Son

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King Chulalongkorn of Siam (far right) with a few of his 32 sons at Eton College in 1897 Chulalongkorn & Sons.jpg
King Chulalongkorn of Siam (far right) with a few of his 32 sons at Eton College in 1897

A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative.

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Social issues

In pre-industrial societies and some current countries with agriculture-based economies, a higher value was, and still is, assigned to sons rather than daughters, giving males higher social status, because males were physically stronger, and could perform farming tasks more effectively.

In China, a one-child policy was in effect until 2015 in order to address rapid population growth. Official birth records showed a rise in the level of male births since the policy was brought into law. This was attributed to a number of factors, including the illegal practice of sex-selective abortion and widespread under-reporting of female births.[ citation needed ]

In patrilineal societies, sons will customarily inherit an estate before daughters. [1]

In some cultures, the eldest son has special privileges. For example, in Biblical times, the first-born male was bequeathed the most goods from his father. Some Japanese social norms involving the eldest son are: "that parents are more likely to live with their eldest child if their eldest child is a son" and "that parents are most likely to live with their eldest son even if he is not the eldest child". [2]

Christian symbolism

Miniature in Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry depicting the Baptism of Jesus, where God the Father proclaimed Jesus to be his Son. Folio 109v - The Baptism of Christ.jpg
Miniature in Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry depicting the Baptism of Jesus, where God the Father proclaimed Jesus to be his Son.

Among Christians, "the Son" or Son of God refers to Jesus Christ. Trinitarian Christians view Jesus as the human incarnation of God the second person of the Trinity, known as God the Son. In the Gospels, Jesus sometimes refers to himself as the Son of Man.

Indications in names

In many cultures, the surname of the family means "son of", indicating a possible ancestry—i.e., that the whole family descends from a common ancestor. It may vary between the beginning or the termination of the surname.

Arabic
Berber
Danish
Dutch
English
French
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Irish
Italian
Norwegian
Persian
Tagalog
Tamil
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Welsh

Semitic

The Arabic word for son is ibn. Because family and ancestry are important cultural values in the Arab world and Islam, Arabs and most Muslims (e.g. Bruneian) often use bin, which is a form of ibn, in their full names. The bin here means "son of." For example, the Arab name "Saleh bin Tarif bin Khaled Al-Fulani" translates as "Saleh, son of Tarif, son of Khaled; of the family Al-Fulani" (cf. Arab family naming conventions). Accordingly, the opposite of ibn/bin is abu, meaning "the father of." It is a retronym, given upon the birth of one's first-born son, and is used as a moniker to indicate the newly acquired fatherhood status, rather than a family name. For example, if Mahmoud's first-born son is named Abdullah, from that point on Mahmoud can be called "Abu Abdullah."

This is cognate with the Hebrew language ben, as in "Judah ben Abram HaLevi," which means "Judah, son of Abram, the Levite." Ben is also a standalone name.

Related Research Articles

A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather, or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic.

Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from the Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given/middle/family names but rather a chain of names. This system remains in use throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hashemites</span> Royal family of Jordan since 1921


The Hashemites, also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Mecca continuously from the 10th century, frequently as vassals of outside powers, and ruled the thrones of the Hejaz, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan following their World War I alliance with the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Khaldun</span> Arab historiographer and historian (1332–1406)

Ibn Khaldun was an Arab sociologist, philosopher, and historian widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and considered by many to be the father of historiography, sociology, economics, and demography studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Saud</span> Royal family of Saudi Arabia

The House of Al Saud is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling faction of the family is primarily led by the descendants of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, the modern founder of Saudi Arabia. It forms a subtribe of the larger prominent ancient Banu Hanifa tribe of Arabia, from which well known 7th century Arabian theologist Maslama ibn Ḥabīb originates. The most influential position of the royal family is the King of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarch. The family in total is estimated to comprise 15,000 members; however, the majority of power, influence and wealth is possessed by a group of about 2,000 of them. Some estimates of the royal family's wealth measure their net worth at $1.4 trillion. This figure includes the market capitalization of Saudi Aramco, the state oil and gas company, and its vast assets in fossil fuel reserves, making them the wealthiest family in the world and the wealthiest in recorded history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kahina</span> Queen of the Aurès from c. 668 to 703

Al-Kahina, also known as Dihya, was a Berber warrior-queen of the Aurès and a religious and military leader who lived during the seventh century AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammed Bello</span> Second Caliph of the Sokoto Caliphate

