just a month to go til my due date, and NO names on the short list! here is the problem, I need to find a name for a boy that works well in UK [classic brit name?] and in Palestine [arabic names].
I really want a name that sounds familiar and has british/ english connotations, as I love words and meanings and history BUT my DH really wants a name that sounds familiar/ has meaning in palestine.
Its becoming rather an issue as its showing up all sorts of cultural tensions I never knew existed between us, and i had thought that maybe naming him something that didn't sound too 'christian' would be enough, and follow up with a arabic second name, esp. because its already palestinian tradition that one of the second names is his fathers, but my DH is adamant that the baby must have a name that sounds/ is arabic so his side of the family feel like the baby is part of them, and also so the baby doesn't feel like a foreigner when he visits palestine.
[tbh this last point is a bit academic given how unstable the region is, visiting a war zone isn't exactly likely to happen soon]
and just to balance the needs of this name... i don't want my baby's name to sound alien to me either, and my parents are getting really upset as they feel any non-brit name is some kind of exclusion for them...
so in short, I need to get this whole name issue dealt with before it becomes a divisive and political/ racial nightmare for me, husband and our families - as these things escalate so quickly!
Reluctantly I do agree that a child should have one name and one identity, particularly important not to feel like he has to chose between 2 cultures and 2 self identities... especially given the tensions between our two countries... but this is nigh on impossible! NB reluctant as i can't find any names that do this, not cos i am mean or anything.
so here's the challenge, do any of you lovely people know names that could work across the brit/arabic cultures [and sound nice!]?