ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2008 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2008 ************************************ 9 Jun 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a Berber or Arabic name suitable for a woman from Fez, either in the period 850-1000 or later, c.1500. You asked specifically about and said you'd be interested in any name as similar to as . Here is what we have found. Unfortunately, we know very little about Berber names. We've found a few Maghribi women's names, but none that look anything like . We've identified one book that might be helpful, but we haven't evaluated it yet so we can't say for certain how useful it will be. It is _North-African names from Latin sources_, by J. Jongeling (Leiden, The Netherlands: Research School CNWS, 1994; ISBN 9073782252). Based on our studies of names in Islamic cultures, we believe that an Arabic name would be quite appropriate for the culture you want to re-create. <'A'isha> is a fine name, used in many Islamic cultures [1]. Note the first apostrophe in the name; it indicates that the name begins with the Arabic letter alef. We have not been able to identify the byname . It has the form of a feminine locative byname (one that identifies where you live), but we do not recognize the root. If you can tell us where you found this byname, we may be able to tell you more about it. The next element of your name, , has the form of a feminine patronymic, i.e. a byname that identifies your father. However, we have found no evidence that was used in period as a masculine name. The phrase "The Generous" was one of the attributes of Allah, and like many such phrases it was used as the basis for a masculine byname, <'abd al-Karim> "servant of The Generous" [2]. Therefore, we can recommend the byname "daughter of 'abd al-Karim". was a masculine given name [3]. It's very appropriate to your period, but the phrase "the Hakim" appears to be incorrect. We can recommend a similar byname, "the member of the tribe of Hakim"; we have found an example of that byname used in the mid-10th century [4]. We assume that you intend to mean "the man from Fez". We've found a similar byname in use in the 11th century [5]. If you have good documentation for , then we could recommend <'A'isha al-shaziyya bint 'abd al-Karim al-Hakimi al-Fassi> as an appropriate name for the earlier period that interests you. It is probably also appropriate for the later period, but we can't endorse that choice as strongly. This name means that you are 'A'isha al-shaziyya, daughter of 'abd al-Karim of the tribe of Hakim who lives in Fez. You wrote that you are interested in other Arabic names similar to . We're not quite sure what similarities are most important to you; here is a list of other early-medieval Arabic feminine names which begin with when transliterated into English [1, 6]. 'Abdah 'Abla 'Afra' Amat Amimah Aminah or Amina Ara Asiya Asma' 'Atikah 'Azzah We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Pedro de Alcazar, Juliana de Luna, Raquel Buenaventura, Julie Stampnitzky, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 9 Jun 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Da'ud ibn Auda, "A List of Arabic Women's Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/arabicwomen.html [2] Mustapha al-Muhaddith ibn al-Saqaat, "The One Hundred Most Beautiful Names of God", ed. Arval Benicoeur and Avelina of the Bridge (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/mustapha/cnamesofgod.html [3] Da'ud ibn Auda, "Arabic Naming Practices and Names List," _Compleat Anachronist_ #51, "The Islamic World" (Milpitas: SCA, Inc, Autumn 1990; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/daud/arabic-naming [4] Dodge, Baynard, _The Fihrist of al-Nadim_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1970), p.992. [5] Roth, Cecil (Ed.), _Encyclopedia Judaica_. (1971: Keter Publishing House Ltd., Jerusalem. A new edition was published 1994, and an edition on CD-ROM is available from TES, Monsey, NY). Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (1013-1103) settled in Fez. [6] Juliana de Luna, 'Andalusian Names' (WWW: J. Mittleman, forthcoming).