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 Male naming tradition from the end of 18th Century  till mid of the 19 th Century in Kfarsghab
 by Youssef
In the following analysis, I tried to expose my findings in the naming tradition of men born in Kfarsghab between 1787 and 1869. I based my research on the records of men who lived in Kfarsghab between 1854 and 1936. The names are extracted from the list of the deceased members of the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception founded in 1854. The list was compiled in 1936 by the late Father Choukrallah Boulos I who was then in charge of the Brotherhood.
 
The dates of birth are estimated by considering the average age of 67.2 years for a man during the concerned period in the Jebbet Bcharri region (1). The number of men in the list is 253 men.

In the list, we find 55 different names (see table at the end of the page). the major findings are :

Diversity
5 names are shared by 124 men, representing 50% of the sample. When we compare with the firstnames of men born in Bcharri during the period 1838-1902 (2), we find general similarities in the names used. In Bcharri, the most used 5 names are the same as in Kfarsghab, but they represent 60% of the men. In Bcharri, 10 men shared the same firstname for only 5 in Kfarsghab. For Bcharri, we find 76 different names when in Kfarsghab people used 55 names. The following comparison table reveals other interesting differences :

First Name Kfarsghab Bcharri
Youssef 17.4% 19.8%
Tannous+Antoun 11.1% 15.0%
7anna 7.9% 12.5%
Mikhayil 7.9% 6.4%
Boutros 7.5% 6.8%
Jabboor 5.1% 0.3%
Ibrahim 4.3% 0.3%
Elias 4.0% 1.6%
Gerges 2.8% 2.7%
Badwi 2.4% 0%
As3ad 2.4% 0.1%
Boulos 2.4% 1.8%
Francis 2.4% 0.7%
Ne3meh 2.4% 0.1%
Sim3an 1.6% 1.9%
Is7ac 1.2% 0.3%
La7ood 1.2% 2.2%
Slayman 1.2% 0.1%
3abbood 0.8% 0%
Bshara 0.8% 0.4%
% of total 85.0% 72.9%
In Bcharri, the first 20 most used names represent 88% when in Kfarsghab the same represents 85%. Globally, we see the same pattern in both places. Globally we can observe the same tradition in naming boys : frequency of the five first names, no western names for boys in complete contradiction with the naming tradition for girls where 13% of the girl names are Western, lesser frequency of Arabic names as compared to girls, ... (3). Boys seem to bear classical Christian and Biblical names for 75% of them in Bcharri as well as in Kfarsghab.

What could be noted is the differences in the frequency of some names : Jabboor, Ibrahim and Elias seem more popular in Kfarsghab. In Bcharri, Mansoor, Saba and Habib are more frequent. 

In Kfarsghab, the lesser frequency of Mansoor is very intriguing considering the presence of the important Abou Mansoor family and especially that the common names of the other families are very present as first names: Youssef/Elias, Ibrahim/Slayman and Gerges/Francis/Habqouq. Apparently, the official name of the Abou Mansoor family was Mikhayil AlBahri family (4). This could explain the higher frequency in Kfarsghab of the fisrt name Mikhayil.  

Badwi and 3abbood are completely absent in Bcharri. Slayman, Nehmeh and As3ad are barely present. Those names seem to belong strongly to the tradition of Kfarsghab (and probably Ehden).

Could As3ad be a reminder of the Sheikh Assaad Hamadeh who was from 1740 to 1759 the governor of Kfarsghab ? A study of the first names of Hasroun in that period, that was ruled by the same Assaad Hamadeh, could give interesting answers.


What is surprising is the complete absence in Kfarsghab of two important names : Awtel and Maroon. The name Maroon, the Saint Patron of the Maronite, will appear in Kfarsghab in the last part of the 19 Century. The name Awtel, the Saint Patron of Kfarsghab, will appear even later in the beginning of the 20 Century. I do not have an explanation to this apparently common trend in the villages of North Lebanon : modest presence of Maroon before 1880 and absence of the Saint Patron of the concerned village before 1900.

