What’s up with your names?
Sayyeda al-Kaslaania
November 2013
In the Medieval Middle East, names were treated differently
than they were in Europe. While everyone is given a name at birth, that name is
reserved for close friends and family in adulthood. It was even considered rude
to use a given name. Unfortunately for us that means that few first names were
recorded in historical records.
If not called by their names, how are people addressed?
People are called by where they’re from. al-Baghdadi is the man
from Baghdad.
People are called by what they do. Maryam al-Astrulabyya is
the astrolabe-maker of the 10th century.
People are called by whom they birthed. umm Ayyub is the
mother of Ayyub. abu Nasir is the father of Nasir.
People are called by who birthed them. ibn Sina is the son
of Sina. bint ‘Isa is the daughter of ‘Isa.
Knowing who you fathered or who fathered you helps us to
know men’s names. Tradition does not typically invite the honorific of who your
mother or daughters are, however. We therefore learn fewer names of women than
men.
People are called by their titles. Sayyid and Sayyeda are
used in place of Lord and Lady in the SCA. You might read about Sitt al-Mulk, a
woman in the Fatimid Caliphal palace. “Sitt” means “great lady” and al-Mulk
mean “the sovereign”. Sitt al-Mulk served as the regent for her minor child,
thus earning the title Great Lady of the Sovereign.
The tricky part about women’s names is that many of the
women whom people were writing about were slaves (people did not normally presume to write
about honorable women. If they did write about honorable women for some reason the appropriate titles are used). These women took on assigned or assumed names which
were often what we might think of as stage names. For example, Sukkar for the
woman called “Sugar”, and Ziryab for the man called “the Blackbird”. Without knowing Arabic, it can be difficult to
discern what names are real and what nicknames are Honey or Silk.
Seeing some of the examples, we now understand that a person
can reasonably go from being “the son of X” to “the man from Y” to “the father
of Z” in a lifetime.
Therefore, Sayyeda al-Kaslaania, born Samia bint ‘Isa, is
called by her title “Lady” and nickname “the woman with idle time”. When she is
in direct service to the Queen she can be Muqima al-Kaslaania, taking the title
“woman of the palace staff”. When she’s with her friends she is simply called
Samia.
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