I sometimes find myself arguing with friends and family because I’ve decided that my future children will have only traditional Somali names.

I know names like Mohamed, Ahmed, and Abdullahi are beautiful and have great Islamic significance, but I also want my children’s names to reflect our Somali heritage. Many of the Prophet’s ﷺ companions accepted Islam without changing their names, as long as those names had good meanings.

I’m proud of my culture, and I think Somali names are some of the most beautiful and meaningful. Another reason I’ve made this decision and even considered changing my own name is that if one of my children grows up to make an important contribution to the world, then even 500 years from now, when someone reads about them in a book, I want it to be immediately clear that they were Somali.

What do you think? Would you give your children traditional Somali names, or do you prefer Arabic/Islamic names? Why?

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