Names that remind you of Dubai/Middle East

[FreshCop]

Sister is preg with twins and wants a name that will be a reminder of living in Dubai (currently she's a teacher at a school there)

Any suggestions?

So far she has taken a liking to Noor/Noora which means moonlight and for a boy Faris.

Laila
Sophia/Sofia
Adam
Zain

I would pick Noor too. I love it and tried to persuade my husband.

How about Loujain after the heroic Saudi activist?

I always liked Mehdi for a boy too.

Zara, Miriam, Laila

Ad(h)am, Harris, Yaccob

These seem fine as middle names. I wouldn’t use them as first names without cultural connection from your family or her partner’s — not because anyone would likely be offended, just because the kids won’t connect with it if they don’t grow up there, or if they do it will be odd to have those names as ex pats

Mohammed would be the obvious one.

Most common boys names are;

Mohammed
Abdullah
Ahmed
Ali
Khalid
Saeed
Omar
Rashid

Samir/Samira

How about Loujain after the heroic Saudi activist?

Ideally something that will be easier for everyone to pronounce. I'm presuming you say that name “Lou-Jane” ?? Which is pretty

I would pick Noor too. I love it and tried to persuade my husband.

Noor sounds so sweet doesn't it

Pedantic, but Noor means light, not specifically moonlight.

Ideas:

Leila/Laila (night)
Maha (deer)
Sahar (dawn/just before dawn more specifically)

Amir (prince)
Jamal (beauty)
Samir (loyal)

Burj for a boy, Khalifa for a girl.

Noor
Maryam
Farah

Adnan
Hisham
Jamal

Sandie

HTH

My female neighbour is Riyad...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital

Noor
Maryam
Farah

All lovely, I think Farah is very sweet too. However the boys names seem less able to blend into a more international feel and crosscultures don't they.

I did suggest Yousef to her which is a variation of Joseph.

Eisa, Shafiq & Shadi. I also like Amir.

Mariam, Amani, Maitha, Manal, Rania, Reina, Fadia, Olaa and of course Sarah

Thani, Fares, Firas, Suleyman, Said

Because nothing says ‘cute baby’ like thinking of public beheadings 🤔

Does your sister have a cultural or familial connection to the Middle East? Thinking about cultural appropriation.

Try names like:
Adam, Danyal (Daniel) Zakariah (Zak) Aden, Jacob, Joseph, Sami, Harris, Faris, Gabriel
(Old Testament names cross over into most Islamic names but if you’re not Muslim then choose the Old Testament version instead)

Sara, Tara, Zara, Miriam, Rachel, Natasha, Nadia, Farah

We're in a Muslim majority country (not the emirates though) and popular cross cultural names at school are:

Boys:

Adam
Aram
Elias/Ilias
Skander (love this one)
Joud/Jude
Gabriel
Zayn

Girls:
Mariyam/Miryam/Mariam (I think every second small girl here is Mariyam)
Ellyn
Ayla
Beya
Mayar
Leila
Sarra

Unless they are from the UAE it needs to work cross culturally or it's a bit odd.

Eisa is the Islamic equivalent of Jesus

Marco polo
Genghis Khan

@EstellaRijnveld yes a prophet and the son of Maryam. It’s definitely a good name to remind one of the ME!

My first son was born in Dubai and I agree with a PP that giving a baby an Arabic / Emirati name if they're not Arabic and won't be living there long time, seems like it will bring some unnecessary questions later on in life. We had the exact same discussion when pregnant and decided to give our first son the middle name Saif, as it was the name of a very good local friend of ours and we always said we loved the name. We now live back in the UK and get lots of compliments on his name, but definitely made the right choice by giving him a first name appropriate to our culture.