I was chatting with Putri about her niece, Baby PJ or Baby Putri Junior. Baby PJ remained nameless for the first two weeks of her life. After three weeks of being a citizen of the world, Baby PJ was finally named *a really modern name goes here*.
So then it got me thinking. If this was the current trend of names, than I may be the last of the Ahmad Faisals. I am, an endangered species.
It may, no wait...not may...It WILL happen sooner or later. I am going to categorize names that used to be popular.
Ultra Classic Malay Names:
1. Jantan -
Eg: Putera Jantan Bin Osman Rani
How it used to be: ultra manly name of its time. It denotes masculinity and strength.
How it is now : weird name, whereupon if a modern baby was named this, he would be the butt of jokes.
Dania: Hye Jantan *holding back laughter*
Putera Jantan: Kenapa you macam nak tergelak?
Dania: Takde apa la you *holding back laughter*
Putera Jantan: It's my name isn't it...
Dania: hahahahahahhaa.
2. Names that pay homage to days -
Eg. Abu bin Isnin, Mat Lazim bin Mat Kamis, Radhi bin Sabtu.
How it used to be: a normal name that is absolutely not out of the ordinary.
How it is now : If a modern baby was named one of these names...this will happen.
Thursday,7th October 2020.
Dania: Eh you hari ni hari apa?
Mat Kamis : .....ntah...
Daniel Ariff: Bro, cakapla..hari ini hari apa...
Mat Kamis: ....ntah.....
Whole Class: Hari ini hari mat KAMIS!!!! *All around laughter*
Mat Kamis: Why dad..why...*crying*
Other classic names include Rosmidah, my dear aunty and Zabedah, my dear Opah. The thing about classic female names is that they don't sound as weird as classic male names and some are still in popular use to this very day. But I have realized one thing, female names that ends with the letter 'H' are becoming less and less common. People would instead get rid of the 'H' and end it with an 'A'.
Eg:
Amirah - Amira
Munirah - Munira
Sarah - Sara (That's you put!) haha
I have to agree that getting rid of the 'H' does make a name look and sound more modern, not to mention more feminine.
Then we come across to my generation. When I was born, the trend was to name babies with Islamic names. Ahmad Faisal. It can't get anymore Islamic than that. This trend has actually been around for a while. But I realized that it's a dying trend.
Nowadays names are sounding less Islamic but the cool part is that they have beautiful Islamic meanings. Here are some examples:
1.(Girl) Reyhana (My dear gendot baby cousin) - meaning: Sweet smelling flower of paradise.
2.(Girl) Zara - meaning: Bright as dawn.
3.(Boy) Rayyan (My other dear baby cousin) - meaning: One of the gates of paradise.
4.(Boy) Danial - meaning: Intelligent.
Names are getting more and more less Islamic sounding, gone are the days where newborns are named Abdullah Al-Amin or Saidatul Aqqilah or even perhaps Ahmad Faisal.
But I am proud of my name. My mom told me I was named after a great King, Al-Maliq Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It may not be the most modern name but it sure is my favorite :)
there goes my 'RUZZANNA' when it supposed to be only 'RUZANA'. talk about my dad's fetish with double letters. LOL!
ReplyDeletebut these days, i would say some names are too...uhm fancier. its normal. trying to retain the 'islamic'part of it, yet still want it to sound ultra cool or something like that.
danish and dania are wayyyy being used rite now. i heard a lot of danish and dania right now. i wonder why.
im one of the sara without the H.. hahaha
ReplyDeletehahaha.. yes that's me, sara without the h! :) and yay! baby pj's official name is Putri Najaa Azalea, it means eternal success.. nice kan? :D jgn letak namakan anak u joyah dahla ye :P
ReplyDeleteintan: hahaha, miss ZZZZ :P suka tidur eh? haha, tau takpe! danish and dania currently the "in" name nowadays haha.
ReplyDeletecik atin: haha, yess uuu aree, moden :P
put:haha, it is inddeeedddd youuu =) sgtlahh nice, eternal success, nanti baby najaa dah jadi seuccessful boleh la awak mintak dia belikan ferrari for u k? haha
I understand your point. However, you are confused on the part of Islamic names like Zara and Rayyan because they are also Arabic names with beautiful meanings. Islamic names are not only names that start with Ahmad. Names like Rayyan for example are just the type of new Islamic name.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of Islamic names is names that have good / beautiful meaning(s). So the names can be not just in Arabic but also in Malay as well as other languages as long as the names have good meaning(s).
Many Malays mistaken Arabic names to be the only Islamic names which is a misconception that is prevalent in our society. Turkish for example are still proud with their Turkish names and so why not us Malays. Names like Mawar and Wira for example have good meaning but unfortunately are fading away because of Malay inferiority complex in finding our ideal racial identity as more proud to be associated with Arab culture than our own Malay culture.