Muhammadu Bello was the first Caliph of Sokoto and reigned from 1817 until 1837. He was also an active writer of history, poetry, and Islamic studies. He was the son and primary aide to Usman dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate and the first caliph. During his reign, he encouraged the spread of Islam throughout the region, increasing education for both men and women, and the establishment of Islamic courts. He died on October 25, 1837, and was succeeded by his brother Abu Bakr Atiku and then his son, Aliyu Babba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali bin Hussein, King of Hejaz</span> King of Hejaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca (1879–1935)

Ali bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, was King of Hejaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca from October 1924 until he was deposed by Ibn Saud in December 1925. He was the eldest son of King Hussein bin Ali and a scion of the Hashemite family. With the passing of the kingship from his father he also became the heir to the title of caliph, but he did not adopt the office and the style of caliph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulayman of Mali</span> Mansa of Mali

Mansa Sulayman was mansa of the Mali Empire during the middle of the 14th century. He was the brother of Mansa Musa and succeeded Musa's son Magha as mansa.

Mansa Jata, commonly referred to as Mari Jata II, possibly incorrectly, known in oral histories as Konkodugu Kamissa was mansa of Mali from 1360 to 1374. He was an ineffective ruler, and his reign, recorded by the contemporary North African historian Ibn Khaldun, marked the beginning of the decline of the Mali Empire.

As-Samaw’al bin ‘Ādiyā’ was a pre-Islamic Arabian poet and warrior, esteemed by the Arabs for his loyalty, which was commemorated by an Arabic idiom: "awfá min as-Samaw’al".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asad ibn Hashim</span> Ancestor of Sahabah

Asad ibn Hāshim was the son of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf and the brother of Abd al-Muttalib. He was the father of Fatima bint Asad, the mother of Ali and the cousin and wife of Abu Talib. Asad was a very respected person among the Qureshi Arab tribe. He was a merchant and very often helped the poor. His name means Lion. His descendants usually use the surnames Al-Quraishi, Al-Hashimi, Al-Asadi, Sayyid, or Sharif, while some of his descendants avoid using any surname.

A kunya is a teknonym in an Arabic name, the name of an adult derived from their eldest son.

Abul Amlak Moulay Sharif ibn 'Ali was an Arab Emir of Tafilalt from 1631 to 1636. He was a sharif whose family claimed to be descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandson Hasan. Moulay Sharif is considered to be the founder of the Alaouite Dynasty of Morocco for being the father of Sidi Muhammad, Al-Rashid of Morocco, and Ismail Ibn Sharif.

Banu (بنو) is Arabic for "the children of" or "descendants of" and appears before the name of a tribal progenitor. The English counterpart would be "House of", for example the House of Saud. Another example of the usage is the Bani Quraish, the tribe from which Muhammad came, for which a Quranic Surah is also named.

Yahia, is a common Arabic male given name also written as Yahya or Yehia. People with the name include:

<i>Em Magan</i> 2006 Tamil-language film by Thirumurugan

Em Magan is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language family drama film written and directed by Thirumurugan. Bharath, Gopika, and Nassar played the lead roles, while Vadivelu, Saranya Ponvannan, and Gajala appeared in supporting roles. The music was composed by Vidyasagar with cinematography by Sevilo Raja and editing by Jeyakumar. Upon release on 7 September 2006, the film met with positive critical reception and became a commercial success. It was remade in Kannada as Putra (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud</span> Eldest son and heir of King Abdulaziz (1900–1919)

Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the eldest son of the Emir of Nejd and his second wife, Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair. He was his father's heir apparent from 1902 to 1919. Turki accompanied his father during the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula at a young age and witnessed battles in Kuwait and Al Hasa. He died in the 1918–19 flu pandemic, which also killed many others in the region. His younger brother Saud replaced him as heir apparent.

The Banu Ifran or Ifranids, were a Zenata Berber tribe prominent in the history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic North Africa. In the 8th century, they established a kingdom in the central Maghreb, with Tlemcen as its capital.

References

  1. Peoples, James; Bailey, Garrick (1 January 2011). Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Cengage Learning. pp. 194–196. ISBN   978-1-111-30152-1 . Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  2. Wakabayashi, Midori; Horioka, Charles Yuji (2009). "Is the Eldest Son Different? The Residential Choice of Siblings in Japan" (PDF). Japan and the World Economy. 21 (4): 337–348. doi:10.1016/j.japwor.2009.04.001.