General Introduction
by Basil Dragonstrike


I have, for some time now, gathered lists of names from various Arabic works, such as The Travels of Ibn Baṭūṭṭa, the Diary of Ibn al-Bannāʼ, An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades: Memoirs of Usāmah Ibn-Munqidh,, The Travels of Ibn Jubayr, and a random selection from The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.

Lists of names aren't the only things I've written. I've written articles relating to amateur onomastics and Arabic names. I've collected them here, and this page has the links to those articles. NB: I'm constantly writing more articles (as well as collecting more names), so this page will change from time to time.

Arabic for Onomasts: Some Notes -- A collection of notes and information I've picked up in the last dozen-plus years, written to help amateur onomasts with an interest in Arabic names.

 Al-Maʻrūf Bi-: "Known As" in Arabic Names -- An article on "alias names" (what the SCA calls "dictus names") in Arabic names.

Titular Names -- An article on "Titular Names"; i.e., names of the form _____ al-Dīn, _____ al-Daula, etc., showing they are not, as often imagined, solely the gift of khalīfas, sulṭāns, and such.

Arabic Name Formation Patterns from Various Sources -- All the formations of Arabic Names I've been able to find.

Kunyas for the Childless -- An article on kunyas used by people who did not, in fact, have a child. This is separate from the issue of "metaphorical kunyas".

Double Locative Bynames in Arabic -- An article on people known as "from" more than one place, with notes on the various formations used for double locatives.

Multi-piece Nasabs -- An article on those persons whose string of nasabs includes a predecessor or predecessors known by more than one name element.

White Thread, Black Thread - - what does it really mean, to "tell a white thread from a black thread"? It's not what you may think!

Iḍāfa - - Iḍāfa, aka "construct state," and what it has to do with amateur onomasts

Curious Names -- A group of articles on names that present difficulties to amateur onomastist, or are just odd and interesting.


More will be coming, over and over.
Return to "Basil Dragonstrike's website" (aka the starting point)