Umm

Umm ( Arabic أم, DMG ʾumm "mother") is a component of female Arabic surnames ( Arabic.كنية kunya ) meaning "mother of". The male counterpart isAbu.

Origin and meaning

Umm (also pronounced Imm or Om ) is part of an Arabic name and together with another name forms an epithet. It describes the relationship to the firstborn son of a woman. In Arab society it is customary to address a woman from the birth of her first son (girls are hardly taken into account) with "Umm" followed by the first name of this son. This address will not be changed if this first son should die.

Since cities are always female in Arabic, there are many city names with “Umm”, whereby in this case Umm means “owner”, e.g. B.

• Umm al-Fahm ("mother / owner of coal") in Galilee
• Umm Qasr ("mother / owner of a castle") in Iraq .