generations long. It is uncommon to find a nasab which extends three generations back (considering the father of the individual as the first generation), and there are a very few examples which extend to four generations, such as Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ja’far ibn al-Haddad.
When the parent in a nasab is referred to by his kunya, the word abu becomes abi, e.g., Muhammad’s son-in-law was ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, ‘Ali the son of Abu Talib, or ‘Ali, the son of the father of Talib.
4. A laqab (pronounced LAH-kahb), a combination of words into a byname or epithet, usually religious, relating to nature, a descriptive, or of some admirable quality the person had (or would like to have); e.g., al-Rashid [the Rightly-guided], al-Fadl [the Prominent]. Laqabs follow the ism: Harun al-Rashid [Aaron the Rightly-guided].
One particular form of laqab is formed on the pattern of `Abd [servant of] plus one of the 99 names of Allah; e.g., ‘Abd Allah (`Abdullah) [the servant of God], `Abd al-Aziz [servant of the Almighty], `Abd al-Rahman [servant of the Merciful]. These laqabs are used as, and in the place of, an ism: ‘Abd al-Mun’im ibn Idris ibn Sinan. The feminine form of this type of laqab is Amat al-X, for example, Amat Allah (Amatullah), (female) servant of Allah.
Sometimes what appear to be regularly-formed laqabs are found used instead of, or in the place of, an ism, e.g., al-Dahhak ibn ‘Ajlan, Abu Talib al-Mufaddal ibn Salamah. (Such laqabs might also be found used in the "normal" fashion for a laqab: Muhammad ibn Ya’la al-Dabbi al-Mufaddal.) I have not yet found a general rule by which laqabs are used in the place of an ism; the only reliable guide for proper usage right now is to look at actual period examples. Where I have found laqabs used as isms as well as "normal" laqabs, they are marked in the names lists with a plus sign [+] and are found listed in both the list of laqabs/nisbas used as isms and the list of laqabs/nisbas.
Some names are found both as an ism and in a laqab form: Rashid and al-Rashid, Hasan and al-Hasan, Anbar and al-Anbar, Fadl and al-Fadl. (These and other examples are marked in the names lists with a carat [^].) This is not, however, a general rule; not all isms may be modified in this way and used as laqabs. Again, the only reliable guide for proper usage is to look at period examples.
5. A nisba (pronounced NISS-bah), a byname. Nisbas follow the ism or, if the name contains a nasab (of however many generations), generally follow the nasab. The three primary types of nisba are:
1. Occupational, derived from an person's trade or profession; e.g., Muhammad al-Hallaj [Muhammad, the dresser of cotton].
2. Of descent, derived from the name of a person’s tribe of birth or family lineage: Mughirah al-Ju'fi [Mughirah of the tribe of Ju'fi]; Yusuf al-Ayyubi [Joseph the Ayyubid, Joseph of the family line of Ayyub].
3.Geographical, derived from the place of residence or birth: Yaqub al-Dimashqi [Jacob of Damascus]. As is the case with nasabs, some persons in history are known to us primarily by their nisba: Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari, the author of an early collection of hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him) is better known from his place of birth, Bukhara, simply as al-Bukhari.
Sometimes what appear to be regularly-formed nisbas are found used instead of or in the place of an ism, e.g., ‘Ali ibn al-Massisi, Abu Ishaq al-Tabari. (Such nisbas might also sometimes be found used in the "normal" fashion for a nisba: Ya’qub ibn Muhammad al-Massisi.) I have not yet found a general rule by which nisbas are used in the place of an ism; the only reliable guide for proper usage right now is to look at actual period examples. Where I have found nisbas used as isms as well as "normal" nisbas, they are marked in the names lists with a plus sign [+] and are found listed in both the list of laqabs/nisbas used as isms and the list of laqabs/nisbas.
Where more than one nisba is used, as a general rule the geographic nisba comes last, preceded by either the occupational nisba or the tribal nisba. I know of no examples of names which use all three types of nisba.
A brief note on the pronunciation of some laqabs and nisbas: the "l" in al- is elided and the first letter of the following word is substituted for the following consonants: d (ad-Duri), n (an-Najmi), r (ar-Razi), s (as-Salar), sh (ash-Shanfara), t (at-Tayyib), th (ath-Thaqafi), and z (az-Zubair). These are, however, generally still written as al-; only the pronunciation is changed.
