Understanding Arabic Names Quiz | Names

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of these names means "lion" and occurred as the name of at least one President in the Middle-East?

Answer: Asad

Habib means "beloved","darling".
Ahmed means "more commendable".
Omar was a strong supporter of Muhammad. He became the Second Kaliph. The name means: "the flourishing one".
In combination with Sharif the meaning might be the "flourishing virtuous one", or the "flourishing, eminent one".
By the way Usama also means " lion".

2. Which of these names was the name of the last crowned King of Egypt who actually sat on the throne, and means "the one who can tell right from wrong"?

Answer: Farouk

Fahd means "panther". Faysal means "judge". Fouad = "heart."

3. Which of these names may sound familiar to the Portuguese, though it is typically Arabic, means "the one who abstains" and was the name of the only one of the Prophet Muhammad's children who carried on his line?

Answer: Fatima

The name Lubna refers to a certain type of tree (storax). Latifa means "gentle". Layla means "night".
Fatima is also the name of a town in Portugal.

4. Some Arabic names are just other versions of names you can find in the Bible too. Which of these names happens to be the name of the famous Khalif of Bagdad that occurs in "A Thousand and One Nights", and is another version of the name of a relative of Moses?

Answer: Harun-al-Raschid

Issa is Arabic for Jesus. Ibrahim is Abraham. Isma�l is Ishma�l. Harun is Aaron.

5. Which of these names means "lofty" or "sublime", is well-known as the first part of the name of a character in "A Thousand and One Nights", and occurs in the Koran as the name of a cousin and brother-in-law of the Prophet, who later became the 4th Khalif but was not given the same status as "Sinless one" by the Sunnites, as the Shi'ites confer to him?

Answer: Ali

Amin as in Amin Dada means -surprisingly?- "the truthful one".
Imam (not to be confused with Iman) means "leader".
Iman means 'faith'.
Imam Bayildi is also the name of an eggplant-dish in Turkey.
Ali Baba - the one who met with the Forty Robbers - and Mohamed Ali both are bearers of the name of Mohamed's cousin Ali.
Saddam....Well, it means "the crushing one" in Persian, and 'the one who confronts' in Arabic.
Saddam's great example was Salah al-Din or Saladin, who in the 12th century recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders. Salah = the righteous.
Unrelated is the name Salim, which means "safe."
Hussein is a petform of Hassan which means: the good or the beautiful one. Husni (first name of President Mubarak)is another related word and means = "beauty, excellence".

6. The name Muhammad is possibly the most frequent name in the world. In the Western world Peter is one of the most frequent names. Which of these Arabic names contains an Arabic version of 'Peter'?

Answer: Boutros-Boutros Gali

Boutros-Boutros Gali is a former Secretary of the United Nations. The P of Peter becomes B in Arabic. Petrus becomes Boutros.
Tariq = "he who pounds at the door".
Aziz = the powerful.
As a combination: "he who is powerful and knocks at your door"? Or "he who knocks at the door of his boss"?
Suleyman the Magnificent was a famous sultan of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and expanded his territory into Europe and Persia.
It is simply the Arabic and Turkish "translation" of Solomon.
Abu Bakr was the father--in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and became the First Caliph in the Muslim word.
His daughter Aisha became Muhammad's third and favourite wife.
Muhammad (from "hamida": to praise) means "the praiseworthy".
Other spellings: Mahmud (ancient form); Mahomet; Mihammad; Mohamed; Mohammad; Mohammed; Muhammed.

7. Which of these first names is a first name for men and means "seeker of knowledge" or "student" (especially of the Koran)?

Answer: Talib

The Taliban were "students of the Koran" who tried to apply the teachings of the Koran - as they understood them.If you add an "a" to the other options then you have three popular girl's names.
Fawziya means "triumph". Sameera is a "companion in evening talk".
And "Jamila" simply means the "beautiful".

8. All of these are girl's names. Which of them means "light" and is the name of a(n) (ex-)Queen in the Middle East?

Answer: Noor

Farah means "joy". Farah Diba was the Shah of Persia's third wife.
Soraya or Thuraya refers to the Pleiades, a group of seven stars in the constellation Taurus. In mythology they are the daughters of Atlas.
She was the Shah's second wife.
Shahrazad or Scheherazade is the Princess from " A Thousand and One Nights". Her name means: "city person".
Noor or Nur means "light".
Queen Noor is the widow of the late King Hussein of Jordan.She was born as Lisa Najeeb Halaby, and married King Hussein of Jordan on 15th June of 1978.

9. Which of these names means "the chosen one" and was also the first name of one of the great reformers in the Muslim world, who was later given a nickname that made him into the "Father" of his people?

Answer: Mustafa

Youssef is Arabic for Joseph. Other spellings: Yusef and Yusuf.
Yasir means "he who is rich".
Nasir means "helper". Gamal Abd al-Nasir was the ruler of Egypt from 1954
till 1970.
Mustafa Kemal Pacha re-organised Turkey and was given the name Ata-turk, Father of all the Turks.

10. "Abd-" means servant. Which of these names literally means "servant of God"?

Answer: Abdullah

Rahman = the merciful.
Malik = the King.
Aziz = the powerful.
In Abd-ullah the Arabic word for God "Allah" can be recognized.

Source: Author flem-ish

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor thejazzkickazz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Understanding Arabic Names Trivia Quiz

Arabic names do not occur in the Middle-East only. Muslims all over the world tend to choose them for their children. So a good reason to see what they mean. -Extra hints included-

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