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Definition Essay: The Role Of Names In Everyday Life

Decent Essays

“The sense of personal identity and uniqueness that a name gives us is at the heart of why names interest us and why they are important to us as individuals and to our society as a whole. In spite of their importance, though, most people know very little about names and about the effects they have on us an on our children in everyday life. In a very real sense, we are consumers of names, and we have a need and right to know about the psychological, magical, legal, religious, and ethnic aspects of our names” (Deluzain).As children grow up, they always wonder where their names came from. Every name comes with a story behind it. For example, I was given the name Ayah Hesham Mahdy. My name originated from my family, who are Egyptian and believe …show more content…

I was given the name Ayah by my mother. My mother had just finished having her first baby, which is my older brother. My father doubted her on having another child because of the time she took to have the first. My mother then had me a year and a half later. She used to tell me I was a miracle to prove my father wrong. This brings me to the definition of my first name. “The name Ayah is a Muslim name in the Islamic religion. Ayah means a miracle, “sign”, or “clue”, and in the Islamic tradition it means “sign of God’s existence”, “sign of God’s greatness”, and also means “verse of the Quran”. The verses of the Quran are considered signs of God’s existence and greatness. The word Ayah is used about 80 times in the Quran” ("Quranic Names"). The Quran is the Muslim holy book in the in Islam. “The Quran was made back in December 22 609 CE, which is when the name Ayah started”("Origin of the Quran"). “In the Islamic culture Ayah is a very common name mostly in the Middle Eastern countries and in the UK” ("Baby Names"). However, “Hindu’s believe the name Ayah means a native maid or nursemaid employed by Europeans in India” ("Merriam Webster"). Meanwhile, Ayah is defined as “sparkling”, “twinkling” in African countries …show more content…

My father named me after my grandfather. In the Arab culture just like the middle is from your father’s first name, the last name comes from your grandfather. This name was also chosen in remembrance of my grandfather. The name Mahdy is popular in the Muslim belief, it means a spiritual and temporal leader who will rule before the end of the world and restore religion and justice” ("Google"). The name “Mahdi” is used in Persian and Arabic languages, meaning “guided one” ("Mahdi"). Mahdi has three main meanings, the first is defined as every believer; the second meaning is exceptional righteous leaders; the third meaning is the name of the awaited son of Sayyida Fatima, from Quranic stories, who will bring back a caliphate of justice and peace to the earth at the end of times (Haddad). Overall, all my names originated from the Arab culture; both my mother’s and father’s families live in Cairo, Egypt in a small town called, “Tenth of Ramadan”.
To conclude, all three parts of my name, “Ayah Hesham Mahdy” has something to be proud of. Names have different meanings in different countries and languages. Each name means more than one would expect, it can tell you so much about yourself and your background. One should grow up understanding where they got their name from and how. Being named after family members and having an uncommon name is what makes you as person special, because you will forever be one of a

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