LAGOS, April 3, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Abu Bakr, Abdullah and Amina are few but to mention names that started to top Muslim baby names in Nigeria, knocking out tribal Yoruba names, Olaleye and Adebimpe.
Over the past two decades, Muslims tended to give their babies names with Islamic or Arab connotations in a bid to preserve their identity.
Statistics registry shows that names of prophets such as Muhammad, Musa, `Isa and Yahya are much sought-after.
Names of prominent Muslim scholars such as Busairy, Ghazali as well as compound names such as "Mohammad Dawud" also appeal to many couples.
"Nigerian Muslims are used to seeking help of scholars when they name their new-born babies since they don't know the meaning or the historical background of Islamic names," Sheikh Najm Al-Din Omran, director of the Arabic and Islamic Studies Center in southern Nigeria, told IslamOnline.net Monday, April 3.
He said some Muslims spare themselves the hesitancy and name their babies after their favorite scholars and imams.
Unaccounted
Muslim leaders have sounded the alarm as many Muslims often go uncounted in censuses, which is indeed a mammoth task in Africa's most populous country, because they usually carry names related to the two largest tribes in the country Yoruba and Hausa.
Nigeria has never conducted an uncontested census and estimates for its huge and burgeoning population range between 120 and 160 million of whom Muslims are believed to constitute 50 percent, Christian 40 and animists 10.
A weeklong census, which is basically based on birth certificates, ended last month, with many people remained uncounted.
Population plays a key role in shaping the political and economic landscapes in a country rich in oil reserves.
By Khedr Abdel Baki, IOL Correspondent