What's in a name?

Friends of ours have just had a baby and we are so proud that they have decided to name their son Bilaal. But it got me thinking about names and how choosing one is the very first responsibilty we have as parents. People choose names for different reasons, some choose names that are fashionable or sound 'cool', others choose names in honour of someone or something significant to them like a relative or religion. And of course for many the meaning of a name is very important. Whatever your reasons, we all want to make sure the name will not cause your child any grief when they are older. For example if your surname is Bush you probably don't want to name your son Thorn or even Harry. Or let's take the name Dick or names shortened to that... on its own it already has potential for a little laugh but it is particularly ill-advised if your surname is Burns... or Hertz... or Small... or Little... you get the picture. Then of course you also have to consider we use our initials alot as adults so always test this out with your surname too. Like say if my husband had been a descendent of the Balls family, his initials would be M.Y Balls.

But seriously now, I think it really it a personal choice how much significance you place on name choice, after all as I think it was Shakespear's Juliet says, "would a rose not be a rose if by any other name called?" At least i think that's how it goes.

Personally, we opted for strong names from our religious history. Wherever you come across a mosque you will hear the call to prayer 5 times a day. Bilaal was on of the first muslims and the first person to make this call to prayer. He was the son of an African slave and a close companion of the Prophet. Bilaal means 'freshness' and 'moisture', and guess what, just after he was born, the sunny day gave way to the freshest light rain. Sumayah was also one of the first muslims and she was also the first martyr in Islam. She was the mother of Ammaar ibn Yaasier. I didn't know this when we named her, but it is significant because my husband's name is Yaasier! There are different beliefs about the meaning of her name; I have come across 'beautiful flower' and 'pure', but the most common meaning in most of the arabic name books is 'exalted' or 'high'.

So while they may still have been the same children had they had other names, I can only pray that they grow up to have the same strength of character and faith and belief as their namesakes. All I know is that Bilaal certainly brings freshness into my life and Sumayah will always be my beautiful pure flower...