The Beauty of Names

Fatou Samba of "Blackswan" Origin: West African and Arabic Gender: Female Meaning: "To Abstain" Pronunciation: fa-TOO-mah-tah; FA-teem-ah Other Forms: Fatou, Fatuma, Fatma, Fatima, Fatimah, Fatimata, Fatimatou My sister, K-pop lover that she is, was the first one to bring to my attention Fatou Samba, one of the first black members of a K-pop group, and her beautiful name. Fatou is a diminutive of Fatoumata, a version of the Arabic Fatimah, which is popular in French-influenced parts of West Africa. Fatou herself was born in Senegal, but raised in Belgium. Fatimah means "to abstain", and its most famous bearer is a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and eventual wife of Ali, fourth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the first Shia Imam -- Fatimah bint Muhammad. According to Sunni Muslims, she was the youngest of his daughters, while Shia Muslims believe she was the only child who lived to adulthood; either way, Fatimah is regarded as an incredibly important fi...

Lisa Origin: Thai Gender: Female Meaning: "Praised" Pronunciation: lah-lee-SAH Other Forms: N/A My sister is a huge fan of K-pop, and after a long time resisting I have a confession to make: I like it. In fact, I think it's fun, catchy, and uplifting, and did I mention, absolutely addictive? Her favorite group is BLACKPINK with her "bias" (for those uninitiated, her favorite member) being Lisa. Lisa, the lead rapper, is actually Thai, and is the first non-Korean to be agented by YG Entertainment. She was born Pranpriya Manoban in Buriram Province, Thailand and is the only child of her mother's. Her stepfather, Marco Brüschweiler, who helped raise her, is a renowned Swiss chef.  She later changed her name to Lalisa, which means "praised", at the behest of a fortune-teller, who claimed it would bring her prosperity. I can easily see this name catching on, especially amongst fans. What do you think?