Cataloguing of Muslim and
Pakistani Names
By:
Dr. Muhammad Haroon Usmani
Deputy Chief Librarian, Punjab University Library, Lahore
Cataloguing of Muslim and
Pakistani Names: Problem Areas











Surname/ Family Names ‫خاندانی نام‬
Regional/ Local Names ‫مقامی نام‬
Compound Names
Abbreviations/Nick Names
Poetic Names (‫)تخلص‬/ Names Opted for Poetry/ Literary
Piece of Work
Names Consisted of Two Words
Names Consisted of Three Words
Long/ Multi Worded Names
Honorary/ Awarded/ Given Names/ Title)‫ لقب‬/‫(خطاب‬
Patronymic Appellation (‫)کنیت‬
Female Names
1. Surname/Family Name







Entry should not be made in Family Name
Except it is used as Poetic Name
Muhammad Haroon Usmani in Haroon Usmani,
Muhammad
Saleem Ahmad Siddiqui in Saleem Ahmad
Siddiqui
Mustansar Hussain Tarrar in Mustansar Hussain
Tarrar
Tehmina Doltana in Tehmina Doltana
Choudhry Afzal Haq in Afzal Haq, Choudhry
Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman in Khalil-ur-Rehman, Mir
2. Names Associated with Regions/
Localities/ Areas
Enter in Real Name Except Local Name is
Used as Poetic Name
 Tahir Tounsvi in Tahir Tounsvi
 Arshad Multani in Arshad Multani
 Majeed Lahori in Majeed Lahori
 Nazir Ahmad Dehlvi in Nazir Ahmad Dehlvi
 Manzoor Hussain Shor Alieg in Manzoor
Hussain Shor Alieg

3. Compound Names
Compound Names should be treated as
single name and enter in first part of the
name.
 Abdul Moid in Abdul Moid
 Abdur Rehim in Abdur Rahim
 Hamid-ud-Din Farahi in Hamid-ud-Farahi
 Inam-ul-Haq in Inam-ul-Haq

4. Abbreviations/Nick Names
Entry should not be made in abbreviations
 A. Hameed in Hameed, A.
 M. A. Rahat in Rahat, M. A.
 A. B. Ashraf in Ashraf, A. B.
 ‫ ش فرخ‬in ‫ ش‬،‫فرخ‬
 ‫ ن م راشد‬in ‫ ن۔ م‬،‫راشد‬

5. Poetic Name(‫)تخلص‬







Entry Should be made in Poetic Name
If Part of a Name is Repeated in Beginning and
at End the last part will be considered Poetic
Name:
Amjad Islam Amjad in Amjad, Amjad Islam
Mir Taqi Mir in Mir, Mir Taqi
Abid Ali Abid in Abid, Abid Ali
Faiz Ahmad Faiz in Faiz, Faiz Ahmad
Wasif Ali Wasif in Wasif, Wasif Ali
Addition of (‫ )ی‬at the End of the
Name






If an author adds (‫ )ی‬at the last part of his
name, it will be considered Poetic Name:
Asif Farrukhi in Farrukhi, Asif
Imtiaz Ali Khan Arshi in Arshi, Imtiaz Ali Khan
Shan-ul-Haq Haqi in Haqi, Shan-ul-Haq
Mushtaq Ahmad Yousafi in Yousafi, Mushtaq
Ahmad
Javed Ahmad Ghamdi in Ghamdi, Javed Ahmad
Specific Word as Poetic Name
Ahmad Faraz in Faraz, Ahmad
 Khawaja Mir Dard in Dard, Mir Khawaja
 Asadullah Khan Ghalib in Ghalib, Asadullah
Khan
 Nasim Lyyah, in Nasim Lyyah
 Inam-ul-Haq Javed in Javed, Inam-ul-Haq

