Why are Arabic names prefixed with Abu-, when “Abu” means “father of”?
The name Abu-Mohammed, for example, means Father of Mohammed. A Palestinian or Syrian man tends to be known to close friends as the Abu of his eldest son. In which case, how can a newborn be named Abu-Mohammed?
The answer’s quite simple. It is often presumed that a Palestinian man will name his first son after his father. So suppose Mohammed has a son, he will presume that his yet-to-be-born grandson will also be named Mohammed by his son. And basis this presumption, he would name his son as Abu-Mohammed. So essentially the name Abu-XYZ is given to a child under the presumption that the child will name his son as XYZ in the future.
Then there are other roots as well which reference Islamic history, both familiar and oblique.
From the time he is 20 or so, for instance, every Mohammed is also Abu Jassim, because the Prophet Mohammed’s son was called Jassim. Every Ali is Abu Hussein because the Prophet’s son-in-law, Ali, named his son Hussein.
Every Omar will be called Abu Khattab after the Prophet Mohammed’s companion, the second caliph, Omar bin al-Khattab. And every Tariq is known as Abu Ziyad, after Tariq ibn Ziyad, the great Muslim conqueror of Spain.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/26/world/what-do-you-call-iraqis-mostly-abu.html
Image(s) used in this post: Engraved Wooden Name Plate
