Caroline_afifi

I personally cannot be doing with calling people by their made up name.
At least with Jacqi jamal we still called her Jacqui.

Calling her Magda al Muhammed with her celtic white skin and red hair would have been too much for my brain and tongue to connect and it feels pretencious.

Also a dancer arrived at an airport to be collected by another dancer once. She asked to be called by her stage name and sat in the back of the car.
Her name was something like the name of a song. It is not just a name but is also a good exuse seperation and snobbery on occasions and is embarrassing for some people.

I see the need for stage names and for forums perhaps but outside of this then you really are who you are and adopting a name will not change you.

Sara

I'm quite lucky. My real name is Sara. And if I tek my dad's last name it's Lovell. Sara Lovell int that bad. but I think I'll just stick to plain old Sara.

Sometimes stage names can make me cringe. But other times the name seems to suit the person. I think you do have to take into account your appearence. People with darker skin and hair are more likely to pull off a very Arab name. I think one word names are better for people with lighter skin and hair. They could be arabic, but sticking to one word makes it all less of a fuss.

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Aisha Azar

Dear Sara,
I think it depends upon the circumstances. I need a surname as well as a first name because I write, teach in both the States in Canada on a regular basis, perform, have a dance company, and a first name that is fairly common in the dance community. The surname makes it clear that it is me and not one of the many other A'ishas out there. I have dark hair and very light skin.... and I also did not name myself, but was given the name by one of my Arab teachers. And... there are many naturally blonde, blue-eyed or green eyed Arabs and Turks as well. I know this is very common in the Levant.
Regards,
A'isha

masrawy

I thought of one more thing to consider when you choose Arabic name. The way it will look in Latin letters as well as an Arabic script
I Made some samples that show Latin fonts that lends itself to Arabic also the same Arabic name (Sarah) in different Arabic calligraphy script.

Attached Thumbnails

     

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"Be beautiful , the universe will turn beautiful in your eyes!"

Aisha Azar

Dear Masrawy,
Baharat (Spices) is the name of my dance company! My friend chose the Arabic script for us and I use Lucida Console capitals for the English. Our website
Barharat!!
Regards,
A'isha

Aziyade

I would really like to ditch the whole stage name thing cause I think it's a bit cheesy these days, but I've been "Aziyade" for so long that it's like a part of me.

Nobody ever pronounces it right, and I always have to explain that it's not Arabic, and no, it doesn't really mean anything -- at least not that any Turkish speaker I've met has been aware of. I wanted a stage name that had an A and a Z in it, (which narrowed it down pretty much to Aziza) and there was a very famous Aziza in Atlanta, and another in California (not to mention the Aziza from Canada/Portland) AND since I was reading Loti's book at the time, I thought "Aziyade" was pretty cool.

My last name is HEAVY German, largely unpronounceable outside of our German immigrant town, and doesn't sound remotely Middle Eastern. My husband's old family name is McHardy -- which is cute: Amanda McHardy -- but doesn't sound remotely Middle Eastern. Neither does Stewart, which is my mother's family name. I guess I should have gone into Highland dancing or something.

masrawy

Dear Aisha
I hope it was okay to use your group name in my showcase, I picked it up from your profile I even visited your beautiful site. Curiosity .. what can I say!
The attached file has Baharat in different Arabic style. One more thing I know the common spelling of this word in English is the way you have it. In Arabic we have accents that get added to each letter some time to let us know how to pronounce the word correctly. For example the B letter in baharat need a damma on top of it in order to produce the O sound in Boharat .. I'll even spell it Buharat. I hope it's not too confusing
regards
Mahmoud

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
"Be beautiful , the universe will turn beautiful in your eyes!"

Aisha Azar

Dear Masrawy,
Wow!! I LOVE the second and third versions of the name. Would you mind if I asked the what the names of the fonts are? A Saudi friend did the Arabic on the site and she chose the font she liked. It is nearly time for us to get new business cards and I love the idea of one of the fonts you showed.
I understand that the Arabic and English alphabets are so different that it is difficult to exactly match the sounds, etc to get the exactly right and only spelling!
Regards,
A'isha

masrawy

Dear Asiha
I'll be more than happy to provide you with the names but I'm still at work it's 5:30 in the East Coast, and I keep my Arabic Photoshop and fonts at home in my laptop. So tonight I will post it for you. As for the third version I almost didn't include that one I'm not so hot about it.
Regards,
Mahmoud

__________________
"Be beautiful , the universe will turn beautiful in your eyes!"

Aisha Azar

Dear Mahmoud,
Thank you!! I think Leila would not like the third one either, but I like it because it is different.
Regards,
A'isha