Imani

[TwoTonTess]

Like or not? Someone said it was 'chavvy' on another forum.

This sort of exchange makes me yearn for days before Google, when only people who knew something would talk about it

What I am saying is that Iman is an Arabic word. Anyone who knows anything at all about Arabic, Arabs, or Islam would know this. This word has gone into the languages of every Muslim nation, not only Swahili, along with other religion-related words, like heaven, hell, "Allah" (= God in Arabic) etc. They are no more Swahili than they are, Turkish, Albanian, or Persian.

Some early baby name website has singled out Swahili, native language of a mere 5 mn people, for Arabic names that have been adopted in all other Muslim countries - names of Mohammad's wives, female members of his family, etc. You may have noticed how much they all copy from each other and make the same mistakes (ex: They all say "Cari" is a girl's name in Turkish that means "flows like water". It means something totally different, is not a name, and C isn't even pronounced K in Turkish.)

So, when someone says "Oh this word means this in Swahili", you can usually bet that they have read it on some baby name website on the internet.

The subject is not the word 'Iman' though, was it? It is 'Imani'. And whether you like it or not, the information that imani is a word in the Swahili language seems to be correct.

The only "baby name website" I ever look at is Behind The Name which imo is the most well-researched. You are wrong to think that I looked there first though. I simply searched for the word itself and then for information on the Swahili language. I had no idea that Swahili contains a lot of Arabic-influenced vocabulary, not that it was originally written in the Arabic script. Even the name Swahili comes from the Arabic word sawāhil meaning coasts!

"only people who knew something would talk about it" Well, I am happy to have learnt something. Perhaps you should practise what you preach.

That should read "sawahil" - MN didn't like the accent on the second a.

I love it and I'm using it for my DD!

Cote Dazur, I don't think anyone is doubting that Iman is Arabic , that does not mean that it is not a word in Swahili! Swahili is the language of the coast of East Africa and due to the trading connections has had connections going back a long time with Arabia. The people of the coast of East Africa have intermixed with Arabs and has created a "swahili" culture and language, which is a mixture of Arabic and African influences but is a stand alone language. Swahili is now widely spoken in the interior of East Africa and it is also spoken in parts of Eastern Congo, Burundi, Northen Malawi and Mozambique, the East of Zambia, throughout Tanzania and Kenya as well as parts of Uganda.
swahililanguage.stanford.edu/where%20swahili%20is%20spoken.html

this link is good on the history of Swahili culture:
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section5.shtml

First line should read - I don't think anyone is doubting that Iman is Arabic, that does not mean that Imani is not a word in Swahili

Yes, exactly. It's like saying that because the word 'algebra' is derived from Arabic, it's not an English word.

I have not said it doesn't mean "faith" in Swahili

In fact, I have said:
CoteDAzur Thu 26-Apr-12 14:51:17
This word has gone into the languages of every Muslim nation, not only Swahili, along with other religion-related words, like heaven, hell, "Allah" (= God in Arabic) etc.

So Googling up "proof" that Iman is a Swahili word, posting links to Swahili language websites, etc is rather twattish.

The reason why I have said the above, if anyone remembers, is that (1) You should ask a native speaker of Arab what Imani means, if anything, and not believe baby names websites because they can be very wrong, and (2) "Iman" means not just faith but Muslim faith. So if you are not Muslim and don't expect your child to be Muslim, it is a very bad idea to name her Imani.

That is all. Have a good life

How rude.

I don't see why you keep harping on about baby name websites. They are irrelevant. You even implied that the name of a school in the USA was chosen with the help of a baby name website - what a ludicrous suggestion. It's most likely that the founders looked for an appropriate word in an African language, since their demographic seems to be African-American.

And how many more times does it need to be pointed out that the discussion was never about the Arabic word Iman. You persist in putting up this straw man argument.

What a shame that you don't have the grace to admit that you were wrong. You clearly have a very high opinion of yourself. I'm afraid I don't share it.

Well, it makes a change from the usual baby name threads...

Imani is beautiful.

So there we have a difference you see - Imani in Swahili means any kind of religious faith (Islamic, Christian, Hindu, etc, etc) - so DOES have a different meaning to Iman in Arabic then.
And I have not just googled it, I have just asked a native speaker of Swahili.
You have no idea of peoples backgrounds and knowledge base - we are not all just googling away to answer questions. I have posted links to websites because that is the only way of providing evidence on a web forum!
And Imani (in Swahili) does obviously have Arabic origins, but has been adapted to the local situation, where people have different religious faiths - in common with words in many languages which are continuously evolving and adapting to meet the needs of the local speakers of the language.

Agreed - if your child has African heritage then I think it's lovely. If you're white then sorry, definitely chavvy.

Wow, what a response. I wasn't expecting this!

Yes, baby has African heritage via the Caribbean, and will be mixed-race.

I was given the name as an idea by a Kenyan colleague and thought it was pretty. I didn't think it would be so controversial!

Thanks for all replies. Appreciated.