Somali Naming Convention

[LiveFrom]

My dad would tell me that the following was normal naming convention

First name =childs name
Middle name = fathers name
Last name = grandfathers name

And then it would go into abtirsi
Fourth name = great grandfather etc etc

Example

Fathers name : Abdi Bille Farre
Sons name : Adam Abdi Bille
Grandsons name : Ibrahim Adam Abdi

The thing is, most times when I bring this up to somali ppl irl i get blank stares, and ive noticed both in my qaabil and out sometimes family names are taken ie

Fathers name : Abdi Farah
Sons name : Bahdon Farah

I was hoping to get some opinions and perspectives from some cyber Somalis (No somali cosplayers pls)

 

[ditto]

Yeah that’s how it is.
Mine goes = my name, my father’s name, my grandfather’s name, and then my great grandfather’s name - anything after that is my abtirsi.

I personally go by my Name then by my Great Grandfather’s as a last name.

 

[wonyluvr]

my surname is my grandfathers name I wish met my paternal grandparents

 

[LiveFrom]

Yeah that’s how it is.
Mine goes = my name, my father’s name, my grandfather’s name, and then my great grandfather’s name - anything after that is my abtirsi.

I personally go by my Name then by my Great Grandfather’s as a last name.

Ok this might be what it is then, people might choose different levels of the abtirsi for the last name

 

[Bazed]

It's odd that we never standardized our naming structure. Like there was not push to have everyone take permanent family names. In Turkey before Ataturk took power people tended not to have last names, but he forced the practice of family names to be adopted.

I had to explain to my colleagues that I don't share last names with my father and that the name structure is passed along.

 

[LiveFrom]

It's odd that we never standardized our naming structure. Like there was not push to have everyone take permanent family names. In Turkey before Ataturk took power people tended not to have last names, but he forced the practice of family names to be adopted.

I had to explain to my colleagues that I don't share last names with my father and that the name structure is passed along.

I think we are kinda going through that now

 

[Bazed]

I think we are kinda going through that now

Yeah I suppose now that there are more Somalis living in foreign lands than ever before its becoming more common to adopt certain aspects. I don't know if family names will be a thing back home what with qabil being a big thing.