Egypt: Politically Neutral Names  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“When our children were born, Diaa and I wanted them to have Arabic names that could be spelled, pronounced, and not Anglicised. One of our first choices for our son was Yusuf, the name of my husband's grandfather on his mother's side, but when our OB said “Ah, Joseph. Nice name.” that was the end of Yusuf. It took three days to find a name for our son that fit our criteria, and in the end it has remained, thankfully, a politically neutral name,” explains  Maryanne Stroud Gabbani, who lives in Egypt. Gabbani  links to this article to illustrate how picking the wrong name could be damaging to a child.