ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1612 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1612 ************************************ 04 May 1999 From: Jodi McMaster Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked several questions about as a 12th century Arabic woman's name. First, you wanted to know the meaning of the name; second, if it was from the 12th century; third, how or if to use along with the name; and last, how to document the name. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that is not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not be able to help you. We weren't entirely sure if you wanted to use as a given name or as a title. It is not a title, but it is a modern given name. [1] It is also a collective noun meaning "women." We have found no evidence to suggest that was used as a name in medieval times nor specifically in the 12th century. Therefore, we cannot recommend it as a given name for a 12th century Arabic woman. If you want to browse through some lists of names of medieval Arabic women, you might want to take a look at the following articles: Arabic Naming Practices And Period Names List by Da'ud ibn Auda: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/daud/arabic-naming/ A List of Arabic Womens' Names By David Appleton (Da'ud ibn Auda): http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/arabicwomen.html We did not find as a name, period or modern. We're not sure where you got it; it might be an alternate transliteration of , which is a hypothetical feminine form of the medieval masculine given name [2]. There is also a word , which means "[female] fighter". Arabic women's names followed certain patterns of construction. Arabic women did not use two given names; Arabs did not use middle names. Instead, Arabic women had a given name and was most often identified as their father's daughter. An example of this pattern, using the first name , is , 'Naima, daughter of the man named Mujahid'. Another possibility is to use a descriptive byname. An example of this pattern is , 'Naima the fighter'. If Naima's father was nicknamed "the Fighter," then a possible construction is , 'Naima the daughter of the fighter'. As far as we know, is simply the word the SCA has chosen as the standard Arabic translation of to indicate that rank. You can use either or , whichever you prefer. We hope this letter has been helpful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Talan Gwynek, Da'ud ibn Auda, Arval d'Espas Nord, Pedro de Alcazar, and Sion Andreas contributed comments and/or research for this letter. For the Academy, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum May 5, 1999 __________________ References: [1] Qazi, M. A., _What's in a Muslim Name_ (Chicago: Kazi Publications, 1974; Lahore: Kazi Publications, 1978; South Elgin, IL: Library of Islam, 1995), p. 52. [2] Dodge, Baynard, _The Fihirst of al-Nadim_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1970), Vol. II, p. 1061.