Your Name in Arabic

No. Islam does not ask you to take a new name, and the shahada does not need one. Many companions of the Prophet kept the names they had before Islam, such as Khalid, Umar, Uthman and Khadija. A name only needs to change if its meaning is bad, for example if it makes you the servant of something other than God. Why reverts can keep their name

Almost always, yes. Most names Christians use are simply names, and many are the names of prophets and righteous people Muslims love too: John is Yahya, Mary is Maryam, Joseph is Yusuf, David is Dawud. A few names do carry a meaning against Islam, such as Abd al-Masih, servant of the Messiah, which some Arab Christians use. If you are unsure about yours, ask your local imam.

There is no ceremony and no rule. People pick a name for its meaning (Iman, faith; Sabir, patient), after a prophet or companion they love (Ibrahim, Maryam, Bilal), close to their own name (Joseph to Yusuf), or they ask a teacher at the mosque for a few ideas. Take your time: there is no deadline. Browse Muslim names and their meanings

No. A good meaning matters, not the language. Muslims around the world carry Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Malay, Bosnian and African names, and many English names have good meanings. Arabic is the language of the Quran, not a requirement for a name.

That depends on your country. Check with your local civil registry or name office what it asks for and what it costs. Many reverts never change their papers: they use a Muslim name among Muslims and keep their legal name at work and on their passport. Both are fine.

Keep them. The Quran says to call people after their fathers (33:5), and scholars agree that you should not change your lineage, even if your father is not Muslim. So a new first name is fine, but your family name and your father’s name stay. If you write your name the Arabic way, it is your own father: Yusuf ibn Peter is a correct Muslim name.

A name of honour made of Abu (father of) or Umm (mother of) and a child’s name, like Abu Bakr or Umm Salama. Arabs often call people by it out of respect. You do not need children to have one: the Prophet called a small boy Abu Umayr, and Aisha, who had no children, was called Umm Abdullah.

Arabic has no letters for p, v or a hard g, and it usually does not write short vowels. So p becomes ب (b), v becomes ف (f), and a g is written غ in most countries and ج in Egypt. Two people can spell the same foreign name differently and both be right. The spelling here is the one Arabic newspapers use for common names.