
However, Banu or Bani is tribal and encompasses both sexes. The plural is 'Abnā for males and Banāt for females. Today, however, ibn or bint is no longer used (unless it is the official naming style in a country, region, etc.: Adnen bin Abdallah). Several nasab names can follow in a chain to trace a person's ancestry backwards in time, as was important in the tribal society of the ancient Arabs, both for purposes of identification and for socio-political interactions. Khaldun is the father's personal name or, in this particular case, the name of a remote ancestor. Ibn Khaldun ( ابن خلدون) means "son of Khaldun". It indicates the person's heritage by the word ibn ( ابن "son of", colloquially bin) or ibnat ("daughter of", also بنت bint, abbreviated bte.). The nasab ( نسب) is a patronymic or series of patronymics. In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, due to its almost ubiquitous use as a first name, a person will often be referred to by their second name: Indeed, such is the popularity of the name Muhammad throughout parts of Africa, Arabia, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia, it is often represented by the abbreviation "Md.", "Mohd.", "Muhd.", or just "M.". However Arabic newspapers will occasionally place names in brackets, or quotation marks, to avoid confusion. The syntactic context will generally differentiate the name from the noun/adjective. For example, Muhammad means 'Praiseworthy' and Ali means 'Exalted' or 'High'. Most Arabic names have meaning as ordinary adjectives and nouns, and are often aspirational of character. The ism ( اسم) is the given name, first name, or personal name e.g. 6 Arabic names and their Biblical equivalent.
