Expert: Fouad - 6/2/2009

Question
I'm in doubt about the origin of the name of the city Algiers. Many says that it comes from al-Jaza'ir, which means "The Island", but I'm leaning to argal (I cant write the correct character), which means "back white hooves mare" or something about it. As an arabic speaker, can you help me?

Answer
Dear Rubens,
thank you for your question
Algier or i'd prefer spell it as "Al-Jazayer" is indeed the capital of
"Al-Jazayer" the country.to be honest with you i never thought about it, but to answer your question i got back to my old big Arabic-Arabic dictionary and got the following:
Al Jazayer الجزائر(literally plural of Island) is called Al-Jazayer for the presence of 4 very small islands enclosing it .((they are now  one-piece, having been established by the Ottomans)The same sources also attribute that " Islands of  life", Algeria Saadiyat (Astrology), is derived from Algeria's rich coastline  compared to the arid desert)

i'm not sure about the other word you proposed because it did not make any sense for me. (i'm sorry) but that's the actual origin of Al Jazayer as far as i'm concerned.

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Hope This Helps
~Fouad