UAE name spelling changes create confusion
By Vivian Nereim
February 24, 2013
ABU DHABI// When Ahmed Al Hashemi renewed his passport recently, he left the government office one letter lighter, as Ahmed Al Hashmi.
At first the 29-year-old Emirati did not notice he was missing an "e." Then he got home, looked at his passport and saw his new name.
"Nobody told me anything," he said. "They just gave me the passport and I was on my way."
Mr Al Hashmi is not the only person to be surprised by the apparent standardisation of the English spellings of Emirati names. Many UAE citizens who renewed their passports in the last two years have noticed consistent changes to certain names.
It is unclear how the new spellings were chosen, whether they will apply to everyone and how they will affect other documents, such as Emirates IDs. The Emirates Identity Authority referred questions to the Ministry of Interior. A Ministry of Interior spokesman said there was a committee related to the issue, but the Ministry declined to comment further.
"I'm definitely curious," said Mr Al Hashmi. "I want to know why it happened."
Because Arabic contains sounds that do not exist in English and has a different vowel system, the same name can be spelled different ways in English. Prior to renewing her passport a few months ago, Abu Dhabi resident Hamda Al Mheiri spelled her name Al Mehairi, while her brother used Al Muhairy. Even different documents belonging to the same person might have variations.
The inconsistencies have implications for national security, banking, travel, property ownership, medical records, anti-money laundering efforts and more, experts say.
Keen to solve the problem, Dr Abdulrahman Al Hashemi and Dr Sattar Izwaini organized a symposium on the issue in 2009. A unified system would benefit both the government and ordinary people, said Dr Izwaini, assistant professor of translation at the American University of Sharjah.
"We have to have a standard," said Dr Al Hashemi, learning and development advisor for the National Drilling Company. "Don't leave it like this, it's really confusing."
The symposium participants recommended a phased implementation plan with research, education and an awareness campaign.
The spelling changes on Emirati passports caught them off guard. Dr Al Hashemi noticed when he renewed his own passport -- technically he is now Dr Al Hashmi.
"I am not quite sure if this standard is sustainable or not," he said. He explained: "This is an area of challenge, and it has to be thoroughly discussed by the linguists, translators, anthropologists, sociologists."
Dr Izwaini said it is good that authorities recognized the problem and set out to solve it.
"On the other hand, there is a need to inform people," he said. "To tell them: Look, there are inconsistencies that require these to be unified."
Ms Al Mheiri said she supports name standardisation because it contributes to the greater good.
"I totally agree with it," she said. "Even when we travel, sometimes the father's name is different than the children's spellings. So now when we have one spelling it solves many problems."
But for Emiratis who have a paper trail in their old name, the changes can lead to a cascade of consequences.
When Omair Al Seiari renewed his passport in 2011, he was also applying to American business schools. He had taken the GMAT exam under his old spelling, Al Sayari.
"My GMAT scores had a different last name than my passport," said Mr Al Seiari, a 32-year-old chemical engineer from Abu Dhabi. When he explained the reason, "no one was convinced," he said.
"I see the government’s point of view, if they did this for security reasons or whatever,” he said. "But it's just intrusive. When a new baby is born...it’s easier to accept. But for adults who have degrees, drivers' licenses, established identities in different countries in different parts of the world, it’s really hard to explain 'Oh, the government changed the spelling of my last name.'"
He said he found it particularly strange that his daughter's first name was changed.
"Her name is Layla, and the way I spelled her name on her birth certificate was Layla, which is the most common spelling," he said. "They insisted on spelling it Laila."
Mariam Al Mansoori, an insurance officer from Madinat Zayed who will renew her passport this year, said even a one-letter difference would matter to her.
"That's my name," she said. "Give me that freedom."
About the changes:
Many people are familiar with the myriad spellings of the name Mohammed.
But the problem of how to render Arabic names in the Roman alphabet extends to countless other names, including Dr Abdulrahman Al Hashemi's.
"It's written too many different ways," he said. "I write it every day, and I am 100 percent [certain] that I am doing something wrong. It’s really painful."
In 2009, Dr Al Hashemi -- learning and development advisor for the National Drilling Company -- organized a two-day symposium on the issue, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Municipality, the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other organisations.
There are several established systems for writing Arabic in Roman script. But the methods are insufficient for practical purposes, said Dr Sattar Izwaini, an assistant professor of translation at the American University of Sharjah who helped organize the symposium.
"They use very elaborate rules, and special letters with dots under and above and tildas and all kinds of things," he said. "These kinds of letters are not available for the common people on their PC, or for an officer in immigration, or a clerk in a hospital writing births."
The scholars at the symposium recommended a computer-friendly system, based on standard Arabic rather than colloquial pronunciation. Their research papers were published in a book by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
The UAE is not the first country to grapple with the issue. Similar symposiums were organized in Saudi Arabia in 2003 and 2006, said Mansour Al Ghamdi, associate professor of phonetics at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, in Riyadh.
His research team developed a patented software system that can transliterate any name from Arabic to English.
"Although we did the standardization, it is very difficult to impose it on people to use it," he said. "Why? Because we already have people who have names in a different way than the standard we established. A person...who has already registered his name in his passport and who has a certificate or property, it would be very difficult to change his name."
Dr Al Ghamdi believes the new standard should be applied to new names, "the coming generation," he said.
