Why do Muslims sometimes have two names?

Question

For example, in today's Yahoo News the Palestinian President is referred to as Mahmoud Abbas, but then they say "also known as Abu Mazen."

Answer 1

I am not an expert but i believe "Abu" means "Father Of"

Its common in some asian cultures not to use a given name but to use another means of addressing them as a form of respect.

So Abu Mazen would mean "Father of Mazen", whereas Mahmoud Abbas is his given name.

Answer 2

In the case of Mahmoud Abbas, "Abu Mazen" or "Father of Mazen" is an honorific name ("Kunya") widely used in place of given names through the Arab world. It refers to his first-born son, Mazen.

Answer 3

Some of these answers are completely idiotic. In the Arab tradition you carry the name of your forefather for example let's say you're a boy and your mom decided to name you Ahmed. Your fathers last name is given to you. In this example let's say your last name is Abdelrahman (women in arab countried keep their maiden name)Your fathers name is Mohamed. Your grandfathers name was Sayed- so your total name would be Ahmed Mohamad Sayed Abdelrahman.

Now if you're a girl let's say your parents like the name Fatima. So if the example I used above is a sibling her first name is chosen and she'd carry her grandfathers names too
so she would be: Fatima Mohamed Sayed Abdelrahman

Answer 4

abu means father off. mazen is his first son. it is not religion, it is culture. men called abu (what their 1st sons name)

umm (her first son)

Answer 5

It is culture....

and I'd ask the same questions about the name
Mary Anne
and Rose Mary...

that's just how the name is...

Answer 6

what u talking about

Answer 7

they cloned hime for terror reasons