Origin
Christian names : Definitely, they represent the majority of the names, with 42% of the men bearing names of Christian origin. It seems that this tradition is very old as those names appear in the first names of the register.
Biblical names : with exception of Youssef (Joseph), all other biblical names seem of a later adoption (after 1810).
Arabic names : Those names seem to be of an old tradition in Kfarsghab 
Origin of names times %
Christian 107 42%
Biblical 87 34%
Arabic 59 23%
Total 253  

These were some quick comments for any interested reader. By studying the naming tradition in Kfarsghab, we could be able to understand part of our today's traditions. You will find in the next table a complete list of the firstnames. Please, do not hesitate to correct or to add any information to this article by [contacting me]. I would be grateful.
(1) in Dr Fadi Tawwa - Historical Demography of Bcharri from mid 19 Century till beginning of 29th Century - Published in the Accounts of the Second Congress on Jebbet Bcharri History - National Committee of Gibran - 2003 - p. 273
(2) ibid - p. 282-283
(3) For Girls names, see our article on this website
(4) in Dr Jean Nakkhoul - Historical Demography of Nahiyat Bcharri from end 19 Century till beginning of 20th Century - Published in the Accounts of the First Congress on Jebbet Bcharri History - National Committee of Gibran - 1998 - p. 182


Complete List of First names of men who died in Kfarsghab between 1854 and 1936
From the list of deceased members of the Brotherhood of Immaculate conception composed by Father Choukrallah Boulos I in 1936.
First Name # of women order of appearnce Origin Comment %
Youssef 44 3 Biblical Joseph 17.4%
Tannous 21 2 Christian Anthony 8.3%
7anna 20 9 Christian John 7.9%
Mikhayil 20 21 Biblical Michael 7.9%
Boutros 19 1 Christian Peter 7.5%
Jabboor 13 23 Christian   5.1%
Ibrahim 11 6 Biblical Abraham 4.3%
Elias 10 14 Christian Eli 4.0%
Gerges 7 4 Christian George 2.8%
Badwi 6 11 Arabic Bedouin 2.4%
As3ad 5 20 Arabic   2.4%
Boulos 5 32 Christian Paul 2.4%
Francis 5 12 Christian Francis 2.4%
Ne3meh 5 8 Arabic Blessing 2.4%
Antoun 4 25 Christian Anthony 1.6%
Sim3an 4 18 Christian Simon 1.6%
Antonios 3 35 Christian Anthony 1.2%
Is7ac 3 19 Biblical Isaac 1.2%
La7ood 3 7 Arabic   1.2%
Slayman 3 26 Biblical Salomon 1.2%
3abbood 2 27 Arabic   0.8%
Bshara 2 29 Arabic Annunciation 0.8%
Elisha3 2 17 Biblical Elijah 0.8%
Gibrayil 2 37 Biblical Gabriel 0.8%
Mer3i 2 33 Arabic   0.8%
Nqoula 2 16 Christian Nicolas 0.8%
Sa3d 2 34 Arabic   0.8%
3abdel A7ad 1 13 Arabic   0.4%
3abdoo 1 30 Arabic Gift 0.4%
3attiah 1 5 Arabic   0.4%
3azar 1 28 Christian Eliazar 0.4%
3isa 1 39 Christian Jesus 0.4%
7abqouq 1 45 Biblical Habaquq 0.4%
Badr 1 46 Arabic Full Moon 0.4%
Barakat 1 22 Arabic   0.4%
Challita 1 52 Christian   0.4%
Ghaleb 1 36 Arabic   0.4%
Ghostine 1 50 Christian Augustine 0.4%
Karam 1 41 Arabic   0.4%
Khairallah 1 15 Arabic   0.4%
Kin3an 1 24 Arabic   0.4%
Lawos 1 48 Christian   0.4%
Loutfallah 1 49 Arabic   0.4%
Mansoor 1 10 Arabic   0.4%
Mel7em 1 40 Arabic   0.4%
Milan 1 38 Arabic   0.4%
Nakhool 1 43 Arabic   0.4%
Ne3matallah 1 55 Arabic   0.4%
Roukos 1 31 Christian Roch 0.4%
Roumanos 1 42 Christian Raymond 0.4%
Sa3id 1 53 Arabic   0.4%
She7adeh 1 54 Arabic   0.4%
Younis 1 47 Biblical Jonas 0.4%
Z3aytir 1 44 Arabic   0.4%
Zeidan 1 51 Arabic   0.4%
Total 253        


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