One of the more quirky things I've learned while living here is that most people in the Middle East are very attached to their names--or rather, their meaning.
Everyone here knows what their name means. And probably likes it. And probably talks about it. It made me realize that back 'west', we don't really know/care what our names mean, with the exception of we were named after someone or something significant to our parents/grandparents/etc. Granted, some people are very attached to their names, but it can get excessive.
So, it made me wonder about my name. I knew it was Welsh, but that was about it. Enter my Welsh friend at work, Melissa. I told her I looked up my name on a website (like this one) and that it said that my name meant 'warrior of the sea' in Welsh, but it was spelled Maredudd. She tells me that 'dd' is pronounced 'th' in Welsh. Boom. Every day is a school day.
So, then I started learning what all these Arabic names mean...
Amira = princess
Hilal = moon crescent
Kareem = joyful, happy (this month, they say 'Ramadan Kareem', as in 'Happy Ramadan')
Rabih = spring (the season)
Sherif = honorable
Marwan = honest
And the list goes on...
Even last names have meaning: marketing intern's last name is Temsah, which means crocodile.
Oh the joys of language. Name meanings notwithstanding, I still only know like 10 words in Arabic. The pronunciation can be quite challenging. Like dutch. Or Mandarin...know what I mean?
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