Nowadays there is a growing trend of choosing new names. What is the preferable method of keeping names? Please can you answer in light of the Qurʾān and Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
Answer:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, you will be called on the Day of Resurrection by your names and the names of your fathers, so choose good names for yourselves” (Sunan Abū Dāwūd, 4948; Musnad Aḥmad, 21693). The Prophet ﷺ said, “Name by the names of the Prophets, and the most beloved names to Allāh are ʿAbd Allah (servant of Allah) and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (servant of the Most Beneficent), and the most truthful names are Ḥārith and Hammām, and the worst names are Ḥarb (war) and Murrah (bitter)” (Sunan Abū Dāwūd, 4950; Musnad Aḥmad, 19032; al-Adab al-Mufrad, 814).
Names have an impact on a person’s life as well as the lives of descendants. The famous tabiʿī Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib (d. 94/712-3) narrates that when his grandfather Ḥaẓn (rugged land) [n.d.] visited the Prophet ﷺ, he asked, “What is your name?” He said, “Ḥazn.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “[Rather] you are Sahl (smooth land, pleasant, easy).” He said, “I will not change the name with which my father named me.” Ibn al-Musayyib says, “So we have had harshness ever since” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 6190).
Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ changed the names of several other companions. For example, the original name of the mother of believers Zaynab (d. 20/640-1) (may Allah be pleased with her) was Barrah, but it was said that by that she is giving herself the prestige of piety. So the Prophet ﷺ changed her name to Zaynab (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 6192).
Therefore, when deciding to name a child, it is preferable to choose the name of a Prophet or a companion or a pious person or a name that has a meaning of servitude. One should avoid searching for new names not least because some new names have a negative meaning or no relevant meaning.
Allah knows best
Yusuf Shabbir
28 Muḥarram 1428 / 15 February 2007