Ibn
Ibn is a component of male Arabic names meaning "son of". Instead of Ibn, Ben or Bin and Bar are also used to indicate ascendency (ancestry) . Ben is also used in other Semitic languages to indicate ascendancy. The corresponding female counterpart is Bint (بنت bint 'daughter of').
Origin and meaning
Ibn is part of an Arabic name and denotes the descent (Arabic.نسب nasab ), which in classical names after the personal name (اسم ism ). Ibn means "son" in Arabic (ابن ibn 'son of'), the name component thus represents a patronymic , which originally served to distinguish the bearers of the same personal name ( ism ).
In contrast to the suffix -sen / -son for the patronym "son of" known from Scandinavian languages , the Arabic part of the name Ibn is strung together over several generations and results in a list of the ancestors (ascendency) of the name bearer. The name Ibn Khaldun literally means "son of Khaldun". The name "ibn Jabir ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim" can be translated as "son of Jabir, son of Muhammad, son of Ibrahim" or more understandably as "son of Jabir, grandson of Muhammad, great-grandson of Ibrahim".
In the Middle Ages, an illegitimate child was sometimes called "Ibn Abihi" - "Son of his father" to express the unknown fatherhood. Known by this name was Ziyād ibn Abihi , the general and administrator of the Umayyads .
Nowadays, most of the Arab states have a family name based naming system. There are many carriers of the nasab "Ibn" today . Also many famous personalities of history are only known with their nasab , e.g. B. like Ibn Battuta , Ibn Arabi or Ibn Ishaq .