Question:
If “Umm Kulthum” means “mother of Kulthum,” what was her actual given name?
Answer:
To understand this, we must know that in Arabic there are three types of names:
- Personal name (Ism)
The name given by parents at birth.
For example: Muhammad. - Title or descriptive name (Laqab)
A title earned due to a quality or achievement.
For example: “Messengerﷺ of Allahﷻ.” - Kunya (honorific name)
A name formed by associating a person with their child.
For example:
- A man named Ibrahim who has a daughter named Aisha might be called Abu Aisha (“father of Aisha”).
- A woman named Fatimah who has a son named Salman might be called Umm Salman (“mother of Salman”).
Sometimes this name is given after the child is born.
However, sometimes such names are also given directly as proper names, even if the person does not actually have a child with that name.
This was often done to honor someone in the family who previously carried that name.
For example, many people today are named Abu Bakr(RA) even though they do not have a son named Bakr. The name is given out of admiration for Abu Bakr.
Similarly, the Prophetﷺ had four daughters:
- Zaynab(RA)
- Ruqayyah(RA)
- Umm Kulthum(RA)
- Fatimah(RA)
In the case of Umm Kulthum, the name itself was given from the beginning. It was not necessarily based on her having a child named Kulthum.
It may have been chosen because that name existed among the family’s respected ancestors.
Thus “Umm Kulthum” functioned as her actual given name, even though linguistically it resembles a kunya.