Help from persons of Arabic descent or scholars of Arabic traditions?

Question

Please can you help me correct the following text? I am writing a book of world names and need to get my facts right before publishing.
Surnames
It would be impossible to give a complete list of Arabic surnames because, due to Arab naming traditions, the number of possibilities is virtually infinite.
There are several of ways in which an Arab is identified. First, he has his own personal name, which can be followed by a name describing his lineage—bin or ibn (son of) followed by his father’s name, e.g., Ahmed bin Yusuf, Ahmed son of Yusuf. Some men with a distinguished lineage may append several generations to their names. Men often use their father’s name as a middle name.
Occasionally, a man may wish to be known as the father of his son, i.e., abu (father of) followed by the son’s name, for example, Mohammed abu Hasim, Mohammed father of Hasim. This is considered an honorific and is often used in place of the given name where there is a taboo against revealing one’s given name.
They also use place names, denoting the person’s, or family’s, place of origin. It can either be his birthplace, or the birthplace of an ancestor that has been handed down through the family. This is the closest they have to an inherited family name. It may also be the last place he lived. Often these place names have the prefix al (from); or the masculine suffix –iyyun, -í (pl.), or feminine –iyyatun, -iyya, added to the place name, e.g., Ismail al Ma’ad or Ismail Ma’adí, Ismail from Ma’ad.
The prefix al is also used to denote the person’s occupation or status.
Nobility is sometimes recognized by a surname preceded by el (the), e.g., Khalil Ali el Sheik, Khalil, of the Sheik Ali family.
A women’s personal name is sometimes followed by bint or ibnat (daughter of). She does not take her husband's family name at marriage, but in formal situations gives her own and her father's names. Women sometimes take a daughter’s name as an honorific, using the prefix umm (mother of), for example, Basma umm Zahra, Basma mother of Zahra. Many girls and women have what appears to be a masculine middle name; it is usually her father’s name.
More examples:
Yasmin bint Salman, Yasmin, daughter of Salman
Yasmin Salman el Sheik, Yasmin daughter of Salman of the el Sheik family
Ali Mohammed al Jubail, Ali, son of Mohammed from Jubail.

Answer 1

hi. i am an arab linguist, and lucky you, my research interests are in the field of "anthroponyms" (proper names). i would say that most of the information the text includes is correct. except for that "Women sometimes take a daughter’s name as an honorific", this is hardly true. Arab men and women usually take their first son's name (the eldest son) as a title. for example, a man who's first son is named Ali might be addressed as (abu ali) "father of ali", his wife would also be addressed um ali "mother of ali". moreover, women arent refered to by the name of their first daughter unless they have no male children, the same is true regarding men who have no male children, they would be addressed with the the word (abu + the name of their eldest daughter). The practice of addressing a person with reference to their children is commonly refered to as "tecknonyms".
in addition to that, family name or the last name takes several forms in addition to what the text provides. in most arab bedouin societies the tribe's name is used as the family name. the tribe's name is usually the name of the great grandfather to whom all of the tribe's members are genealogical linked. For example, the tribe Anezah which inhabits parts of Saudia, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Kuwait, is named after Anez , who is the great great grandfather of the tribe members who lived approximately 1500 years ago. other tribes might be named after the nickname of the their grandfather. In urban and rural areas of the arab world, people family name might be the name of their grandfather, as is the case in bedouin tribes, the nickname of their grandfather, the career of their grandfather, or their family name (last name) might be a place name, the place where they lived or are living, for example, the family name (Almasri) means "the egyptian", where the grandfather of this family came from or is originally from eygpt.

Answer 2

Hello, I am Egyptian, so this might affect my anser some.
1. The way our legal name works by law is that it has to have four items: Given name (which is the first name), father name, grandfather name, final family or great grandfather's name. This is the Egyptain law regardless of sex. For example the twin Babies boy Adam and girl Laila, father is Ahmed, Granddad is Fahmey and Family name is Fadel. So the boy's legal name is Adam Ahmed Fahmey Fadel
Girl's name is Laila Ahmed Fahmey Fadel.
But they can choose the name they will be most known with (ie. socaial name) Boy can deceied he will be known as Adam Ahmed and Girl can deceid that she will be Laila Fadel/ or Laila Fahmey or Laila Ahmed. So, Baiscally even though both had the same name sequence, this does not garentee that they will use the same last name.
2. In Egypt the people how have Ibn/Bin in their last name it is part of the last name not like Saudi or North Africa Magred where they add that depending on the sex of Baby. For example I had a freind who's name was Laila Abou Eleneien. Her last name/Family name was Abou El enein. All Her family and extended family are Abou El Enein. There is no Bent in that case.
3. In Egypt we have people who have well known last names which typically start with AL/EL. Not adjectives. These are last name of Big families that were feudalists and are well known.
4. When you use Um and Abou than son and daughter name it is kind of an informal nick name in the educated community. In less educated communities, it is true that a women name has to be kept secret. And for the male he uses Abou as a pround sign of fatherhood.
Again this is from an egyptian prespective.
regards

Answer 3

If u go into the Religion category u will find some nice people there to help u out...good luck