ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2236
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2236
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03 Mar 2001
From: Judith Phillips 

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us whether <Muntaquim Dharr al-Shatir>, called <Dharr> or 
<Dharrshan>, would be an appropriate name for an Arabic man living between 
1200 and 1550. Here is the information we found.

Arabic names can contain a variety of elements. The 'ism is a given name, 
such as <Hasan> or <Ahmad>. (The apostrophe represents a glottal stop, like 
the sound in the middle of <uh-oh>.)

The kunya is an honorific byname that describes an individual as the parent 
of his or her eldest son [1]. In a name, it usually precedes the 'ism. For 
example, <Abu Mohammed Ibrahim> signifies "Ibrahim father of Mohammed."

The nasab or pedigree is a very common type of byname that describes a 
person as the son or daughter of the father [1]. For example, <Mohammed ibn 
Ibrahim> signifies "Mohammed the son of Ibrahim."

The lakab was a descriptive byname relating to nature, an admirable 
quality, or a religious conviction. An example is <Salim al-Rashid>, "Salim 
the Rightly-Guided". A special type of lakab was devotional and described a 
person as a servant of God, such as <'Abd Allah>, "servant of Allah." We 
have no example of a devotional lakab and an 'ism used in the same name; 
the same individual might use one or the other, depending on the 
circumstances, but rarely both at the same time. For example, <Hasan ibn 
Ahmad> might also have been known as <'Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad>. His son 
<Yusef> might have been called either <Yusef ibn Hasan> or <Yusef ibn 'Abd 
al-Aziz>.

An occupational hisba is a byname derived from a person's job. For example, 
<Mohammed al-Hallaj> means "Mohammed the dresser of cotton" [1].

A geographical hisba is derived from the place of residence or birth [1]. 
For example, <Yusef al-Baghdadi> means "Yusef the man from Baghdad".

An Arabic man in your period would have used a given name ('ism or 
devotional lakab) with at least one byname, and it was not unusual for a 
man to use a combination of several bynames. [1]

Your name needs a few corrections. <Muntaquim> appears to be a misspelling 
of <Muntaqim>, an Arabic word meaning "avenger." <Muntaqim> is one of the 
attributes of Allah; <Ya Muntaqim>, "O Avenger", is a name of Allah based 
on this attribute. We have not found<Muntaqim> alone as a name. While some 
of the attributes of Allah, such as <al-Aziz>, "the strong", were used as 
lakabs, we have no evidence that <al-Muntaqim> was used as a name and do 
not believe that it is particularly plausible; thus we do not recommend it. 
It was also possible to form a lakab by prefacing an attribute of Allah 
with the phrase <'abd al->; <'Abd al-Muntaqim> means "servant of the 
Avenger." We have not found <'Abd al-Muntaqim> as a name, but based on the 
widespread pattern of devotional names created using the various attributes 
of Allah, we believe that it's plausible. [2]

<Dharr> is an attested 'ism; it is an excellent choice for your given name. 
[1]

We aren't certain how you formed your nickname <Dharrshan>; it is not 
typical of any Arabic naming pattern of which we are aware. We haven't 
found any use of the element <-shan> in Arabic.

<al-Shatir> appears to be a mis-transliteration of one of two descriptive 
bynames: <al Shaatir>, meaning "the ripper", or <al-Shaat.ir>, meaning "the 
clever, shrewd, cunning" [1, 3]. (The period in <Shaat.ir> represents a dot 
under the preceding letter, indicating an emphatic consonant.) Both 
<al-Shaatir> and <al-Shaat.ir> were found in your period, although 
<al-Shaat.ir> was probably somewhat more common. Either would be a fine 
choice for your byname.

Your name contains an attested 'ism, <Dharr>. <Al-Shatir> is an inaccurate 
transliteration of either <al-Shaatir> or <al-Shaat.ir>.  Arabic names 
sometimes contained only an 'ism and a single descriptive byname, so <Dharr 
al-Shaat.ir> would be a fine choice for your name.

<Muntaqim> can be used to construct a lakab, <'Abd al-Muntaqim>; this sort 
of lakab would have replaced the 'ism <Dharr> in your name. <'Abd 
al-Muntaqim al-Shaat.ir> would be a plausible name for your period.

Most Arabic names also contained a nasab. If you wish to use both <Dharr> 
and <'Abd al-Muntaqim> in your name, you could use one of them as the name 
of your father. Either <Dharr al-Shaat.ir ibn 'Abd al-Muntaqim> ("Dharr 
al-Shaat.ir, son of 'Abd al-Muntaqim") or <'Abd al-Muntaqim al-Shaat.ir ibn 
Dharr> ('Abd al-Muntaqim al-Shaat.ir, son of Dharr) would be a possibility.

I hope that this letter has been useful to you. Please do not hesitate to 
contact us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have any 
further questions. I was assisted in writing this letter by Arval 
Benicoeur, Juliana de Luna, Sion Andreas, Julie Stampnitzky, Talan Gwynek, 
Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Antonio Miguel Santos de 
Borja.

For the Academy,

Adeliza de Saviniaco
3 March 2001

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References:

[1] 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)
[URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/daud/arabic-naming/]

[2] Mustapha al-Muhaddith ibn al-Saqaat, "Arabic Pesonal Names from the 
Futuwwah", ed. Arval Benicoeur and Avelina of the Bridge (WWW: J. 
Mittleman, 1999)
[URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/mustapha/futuwwah.html].