Family Name as Poetic Name
Rarely used, Make Sure that it is Poetic
Name or not
 Sa’adat Hassan Manto in Manto, Sa’adat
Hassan
 Manzar Hussain Abbasi in Abbasi, Manzar
Hussain

Local Name as Poetic Name
Rarely used, Make Sure that it is Poetic
Name or not
 Riaz Khairabadi in Khairabadi, Riaz
 Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in Bhittai, Shah
Abdaul Latif
 Abdul Qadir Sarhadi, in Sarhadi, Abdul
Qadir

6. Two Worded Name
(a). Common Names
Enter in First Part except for Local, Family
and Poetic Names:
 Ahmad Saleem
 Aslam Kamal
 Bano Qudsia
 Intezar Hussain
 Anis Khurshid

6(b). Where One Part is a Family
Name
Enter in real name
 Agha Asraf in Ashraf, Agha
 Abdullah Malik in Abdullah Malik
 Nasir Zaidi in Nasir Zaidi
 Choudhri Ghulam Rasul in Ghulam Rasul,
Choudhri
 Syed Abdullah in Abdullah, Syed

“Muhammad” as Part of 2 Worded
Name
Don’t enter in Muhammad instead enter in
other part because we use Muhammad in
respect of holy Prophet and it is
immensely used:
 Muhammad Iqbal in Iqbal, Muhammad
 Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadiri in Tahir-ulQadiri, Muhammad
 Muhammad Saeed in Saeed, Muhammad

7. Three Worded Names
a.





Simple 3 Worded Name (without Poetic, Family
or Local Name). Enter in Last Part:
Ali Asghar Abbas in Abbas, Ali Asghar
Ghulam Hussain Zulfiqar in Zulfiqar, Ghulam
Hussain
Zahid Munir Aamir in Aamir, Zahid Munir
Zafar Ahmad Mansoor in Mansoor, Zafar
Ahmad
Ghulam Gillani Asghar in Asghar, Ghulam
Gillani
b. First or Last Part is a Family
Name
Don’t enter Family Name. Enter in other 2
parts:
 Irshad Ahmad Haqqani in Irshad Ahmad
Haqqani
 Agha Anwar Gull in Anwar Gull, Agha
 Raja Rasheed Mahmood in Rasheed
Mahmood, Raja
 Tahir Javed Mughal in Tahir Javed Mughal
 Ashraf Ali Thanvi in Ashraf Ali Thanvi

c. First and Last Parts are Family
or Local Names
Enter in the central Part:
 Mirza Hamid Beg in Hamid Beg, Mirza
 Syed Zamir Jafri in Zamir Jafri, Syed
 Khawaja Hassan Nizami, in Hassan Nizami,
Khawja
 Rana Saeed Khan in Saeed Khan, Rana
 Syed Suleman Nadvi in Suleman Nadvi,
Syed

d. Muhammad as Part of a 3
Worded Name
I. Muhammad as First Name






Enter in the
Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad
part comes immediately after ‘Muhammad’:
Iqbal Gilani in Iqbal Gilani, Muhammad
Akram Chughtai in Akram Chughtai,
Akhtar Mamonka in Akhtar Mamonka,
Asif Iqbal in Asif Iqbal, Muhammad
Akhtar Shiekh in Akhtar Shiekh, Muhammad
II. Muhammad as a Central Part of
3 Worded Name
Enter in the name comes immediately after Muhammad.
If Family Name comes in the last then enter before
Muhammad :
 Sher Muhammad Akhtar in Akhtar, Sher Muhammad
 Fateh Muhammad Malik in Fateh Muhammad Malik
 Malik Muhammad Ibrahim in Ibrahim, Malik Muhammad
 Choudhri Muhammad Ashraf in Ashraf, Choudhri
Muhammad
 Syed Muhammad Arif in Arif, Syed Muhammad

III. Muhammad as Real Name
If Muhammad is real name and other
parts are worth entering then enter in
Muhammad:
 Muhammad Bin Qasim
 Muhammad Bin Saad

