Nisba (onomastics)

In Arabic names, a nisba (also spelled nesba, sometimes nesbat ; Arabic: ‫ ﻧﺴﺒﺔ‬nisbah, "attribution") is an adjective indicating the
person's place of origin, tribal affiliation, or ancestry, used at the end of the name and occasionally ending in the suffix -iyy(ah).
Nisbah is originally an Arabic word that was passed to many other languages such as
Turkish, Persian and Urdu.

In the usage of Persian, Turkish and Urdu, it is pronounced/written exclusively nisbat. In Arabic usage, that pronunciation occurs
when the word is uttered in itsconstruct state only.

The practice has been adopted inIranian names and South Asian Muslim names.The nisba has sometimes become asurname.

Contents
Original use
Use in onomastics
Places
Tribes, clans or families
People
Faith
Multiples
Examples
See also
References

Original use
A nisba "relation" is a grammatical term referring to the suffixation of masculine -iyy, feminine -iyyah to a word to make it an
adjective. As an example, the word ‘Arabiyy (‫ )ﻋﺮﺑﻲ‬means "Arab, related to Arabic, Arabian". Nisba forms are very common in
Arabic names.

Use in onomastics
Traditional Arabic names do not include family names or surnames, but rather patronymics (nasab), where the name of the person is
followed by the name of his father, usually linked by ibn or bin ('son'). Patronymics may be long as they may include all known
forefathers. When a name is simplified to one or two ancestors, it may become confused with other persons' names, so an additional
specifier, a nisba, may be added as an attribute.

A nisba is usually prefixed byal ('the') and may be to almost anything:

