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{{Short description|Arabic name derived from one's oldest child}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Kunya'' (Arabic)}}
A '''{{transliteration|ar|kunya}}''' ({{lang-ar|كُنية}})<ref>Shahpurshah Hormasji Hodivala, Historical Studies in Mug̲h̲al Numismatics, Numismatic Society of India, 1976 (Reprint of the 1923 ed.).</ref> is a [[teknonym]] in [[Arabic name]]s, the name of an adult derived from their oldest child. Sometimes, however, it is derived from the eldest male if the oldest child is a female.

A kunya is a component of an Arabic name, a type of [[epithet]], in theory referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter. By extension, it may also have hypothetical or metaphorical references, e.g. in a ''[[nom de guerre]]'' or a nickname, without literally referring to a son or a daughter.<ref>Pedzisai Mashiri, [http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Journal%20of%20the%20University%20of%20Zimbabwe/vol26n1/juz026001007.pdf "Terms of Address in Shona: A Sociolinguistic Approach"], ''[[Zambezia: The Journal of Humanities of the University of Zimbabwe|Zambezia]],'' XXVI (i), pp. 93–110, 1999</ref> Use of a kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting.

A kunya is expressed by the use of ''[[Abu (Arabic term)|abū]]'' (father) or ''[[Umm (given name)|umm]]'' (mother) in a [[idafah|genitive construction]], i.e. "father of" or "mother of" as an [[honorific]] in place of or alongside [[given name]]s in the [[Arab world]] and the [[Islamic world]] more generally.<ref>Annemarie Schimmel, ''Islamic Names: An Introduction'', Edinburgh University Press, 1989, {{ISBN|0-85224-563-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-85224-563-7}}</ref>

[[History of the Jews under Muslim rule|Medieval Jewish]] names generally had stock kunyas referencing the biblical eponym and not any relative. Those named Abraham received "abu Ishaq", those named Jacob, "abu Yusuf," and so on. In some cases the word ''abu'' is construed beyond the traditional sense of "father," so a person named Isaac received "abu Ibrahim" (son of Abraham) and one named Moses received "abu Imran" (son of Amram). Also common are kunyas which reflect qualities, such as "abu al-Afiya" (the Healthy) and "abu al-Barakat" (the Blessed).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singer |first=Isidore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFJDAQAAMAAJ |title=The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |date=1901 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls Company |language=en |chapter=Abu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Steinschneider |first=Moritz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ga9BAAAAYAAJ |title=An Introduction to the Arabic Literature of the Jews |date=1901 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Landman |first=Isaac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7dtAAAAMAAJ |title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia in 10 Volumes: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times |date=1939 |publisher=Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incorporated |language=en |chapter=Abu}}</ref>

==General use==
''[[Abu (Arabic term)|Abū]]'' or ''[[Umm (given name)|Umm]]'' precedes the son's or daughter's name, in a [[Iḍāfah|genitive construction]] (''ʼiḍāfa''). For example, the [[English Language|English]] equivalent would be to call a man "Father of John" if his eldest son is named John. Use of the ''kunya'' normally signifies some closeness between the speaker and the person so addressed, but is more formal than use of the first name. The ''kunya'' is also frequently used with reference to politicians and other celebrities to indicate respect.

A kunya may also be a nickname expressing the attachment of an individual to a certain thing: as in [[Abu Bakr]], "father of the camel foal", given because of this person's love for camels; or [[Abu Hurairah]], “father of the cats”, given because of his caring for and adopting stray cats. A kunya may also be a nickname expressing a characteristic of an individual, as in [[Umm Kulthum bint Ali|Umm Kulthum]] “mother of the chubby face”, because the characteristic of being “[[kulthum]]” is said of someone with a chubby face.

When also using a person's own birth name, the ''kunya'' will precede the proper name. Thus: ''abū Māzin Maħmūd'', for "Mahmud, the father of Mazen" (as, for example, for [[Mahmoud Abbas]]). In [[Classical Arabic]], but not in any of the spoken dialects,{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} ''abū'' can change into the forms ''abā'' and ''abī'' ([[accusative]] and [[genitive]], respectively), depending on the position of the ''kunya'' in the sentence.

In [[Arabic name#Westernization of Arabic naming practices and names|westernizations of Arabic names]] the words ''abū'' and ''abū l-'' are sometimes perceived as an independent part of the full name, similar to a [[given name]].

Men who do not yet have a child are often addressed by a made-up ''kunya'', most often from a popular or notable figure in Muslim or Arabian history. {{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Arabs would take the given name and the patronymic of those famous figures and attribute it to that person. For example, the kunya of a man with the given name [[Khalid]] who has no male heir would be Abu Walid, because of the famous Muslim military commander [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]]. The opposite is true: if someone's given name was Walid, his kunya would be Abu Khalid. Less commonly, however, it would be the name of his father. This is because it is tradition for men to name their firstborns after their fathers.

==Nom de guerre==
A special practice evolved among Arab guerrillas and clandestine operators, is to use real or fictional ''kunyas'' as [[Pseudonym#Noms de guerre|''noms de guerre'']].

Examples of this include the ISIS leader ''Abu Bakr'' ([[Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi|Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri]]). [[Osama bin Laden]]'s kunya was "Abu Abdullah".<ref>[http://cominganarchy.com/2011/05/12/osamas-will-and-arabic-names/ "Osama's Will and Arabic Names"], Coming Anarchy, 12 May 2011</ref>

==See also==
*{{lookfrom|Abu}}
*[[Teknonymy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Arabic-language honorifics]]
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Arabic-language given names| Kunya]]

Kunya (Arabic) - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article