Whether you are thinking about getting your name in Arabic as a tattoo or you just want to know what your name would look like written in Arabic letters, you will know exactly what to do after reading these five crucial tips on Arabic name translations.

1. Short vowels turn into long vowels

In Arabic short vowels are usually not written. So a short “e”-sound like in the word “wet” would not be written, resulting in “wt”. However, in foreign names the short vowels are often turned into long vowels that are part of the Arabic alphabet. This is done so that it is easier to recognize the words as names. As an example, the name “Angela” would be written like this in Arabic:

أنجيلا

This is pronounced “anjeelaa”.

2. Some sounds have no equivalent in Arabic

Certain sounds used in English are not present in the Arabic language. In these cases the Arabic letters with the closest sounds are used instead to translate names. For example, the “g”-sound does not exist in Modern Standard Arabic, so “Megan” becomes:

ميغان

which is pronounced “meeghaan”, where the “gh” is like a French “r” from the throat.

Other English sounds that do not have a direct equivalent in Arabic:

• v -> becomes “f”
• p -> becomes “b”
• r -> becomes a trilled “r”, like in Spanish

3. More than one acceptable translation

There often are a number of different acceptable Arabic translations for a single name. This can depend on taste or just convention. Usually, it is a safe bet to go with the name that is more frequently used. One way to find out which translation is more popular is to put the alternatives into a search engine and then compare the number of results returned. (Be cautious though, as some name translations are also words in Arabic or in Persian, which might distort the results.)

4. Arabic equivalent names

For some Western names there are Arabic equivalents. This is especially true for names with a Biblical background, such as David or Abraham, that become Dawood and Ibraheem. In this case one can either go with the Arabic equivalents or with the direct sound translation (“daafeed” and “abrahaam”).

5. Where to get an accurate translation?

If you are looking for the correct way to write your name in Arabic for a tattoo or you need to be sure that it is absolutely accurate, then you should consider getting a professional translation of your name. Why not check out the service I offer here for name translations? Alternatively, you should check out my Arabic Tattoos eBook that contains Arabic translations and designs for over 120 male and female names.

Click here to get your name translated into Arabic now.

Some examples of name translations into Arabic: Rachel in Arabic | Joanne in Arabic | Renata in Arabic | Natasha in Arabic

Related posts:

1. Arabic Alphabet Pronunciation
2. An Easy Way To Remember The Short Vowels
3. Arabic Writing

Hi Max,
[...]
i’m hopeing you can translate the following:
“have strength and live this life”
this would be mental strength, and to live… have experiances rather than to just exist.
I really do hope you can help me and I thank you in advance for you time.
kind regards
danielle

I’m happy to oblige. I give my translation and the reasoning behind it below. Let’s start with the first part:

Have Strength

The phrase “have strength” is best translated as كن قوياً (pronounced kun qawweeyan), which literally means “be strong”. The word قوي (strong) can refer to both physical and mental strength.

However, in Arabic the verb and the adjective both change according to whether the imperative (be sstrong!) is addressed to a man or a woman. Since you are a woman (judging from your name) I assume you would want to address yourself. So here is the same phrase “be strong” addressed to a woman:

كوني قويةً (kooni qawweeyatan)

Live This Life

The phrase “live this life” would look a little akward in Arabic, so I took the liberty to translate “live your life” instead. This would be عش حياتك (pronounced 3ish Hayaatak). Again, since we are addressing a woman, this would change to عيشي حياتك (pronounced 3eeshi Hayaatak).

Both Parts Together

So the whole sentence “be strong and live your life” would be

كن قوياً وعش حياتك (kun qawweeyan wa 3ish Hayaatak), when addressing a man

and

كوني قويةً وعيشي حياتك (kooni qawweeyatan wa 3eeshi Hayaatak), when addressing a woman.

Male Or Female?

Generally speaking, the male form is used if the sentence is meant to be a general saying or phrase, not addressed in particular to a man or a woman. The female form is used when the sentence is addressed specifically to a woman. In your case I would think that the female form is preferable, as you are addressing the sentence to yourself (a woman).