A version of this article was published in The National newspaper.
February 24, 2013
ABU DHABI// When Ahmed Al Hashemi renewed his passport recently, he left the government office one letter lighter, as Ahmed Al Hashmi.
At first the 29-year-old Emirati did not notice he was missing an "e." Then he got home, looked at his passport and saw his new name.
"Nobody told me anything," he said. "They just gave me the passport and I was on my way."
Mr Al Hashmi is not the only person to be surprised by the apparent standardisation of the English spellings of Emirati names. Many UAE citizens who renewed their passports in the last two years have noticed consistent changes to certain names.
It is unclear how the new spellings were chosen, whether they will apply to everyone and how they will affect other documents, such as Emirates IDs. The Emirates Identity Authority referred questions to the Ministry of Interior. A Ministry of Interior spokesman said there was a committee related to the issue, but the Ministry declined to comment further.
"I'm definitely curious," said Mr Al Hashmi. "I want to know why it happened."
Because Arabic contains sounds that do not exist in English and has a different vowel system, the same name can be spelled different ways in English. Prior to renewing her passport a few months ago, Abu Dhabi resident Hamda Al Mheiri spelled her name Al Mehairi, while her brother used Al Muhairy. Even different documents belonging to the same person might have variations.
The inconsistencies have implications for national security, banking, travel, property ownership, medical records, anti-money laundering efforts and more, experts say.
Keen to solve the problem, Dr Abdulrahman Al Hashemi and Dr Sattar Izwaini organized a symposium on the issue in 2009. A unified system would benefit both the government and ordinary people, said Dr Izwaini, assistant professor of translation at the American University of Sharjah.
"We have to have a standard," said Dr Al Hashemi, learning and development advisor for the National Drilling Company. "Don't leave it like this, it's really confusing."
The symposium participants recommended a phased implementation plan with research, education and an awareness campaign.
The spelling changes on Emirati passports caught them off guard. Dr Al Hashemi noticed when he renewed his own passport -- technically he is now Dr Al Hashmi.
"I am not quite sure if this standard is sustainable or not," he said. He explained: "This is an area of challenge, and it has to be thoroughly discussed by the linguists, translators, anthropologists, sociologists."
Dr Izwaini said it is good that authorities recognized the problem and set out to solve it.
"On the other hand, there is a need to inform people," he said. "To tell them: Look, there are inconsistencies that require these to be unified."
Ms Al Mheiri said she supports name standardisation because it contributes to the greater good.
"I totally agree with it," she said. "Even when we travel, sometimes the father's name is different than the children's spellings. So now when we have one spelling it solves many problems."
But for Emiratis who have a paper trail in their old name, the changes can lead to a cascade of consequences.
When Omair Al Seiari renewed his passport in 2011, he was also applying to American business schools. He had taken the GMAT exam under his old spelling, Al Sayari.
"My GMAT scores had a different last name than my passport," said Mr Al Seiari, a 32-year-old chemical engineer from Abu Dhabi. When he explained the reason, "no one was convinced," he said.
"I see the government’s point of view, if they did this for security reasons or whatever,” he said. "But it's just intrusive. When a new baby is born...it’s easier to accept. But for adults who have degrees, drivers' licenses, established identities in different countries in different parts of the world, it’s really hard to explain 'Oh, the government changed the spelling of my last name.'"
He said he found it particularly strange that his daughter's first name was changed.
"Her name is Layla, and the way I spelled her name on her birth certificate was Layla, which is the most common spelling," he said. "They insisted on spelling it Laila."
Mariam Al Mansoori, an insurance officer from Madinat Zayed who will renew her passport this year, said even a one-letter difference would matter to her.
"That's my name," she said. "Give me that freedom."
About the changes:
Many people are familiar with the myriad spellings of the name Mohammed.
But the problem of how to render Arabic names in the Roman alphabet extends to countless other names, including Dr Abdulrahman Al Hashemi's.
"It's written too many different ways," he said. "I write it every day, and I am 100 percent [certain] that I am doing something wrong. It’s really painful."
In 2009, Dr Al Hashemi -- learning and development advisor for the National Drilling Company -- organized a two-day symposium on the issue, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Municipality, the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other organisations.
There are several established systems for writing Arabic in Roman script. But the methods are insufficient for practical purposes, said Dr Sattar Izwaini, an assistant professor of translation at the American University of Sharjah who helped organize the symposium.
"They use very elaborate rules, and special letters with dots under and above and tildas and all kinds of things," he said. "These kinds of letters are not available for the common people on their PC, or for an officer in immigration, or a clerk in a hospital writing births."
The scholars at the symposium recommended a computer-friendly system, based on standard Arabic rather than colloquial pronunciation. Their research papers were published in a book by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
The UAE is not the first country to grapple with the issue. Similar symposiums were organized in Saudi Arabia in 2003 and 2006, said Mansour Al Ghamdi, associate professor of phonetics at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, in Riyadh.
His research team developed a patented software system that can transliterate any name from Arabic to English.
"Although we did the standardization, it is very difficult to impose it on people to use it," he said. "Why? Because we already have people who have names in a different way than the standard we established. A person...who has already registered his name in his passport and who has a certificate or property, it would be very difficult to change his name."
Dr Al Ghamdi believes the new standard should be applied to new names, "the coming generation," he said.
A version of this article was published in The National newspaper.