Expert: Imad Ajam - 5/8/2006

Question
Good Morning,

I'll like to know what is the meaning of my friends arabic name: Sharif El-Bahim.  I'm pretty sure the spelling is correct.

Thank you.

Answer
Dear Mario,

As to your question about the meaning of your friend's name. His first name, "Sharif" means honorable.

His surname, or family name is a bit of a problem. the "EL" at the beginning is common enough, it means either the definite article "the" (in Arabic "al or el"), or it may mean "aal", which means belonging to a tribe or clan.(the name of the tribe follows the "aal"). It all depends on which part of the Arab world he is from, and indeed his family origins.
Having said that, the word Bahim in Arabic, if it is pronounced "baheem" means animal, or in slang "dumb". That would really be an unfortunate, and indeed very uncommon surname. So my best guess is that "Bahim" refers to the original tribe or clan that he descended from.

A note about Arabic names:
Most Arabic first names, have a definite meaning. Surnames on the other hand are a bit different. Most Arabs do not have surnames as such. Usually, a man's surname is his father's first name, and may also include his grandfather's first name too. So for example Ahmad Muhamed Mostafa; Ahmad( the man's name) Muhamed(his father's name) Mostafa(his grandfather's name). It is also common for the tribe name to be used as a surname, so for example Ahmad Al-Batoushi. Batoushi being the tribe that he belongs to. Those types of surnames are very common in The Gulf states, and in Iraq, and may also be found, but to a lesser degree in the Levant countries.
Levant countries, use a surname system which is very similar to the European system. A man's surname is descended from an occupation that his forefather had (e.g.: blacksmith or miller or dyer etc.), or a prevalent attribute (e.g. long, short, black etc.), or the region or place that they originally came from.
Therefore it helps to know which country the person is from in order to determine what his surname may mean.

Thanks for your question