Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert Eli Sleiman

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Sharifa wrote at 2008-04-02 08:54:27
I don't know why all of you insist it doesn't have a meaning. Perhaps because I come from the Middle-East, so I may be different? Anyway, I don't know about Lebanon, but over here there is a natural black dye that people, mostly women, dye their eyes like mascara or eyeliner. This dye is called 'Kohl'. So 'Makhoul' means 'wearing kohl' i.e. she has dark eyelashes that look like she's wearing kohl.

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mmm wrote at 2008-10-22 20:59:01
hello,

all of you are wrong.



MAKHOUL is a christian family name, it came from MIKHAEL, wich is MICHAEL, in french michel, it's the name of the first saint angel. Makhoul is probabily used in the lebanese dialect as a result to the religious christian languages spoken in the region as SYRIAC for a very long time, until recently.



when you say in lebanon your name is makhoul, no doubt you're christian. sorry but your girlfriend doesn't happen to be smart.

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ghantouslaw wrote at 2009-02-12 12:18:58
My knowledge of this name is that it is not a "Lebanese" name. Rather, it is an Arabic name which is found throughout the Levant, Syria, Palestine, Jordan and Iraq. It appears to be in the form of an endearment form of the name Mikhael or the Western Michael. In the endearment of Arabic names as used in the Levant region, the first syllable is a short "A" sound, and the second syllable is a long "U: sound.  Additionally, until recently, 19th century, last names were not used consistently, but rather, the name of the great grandfather was used as one's last name, and therefore would change with each generation. Therefore it is quite likely that your friend comes from a family whose great grandfather in the 19th century was named Makhoul, as an endearment of Mikhael. By way of example, some other endearments of commonly used names in Arabic are Hatoum for Hatem, Barhum for Ibrahim, Aboud for Abed, Fatoum for Fatima, Jarouj for George, Raouf for Raef, Naoum for Naim, Haboub for Habib, Nakhoul for Nakhleh and so on.

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