Giving ambiguous names

Question

Question: What is the ruling on giving these names: Shaykh Lal (شیخ لال), Muhammad Nabi (محمد نبی), Sayyid Mustafa (سید مصطفیٰ)?

Answer

In themselves, these names are not ugly either. But if the name “Shaykh Lal” raises the suspicion that it is the name of some lala (as Hindus, usually traders, are called in India), or the name “Sayyid Mustafa” raises the suspicion that he is a sayyid when in fact he is not a sayyid, then such a name should not be given.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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