The names below, suitable for PCs and NPCs alike, are but a few of those known throughout Zakhara.
| Male | Female |
|---|---|
| Aasim (AH-sim) | Alia (ah-LEE-yah) |
| Ahmad (ah-MAHD or AH-mahd) | Amsha (AHM-sha) |
| Akbar (AHK-bar) | Aziza (ah-ZEE-zah) |
| Ala'i (ah-LAH-wee) | Badiat (ba-DEE-aht) |
| Anwar (AHN-wahr) | Bahija (ba-HEE-jah) |
| Aziz (ah-ZEEZ) | Ghunayya (hu-NAI-ya)* |
| Diyab (DEE-yahb) | Farida (fa-REE-dah) |
| Djuhah (DJO-hah) Essafah (ess-AH-fah) | Fatima (fa-TEE-mah or FAH-tee-mah) |
| Farid (fah-REED) | Halima (ha-LEEM-ah) |
| Fayiz (fah-YEEZ) | Ibtisam (ib-tih-SAHM) |
| Hakim (hah-KEEM) | Jaheira (ja-HAI-rah) |
| Hatim (hah-TEEM or HAH-tim) | Jamila (ja-MEE-lah) |
| Husam (hoo-SAHM) | Juleidah (ju-LAY-dah) |
| Jamal (jah-MAHL) | Julnar (jool-NAR) |
| Jamil (jah-MEEL) | Latifa (lah-TEE-fah) |
| Kamal (kah-MAHL) | Khadiga (hah-DEE-gah)* |
| Karim (kah-REEM) | Khunufseh (hoo-NOOF-sch)* |
| Kerim (keh-REEM) | Maneira (mah-NAI-rah) |
| Khalid (kah-LEED) | Nabila (nah-BEE-lah) |
| Mahmud (mah-MOOD) | Najiba (nah-JEE-bah) |
| Mamoon (mah-MOON) | Nura (NOOR-ah) |
| Mutamin (moo-tah-MEEN) | Safana (sah-FAH-na) |
| Naaman (NAH-man) | Samia (sa-MEE-ah) |
| Nabil (nah-BEEL) | Setara (sch-TAR-ah) |
| Najib (nah-JEEB) | Tala (TAH-lah) |
| Rashad (rah-SHAHD) | Thuriya (thoo-REE-ah) |
| Umar (00-mar) | Tufala (TOO-fa-lah) |
| Yezeed (yuh-ZEED) | Wadi'a (WAH-dee-ya) |
| Yusuf (YOO-suf) | Wudei'a (woo-DAY-ah) |
| Waleed (wah-LEED) | Zobeida (zo-BAY-dah) |
- * The initial "h" is gutteral, like the sound of a person gargling or gently clearing his or her throat.
Constructing a Surname[]
One of the most popular forms of Zakharan surnames combines the name of a place or location with the suffix -i. For example, Al-Kharji means "the person from Kharj." Al means "the," and may also be followed by a descriptive name, as in Al-Nisr ("the eagle"). In addition, al may mean "the house of" or "the tribe of."
Other Zakharan names are formed with a prefix, such as ibn, bin, bint, beni, abd, min, abu, umm, or sitt. Each has a different meaning.
As prefixes, ibn and bin mean "son of." Bint means "daughter of." Beni (BEN-ee) means "the family." So, Hatim Ibn Abbas is literally Hatim, the son of Abbas. When someone refers to Hatim's family, the proper title is Beni Abbas (as in "the Abbas").
Abd* means "slave." As a prefix, it means "slave of." A mamluk, or Zakharan slave-warrior, commonly takes a name beginning with abd, followed by the name of his or her organization.
Min means "from." Zakharan priests favor this prefix, often linking it to the name of a venerated god or hallowed site, or simply to the name of a place.
Abu, umm, and sitt are relatively uncommon prefixes. Abu means "father of" and is often followed by the name of the person's first child or, more commonly, the first male child. Umm means "mother of" and often precedes the name of the first child or, more commonly, the first female child. Roughly translated, sitt means "lady," and is appropriate only for powerful or highly respected women.
- * Abdul is a variant of abd al (or abd ul), meaning "slave of the." It is nonsensical alone and is never a proper name.
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