Avicenna wrote:Growing up, most of my neighbors, friends and female relatives had the following names, but lately all I see are knock-off Arab names for little girls, what gives?
Names like:
-Suuban (niece), Abyan, Amran, Filsan (cousin), Ruun (neighbor), Kiin (young aunt), Ugaaso, Falis, Ruumaan (3rd grade classmate), Xukun, Sagal, Ayaan (never liked this name, but it beats "Sowdah" i.e. "dark one"), Siman, etc.
Must we Arabize every aspect of our culture in order to become "more" Muslim? Most of today's names for little Somali girls are Arab names that pre-date Islam, even Amina, Halima & Aisha are pre-Islamic in origin, so why not continue on the tradition of naming our daughters beautiful & positive Somali names?
all the names you mentioned above are non-Islamic names and therefore should have retired a long time ago. i am glad some of us figured that out despite the widespread illiteracy crippling our people. as you can tell, i am definitely for the new names and i hope people like you will come around.
the Quran was revealed in Arabic, the prophet (saw) spoke Arabic and it is highly recommended for non-speaking Muslims to learn Arabic. even some scholars have suggested its obligation. this shows the value of the Arabic language. there's nothing arabizing about learning Arabic or giving daughters/sons Arabic names.
poster, you should consider learning your deen more insha allah.