Arabic boy names

[noora]

Hi! I'm new to nameberry seeking opinions on our top name choices for baby #3, a boy due next month. Our first 2 children are a daughter, Rusha, and a son, Tarek. These are both Arabic names. We are Syrian and Muslim, and have an Arabic last name, so we definitely want to stick with another Arabic first name. We're having a hard time this time coming up with a name that has a good meaning and strong sound in Arabic, but is easy to say and sounds pleasing and not harsh in the States. Our last name starts with B and has three syllables.

Here are some names that i like, but cant use:

Kameel
Sufyan
Ameer
Ramzi
Zaineddine (nn zain or dean, cant use because close cousin is naming it)
Nooreddine (nn Noor or dean. we both love it, but I'm afraid its weird because Noor is a unisex form of my own name, Noora)

These are on the list, but not top two:
Kareem
Haddi
Shareef

And these are the ones we're down to:

Jibreel- Arabic form of the archangel Gabriel
Naseem- Gentle breeze, fresh air

So what do you think? Are we correct in assuming that these will be easy to say and sound nice to our fellow Americans? Its so hard for us to judge, because we hear them as Arabic speakers. Which one do you prefer? My favorite is Naseem. Its pronounced with a short A. Nuh-seem, not Naw-seem. Isn't the meaning lovely?

Thanks in advance for your input!

[miloowen]

Is Naseem, Nasim a unisex name too? Because I've had known two Nasims, both female (maybe the diff spelling?).

I think both names are easy to pronounce and will be fairly familiar to most Americans. I teach high school and we have a decent-sized Arabic/Muslim population and most people learn to say the names pretty easily.

I think I prefer Naseem above Jibreel, but I like them both.

[beebear]

I love Naseem and its meaning. Jibreel is cool and I don't think it would stick out much either, but I definitely like Naseem better. I also don't see Naseem sticking out in a bad way at all, and its pronunciation was pretty clear to me.

[east93]

Ali is my favourite Arabic boys name, but it's also "political", so if it's not for you, then I understand. Same goes for Hasan.

Murtaza
Hashim
Hamza (One of my favourites)
Raza
Tahir (Too close to Tarek though)
Malik


People will definitely say Naseem, and "Nah-seem" in America. Jibreel is straight forward.

[noora]

Thanks for your feedback! I'm sure you hear a lot of interesting names as a high school teacher. You're right, Nasim is a unisex name. There are lots of them in Arabic. Nasim is the more common spelling, but we like Naseem for pronunciation. Its being a unisex name is the reason it drew a little heat from a couple of the Arabic speakers we've asked, since many strictly masculine Arabic names have much grander, tougher meanings like lion, sword, king, brave, etc. Its been suggested the meaning of Naseem is too soft for a manly man. We don't think so.

[noora]

Yay, so glad you like Naseem. Thanks!

[rachel27]

Naseem is lovely. I love its softness, but I always prefer soft names on boys. One of my favorite Arabic names is Hamza, but I might prefer Naseem.

[noora]

Thanks for the suggestions. They're very nice names. I LOVE Ali, too, but the A is actually used for a sound that doesn't exist in English, so the Arabic pronunciation is different. Same for the H in Hamza. Saying it with a regular English H gives it a completely different meaning. We actually really wanted to use that one! Avoiding sounds that we don't have in English is one of the reasons we're having a hard time. I think Raza is Persian and not Arabic, so not right for us, but its gorgeous! Thanks again.

[mischa]

One of my favourite Arabic names is Khalil (after poet Khalil Gibran). Some other Arabic names that would be easy to pronounce are: Hamza, Hashim/Hashem, Farid, Ibrahim, Haroun, Bahir, Farook/Faruq, Faisal, Idris, Ismail, Jibril, Khalid, Munir, Nabil, Numair, Omar, Rashid, Salim, Samir, Sulaiman, Tahir, Youssef/Yusef, Zaid, Zuhair/Zuhayr.

[nat108]

I like Shareef
Naseem will be pronounced "nah-seem"

@mischa: Great list, I love Khalil for the same reason

Idris would be familiar because of the actor Idris Elba
Asad
Hasan
Sayyid
Naveed
Rasul
Shakeel- Shaquille O'Neal
Faraj
Qasim
Nasir/Naseer
Naim
Haider- there was a reality show person (maybe Real World?) named Hyder. This spelling would make it more familiar, "Ryder but with an H"
Aziz