Saudi Arabia bans 50 names owing to religious contradictions

The interior ministry of Saudi Arabia has banned 50 names owing to the fact of their contradiction to the religion or the culture of the Kingdom.

After the orders being issued, the parents within the Kingdom will reportedly no longer be able to name their children by names such as Linda, Alice, Elaine or Binyamin.

Apart from western names, a few religious names have also been banned because of the fact that the Kingdom considers them inappropriate, or blasphemous.

According to Gulf News, the list of names issued by the ministry fall into three categories, those that offend perceived religious sensibilities, those that are affiliated to royalty and those that are of non-Arabic or non-Islamic origin.

Moreover, there are also some names that do not fit into any of mentioned categories however have still been banned by the Kingdom.

The full list of ‘banned’ names as reported by Gulf News include Malaak (angel), Abdul Aati, Abdul Naser, Abdul Musleh, Binyamin, Naris, Yara, Sitav, Loland, Tilaj, Barrah, Abdul Nabi, Abdul Rasool, Sumuw (highness), Al Mamlaka (the kingdom), Malika (queen), Mamlaka (kingdom), Tabarak (blessed), Nardeen, Sandy, Rama (Hindu god), Maline, Elaine, Inar, Maliktina, Maya, Linda, Randa, Basmala (utterance of the name of God), Jibreel (angel Gabriel), Abdul Mu’een, Abrar, Iman, Bayan, Baseel, Wireelam, Nabi (prophet), Nabiyya (female prophet), Amir (prince), Taline, Aram, Nareej, Rital, Alice, Lareen, Kibrial and Lauren.

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