Following on from our post about traditions for naming children around the world, PocketCultures reader Yousef who is from Saudi Arabia submitted this post about what happens when a child is born in his country.

Amir Sultan street, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, most names are either taken from history or religion. For instance, the most common name in Saudi Arabia is Mohammed. It is chosen by most people in memory of the prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Other names come from the name of the prophets such as Moussa (Moses), Issa (Jesus), Dawood (David), and Yahya (John).

In our culture, it is the father who is responsible for naming a boy and the mother who usually names a girl. Usually the first child is named after the grandfather or grandmother.

We usually have a big party on the 7th day after a child is born to announce the name of the child. On this day, people bring a lot of food and gifts to celebrate the new member of the family.

Thanks to Yousef for this post. If you would like to submit a story about customs in your country, write to us here.

Photo credit: kh.b

About the author

Lucy is English and first ventured out of the UK she was 19. Since then she has lived in 4 different countries and tried to see as much of the world as possible. She loves learning languages, learning about different cultures and hearing different points of view.