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Is it permissible to change one's name to a long name such as "Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Muqaddas Bara' Shu'bah Baybar Al Hafs Zanki Ibn In'am al-Haq," and are there any restrictions on the length of a name?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is recommended to be named Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman due to the Prophet's (PBUH) saying: "Indeed, the most beloved of your names to Allah are Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman." As for the hadith, "The best names are those that are praised and worshipped," it has no basis. Compound names were not customary among Arabs; rather, they adopted this from non-Arabs. Sheikh Ibn Jibreen was of the view that new names beginning with Muhammad, such as Muhammad Amin and Muhammad Saeed, have no basis; they emerged as a blessing from the name Muhammad. A Muslim should choose the names most beloved and preferred by Allah, or the names of prophets and righteous people. If one is in non-Arab countries where compound names are customary and do not imply a corrupt meaning, then there is no harm. There are no religious restrictions on the length of a name; rather, the focus is on identifying the person and clarifying their lineage. So, as long as this is achieved and the meaning of the name is not religiously forbidden, then the name is permissible.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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