Ludovica Iaccino
International Business Times
March 14, 2014
Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry has banned 50 given names that “contradict the culture or religion of the kingdom” or are” foreign” and “inappropriate”.
According to the list of forbidden names, Saudis will no longer be able to call their children Linda, Alice, Malaak (angel) or Basmala (utterance of the name of God), to name just a few.
The ministry justified the ban by saying that the names offend perceived religious sensibilities, are affiliated to royalty and some are of non-Arabic or non-Islamic origin.
List of children’s names now banned in Saudi Arabia, via UK’s Daily Mail:
Malaak (angel)
Abdul Aati
Abdul Naser
Abdul Musleh
Nabi (prophet)
Nabiyya (female prophet)
Amir (prince)
Sumuw (highness)
Al Mamlaka (the kingdom)
Malika (queen)
Mamlaka (kingdom)
Tabarak (blessed)
Nardeen
Maya
Linda
Randa
Basmala (utterance of the name of God)
Taline
Aram
Nareej
Rital
Alice
Sandy
Rama (Hindu god)
Maline
Elaine
Inar
Maliktina
Lareen
Kibrial
Lauren
Binyamin (Arabic for Benjamin)
Naris
Yara
Sitav
Loland
Tilaj
Barrah
Abdul Nabi
Abdul Rasool
Jibreel (angel Gabriel)
Abdul Mu’een
Abrar
Iman
Bayan
Baseel
Wireelam
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