8. Long Names
(Consisted of More Than 3 Parts)







If there is Poetic Name: Make entry in that name
Enter in the last name in other cases except Family
Name where entry should be made in the real name:
Syed Maqsood Ali Kazmi in Maqsood Ali Kazmi, Syed
Khawaja Muhammad Hassan Khan Farooqi in Hassan
Khan Farooqi, Khawaja Muhammad
Siraj-ud-Din Ali Khan Aarzoo in Aarzoo, Siraj-ud-Din Ali
Khan
Shah Akhbar Khan Najib Abadi in Akhbar Khan Najib
Abadi, Shah
Liaqat Ali Khan Niazi in Liaqat Ali Khan Niazi
9. Honorary/ Awarded/ Given
Names/ Title)‫ لقب‬/‫(خطاب‬






Enter in Real Name and make Title Name as part of
inverted name:
Sir Shiekh Muhammad Iqbal in Iqbal, Shiekh Muhammad
Sir Shiekh Abdul Qadir in Abdul Qadir, Sir Shiekh
If Title becomes renowned name enter in the Title:
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
Ignore Such Opted/Given Namesa as:
Qari,
Maulvi, Maulana, Mufti, Nawab, Pir, Pirzada, Munshi,
Qazi, Hafiz, Haji, Hakeem, Hazrat, Hazoor, Janab,
Khaleefa, Sahib, etc.
10. Patronymic Appellation (‫)کنیت‬
Usually authors use Pseudo Names ( ‫فرضی‬
)‫ کنیت‬which becomes popular in such
cases enter in that popular name:
 Ibn-e-Safi
 Ibn-e-Insha
 Abu Muslim

11. Names of Female







The same rule is applicable. Entry will be made
in the real name:
Jameela Hashmi
Ada Jafri
If a lady uses Poetic Name, enter in that name:
Zahida Hina in Hina, Zahida
Syeda Perveen Fana Rizvi in Fana Rizvi, Syeda
Perveen
Aamna Bahar Roona in Roona, Amna Bahar
II. Use of Father’s or Husband’s
Name
a.



If a Lady uses father’s name before
marriage and after marriage husband’s
name entry should be in real name:
Balqees Zafar Hashmi in Balqees Zafar
Hashmi
Hijaab Imtiaz Ali in Hijaab Imtiaz Ali
Ismat Chughtai in Ismat Chughtai
b. If a Lady uses husband’s name with Mrs.
Or Begam entry will be in husband’s
name:
 Begam Ahmad Ali in Ahmad Ali, Begam
 Mrs Abdul Qadir in Abdul Qadir, Mrs.
III. Entries should not be made in such
names as Begam, Khatoon, Bibi, Khanum,
etc
 Bibi Fatima in Fatima, Bibi
 Siddiqa Begam in Siddiqa Begam
 Deeba Khanum in Deeba Khanum
 Deeba Khanum in Deeba Khanum
‫‪Sources‬‬
‫انیس خورشید۔ پاکستانی ناموں کی کیٹالگ سازی۔کراچی‪ :‬رائل ‪1.‬‬
‫بک کمپنی‪۱۹۷۲ ،‬ء‬
‫‪2. Haroon, Mohammad.-Cataloguing of Indian‬‬
‫‪Muslim Names.- Lahore: Islamic Book Centre,‬‬
‫‪1986.‬‬
‫اقرار حسین شیخ۔پاکستانی مصنفین کے ناموں کی کیٹالگ ‪3.‬‬
‫سازی۔اسالم آباد‪ :‬دی بکس‪۲۰۰۳ ،‬ء‬
‫السویدان‪ ،‬ناصر محمد و محسن السید العرینی۔ مداخل المولفین ‪4.‬‬
‫واالعالمالعرب۔ ریاض‪ :‬عمادۃ شوون المکتبات۔ جامعہ الریاض‪،‬‬
‫‪۱۹۸۰‬ء‬