Places
Al-Almani, related to or from Germany
Al-Armani, related to Greater Armenia or Armenians
Al Baghdadi, related to or from the city ofBaghdad, e.g. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Junayd al-Baghdadi.
Al-Dimashqi, related to or from the city ofDamascus e.g. Al-Dimashqi (geographer), Abu al-Fadl Ja'far ibn 'Ali al-
Dimashqi, Abu al-Fadl Ja'far ibn 'Ali al-Dimashqi.
Al Himsi, related to or from the city of Homse.g. Qustaki al-Himsi, Ibn Na'ima al-Himsi.
 Al Balushi, related to or from the region ofBalochistan e.g. Azan Al-Balushi, Talal Al-Bloushi, Mai Al Balushi, Aisha
Al Balushi
Al Filisṭīnī, related to or from the region ofPalestine e.g. Abu Qatada al-Filistini.
Al Masri, related to or from Egypt. e.g. Taher al-Masri, Abu Hamza al-Masri.
Al Najdi, related to or from the region ofNajd in Saudi Arabia e.g. Qutaybah al-Najdi
Al Tihami, related to or from the region ofTihamah in Saudi Arabia.
Al Hijazi, related to or from the region ofHijaz in Saudi Arabia. e.g. Amal Hijazi, Farouk Hijazi, Abu'l Abbas al-Hijazi
El Djezairi, related to or fromAlgeria. e.g. Abdelkader El Djezairi.
Al Kairouani, related to or from the city ofKairouan in Tunisia.
Al-Tikriti, related to or from the city of Tikrit, e.g. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, Abu Raita al-Takriti, Barzan
Ibrahim al-Tikriti
Al Turki, related to or fromthe country of Turkey e.g. Abu Yusuf Al-Turki, Azjur al-Turki, Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-
Turki, Hussain Al-Turki
Al Yemeni, related to or fromthe country of Yemen e.g. Abu Bara al Yemeni, Haitham al-Yemeni, Hussein al-Yemeni.
Al Hadrami, related to or from the region ofHadhramaut e.g Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami, Ahmed Al-Hadrami.
Al-Farsi or al-Farisi, related to or from the region ofPars (Fars) or the country of Persia; e.g Salman Al-Farsi, Saud
Al-Farsi, Abdulaziz Mohammed Majid Al-Farsi
Al Iraqi, related to or from the country of Iraq e.g Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi, Abdul Hadi al Iraqi, Abu Ayoub al-Iraqi
Al Tunisi, related to or from the country of Tunisia e.g Abu Nasr al-Tunisi, Abu Osama al-Tunisi, Ali ibn Ziyad at-
Tarabulsi al-Tunisi al-'Absi, Nabilah al-Tunisi
Al Albani, related to or fromthe country of Albania e.g Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani.
Al Andalusi, related to or fromthe region of Al-Andalus e.g Said al-Andalusi, Abū ʿAbdallāh Yaʿīsh ibn Ibrāhīm ibn
Yūsuf ibn Simāk al-Andalusī al-Umawī
Al-Maghrebi, related to or fromthe region of Maghreb e.g Ibn Yaḥyā al-Maghribī al-Samawʾal, Mahmud Sulayman
al-Maghribi, Yusuf al-Maghribi.
Al-Tamimi related to or from the city of T amim e.g Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Sulayman ibn Ali ibn
Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rashid.
Al-Shami, related to or from the region ofLevant or from the country ofSyria e.g Nasser al-Shami, Husayn al-Shami,
Abu Anas al-Shami, Abu Humam al-Shami.
Al-Lubnani, related to or from the country ofLebanon e.g Bilal al-Berjawi al-Lubnani.
Al-Kuwaiti, related to or from the country ofKuwait e.g Abu Omar al-Kuwaiti, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, Jandal al-
Kuwaiti.
Al Sindhi, related to or from the region ofSindh e.g. Mohammad Hayya Al-Sindhi
al-Razi – from Ray, Persia
al-Isfahani – from Isfahan, Persia
al-Marwazi, from Marw
al-Rumi – from Rum (Asia Minor)
al-Tiflisi, from Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia
al-Tusi – from Tus, Khurasan, Persia
al-Khurasani – from Khurasan e.g. Abu Muslim, Abdallah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani
al-Tabari – from Tabaristan, Persia
al-Shirazi – from Shiraz, Fars, Persia
al-Hamadani, from Hamadan, Persia
al-Juzjani
al-Sistani – from Sistan, Persia
al-Qazwini – from Qazvin, Persia
al-Jurjani – from Jurjan, Persia
al-Astarabadi – from Astarabad (modern Gorgan), Persia
al-Darbandi, Darbandi - from Derbent, Persia
al Bukhari - from Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Tribes, clans or families

Al Tamimi, from the tribe or clan ofBani Tamim. e.g. Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi, Talib al-Suhail al-Tamimi, Alaa
al-Tamimi.
Al Qurashi, from the tribe or clan ofQuraish. e.g. ibn Kathir Al-Qurashi, Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi.
Al Ta'i, from the tribe of Tai'. e.g. Hatem at-Ta'i.
 Al Ta'i, from the tribe of Tai'. e.g. Hatem at-Ta'i.
Al Saud, from the family/house of Saud. e.g. Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Al Jawhara bint Abdulaziz Al Saud, Muqrin
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal ibn u Trki ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al Saud.
Ahl al-Bayt, from the People of the House.

People
Al Maliki, related to Malik al-Ashtar. e.g. Nouri al-Maliki.
Al Farouqi, related to Farooq the Great. e.g. Ismail al-Faruqi.

Faith
al-Majusi, with majus meaning "Zoroastrian"

Multiples
One can have more than one nisba, one can be related to a city
, a clan, a profession and a person at the same time. Examples include:

Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi, from the tribe of Quraish and fromDamascus (Dimashq).
Abd al-Qahir ibn Tahir al-Tamimi al-Shaffi al-Baghdadi, from the tribe of Bani Tamim, from the city of Baghdad and a
follower of Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i.
The nisba is optional but is quite widespread.

Examples
Ansari — from Ansar, Medina people who helped prophetMuhammad
Tabataba'i — someone who has twoSeyyed as parents
Hanbali — someone followingHanbali Madhhab

See also
Arabic name
Kunya (Arabic)

References
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