That’s why I produced the final Arabic tattoo design using the female form. Below is the Arabic tattoo design in five different fonts:

Arabic Tattoo: Be Strong And Live Your Life (addressed to a woman)

By the way, the two lines (//) above the last letter of the second word from the right are not really necessary and if you prefer you can remove them if you think the tattoo would look better without them. They merely indicate that the word takes the accusative case, but it’s not really required to indicate this in writing…

Let me know what you think of the design. I hope you like it.

If you want to delve deeper into the Arabic language I suggest learning the Arabic script yourself. You might want to try out my easy method for learning the Arabic writing system here.

Related posts:

1. Arabic Tattoo Design: Strength, Courage, And Wisdom
2. Arabic Calligraphy Design: Poetess
3. New: Custom Arabic Tattoo Design Service

Recently, celebrities like actress Angelina Jolie, football player Zlatan Ibrahimović, and pop star Rihanna have been getting Arabic phrases and words tattooed on their bodies. But, do they really know the meaning of the words they are eternalizing on their skin? Let’s take a look at the tattoos and their meanings:

Angelina Jolie: the firm will

First off is Angelina Jolie who it seems has already filled every inch of her skin with some writing or other. Her latest addition is this Arabic tattoo:

Angelina Jolie's Arabic Tattoo

Taking a closer look we can make out the Arabic word العزيمة (al-‘azeema), meaning “the determination” or “the firm will” on her right forearm. Jolie certainly strikes me as a woman who knows what she wants – so it seems that this tattoo is quite fitting. However, the word can also mean “the incantation” or “the spell”.

While the Arabic script chosen for the tattoo is pretty plain, Angelina (or one of her assistants) has at least done enough research to ensure that the word is spelled correctly – no slipups here.

Zlatan Ibrahimović

Moving on to Zlatan Ibrahimović, the top football player:

Zlatan Ibrahimović's Arabic Tatoo

For those learning Arabic, the tattoo might be pretty confusing. Fear not, the solution is simple: the inscription is simply a transliteration of Ibrahimović’s surname – in Arabic  إبراهيموفيج (ibraaheemoofeedj).

Since the Arabic letters don’t correspond one-to-one with our English letters, the tattooist (or someone who speaks fluent Arabic) had to choose something that is as close as possible to the actual pronunciation of the name Ibrahimović. For example, there is no “v” in the Arabic alphabet. The next best thing is the “f” sound.

Maybe the egocentricity demonstrated by Ibrahimović’s choice of word is not to everyone’s taste. But, at least the tattoo is spelled and written correctly.

Rihanna

Finally, let’s see what singer Rihanna has engraved on her waste:

Rihanna's Arabic Tattoo

The Arabic reads الحرية في مسيح (al-horriya fi maseeh), or in English “the freedom in Messiah”. Huh? Seems like Rihanna is quite a religious one, but why hide the message of salvation in Arabic rather than show it off to her (supposedly) bigger English-speaking audience? Perhaps her religious convictions are more of a private thing for her after all?

Well, be that as it may. What is certain, is that the phrase should have read correctly الحرية في المسيح (al-horriya fi al-maseeh), or “the freedom in the Messiah”. Not all is lost, though, since there still is ample space to insert the Arabic article AL before the word Messiah. So, Rihanna, another visit to the tattooist?

If you want to follow the celebrities’ example and get an Arabic tattoo yourself, then make sure that you know exactly the meaning of the words you are engraving for life. Better yet, why not learn the Arabic alphabet yourself so that you can be sure that the words are written correctly?

Watch out for my next post to be published soon on embarrassing errors to avoid when you are getting an Arabic tattoo.

Get over 1400 sizzling hot and accurate Arabic tattoo designs

If you’re looking for accurate and unique Arabic tattoo designs, then check out my new Arabic Tattoos collection.

Update: The second article about Arabic tattoos is up.

Update: If you want to see some good examples of tattoo templates, check out my two blog posts where I fulfill reader requests:

• Arabic Tattoos: Happiness And Scorpio

• Arabic Tattoos: Never Give Up, Unbreakable, Strength And Courage

Related posts:

1. Arabische Tattoos – angesagt bei den Promis
2. Arabic Tattoo Perseverance
3. Arabic Tattoos – The Three Most Embarrassing Errors