Naming a baby

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Member since 28 January 2013

kitymissMember28 January 2013 10:21:15

Hello all,

My fiance and i were having a debate about naming a baby. Here are our circumstances:
1. neither are religious so we don't want a religious name
2. He's egyptian, born muslim
3. i'm foreign, born christian
4. we'll be having the baby abroad

he says that for the baby to get an egyptian birth certificate we have to do the traditional egyptian naming: first name, fathers name, grandfathers name

what if the baby is a US citizen as well? it would make sense that you can put whatever you want on the birth certificate...and shouldnt the egyptian one match the one from the US?

biffy Serial expat

Member since 07 June 2012

biffySerial expat28 January 2013 11:17:36

434

hi
same situation.

We used Names that are applicable in both cultures / religions.
Especially ones that everyone can actually pronounce without making a mess out of it - and ones that when you shout it could be anyone's name (didn't want the chilsren to be stereotyped in any way!!) - especially abroad.

We have a Sara, A Yasmin (but funnily enough everyone in the UK calls her Yasmin - here in Egypt everyone insists on Jasmine - which she hates!!) and we have a Joseph (Yusuf).
All names easy on both sets of parents!
And all 3 were born out of EGypt - the frist in Abu DHabi and the other 2 in the UK.

As for the fathers name, grandfathers name etc.
We used my Husbands second name (his fathers name as the surname on the British birth certificates ( the same as the way we used this anme for all the UK documentation - driving licences, etc.

There are some nice names applicable to both cultures (the ones above) - Nadia, Suzanne, Adam, Noah, Judy, Amber, Maya, Maria, Ayesha, Zara, Susan, Tara - Elias, Amelia (trustworthy / beautiful), Hanna, Jenna, Selina. - Zacharia.

But there are more.

And yes the name should be the same - then there are no hassles later in life.

Anw=yway enjoy being engaged - but you are right to discuss all these issues beforehand so there are no horrible surprises!!

Sax Active member

Member since 30 October 2012

SaxActive member28 January 2013 11:18:44

Yes they should match so your child doesn't have trouble in the future explaining to government officials in either country why there is a difference.

I'd go for Adam if it's a boy, sweet, short multicultural name.

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