Kunya (Arabic)

Kunya (Arabic)

A kunya (Arabic: كنية‎, kunyah) is a teknonym, the name of an adult derived from his or her eldest child in Arabic names.

A kunya is expressed by the use of abū or umm in a genitive construction, i.e. "father of" or "mother of" as an honorific in place of or alongside given names in the Arab world and the Islamic world more generally.

A kunya is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet, in theory referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter, but by extension also to hypothetical or metaphorical references, e.g. in a nom de guerre or a nickname, without literally referring to a son or a daughter. Use of a kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting.