BILQEES

My name is Bilqees, that is the spelling on my birth certificate which was issued 11 days after my birth in the late 80s. According to Islamic history, it is the name of the Queen of Sheba. 

Blessed with different spelling variations, one of the first things my mother told me about my name was if an official document issued to you is not spelt - B-I-L-Q-E-E-S then that document doesn’t belong to you.

Well, I almost got kicked out of primary school because the accountant spelt my name wrongly on the school fees payment receipt and I refused to collect it.  Aunty Maggie, the accountant insisted on not writing me a new one, so I left her office. Some weeks later, I was not allowed on the school premises because I was not with the receipt.  I tried to explain but I was sent home, I am not sure AbdulGaniu (my older brother) realized I was not allowed into the school premises.

I went back home and my Grandma (May Allah grant her Al-janah Fridaous) followed me to school and said – “My daughter, her mother will not pay 100% of ‘Ganiu’ s school fees and 0% of Bilqees. And trust me, you do not want my daughter leaving work tomorrow to come here”. Because my grandma was elderly, they listened to her and I was issued a new receipt.

I have fought many spelling battles after that, some I won, some I lost. You do not even want me to get started on the pronunciation.

People tend to spell or pronounce my name based on what they are familiar with. I get that but what I do not get is when people who have my email address and sometimes see the spelling of my name still choose to spell it differently - why do you feel the need to spell my name differently?

Does your name have varied spelling, if yes, please write in the comment below? 

Till next time, remember the alphabet “U” does not always come after a “Q”

Comments

  1. Interesting! Nigerians are known for "remixing" names. 😄😄 it is part of our DNA. You tell them your name and they tell you indirectly that NO. You don't know your own name like they do😄

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    1. Some even tell you directly. Someone did not believe I did not change the spelling of my name till I showed the person my birth certificate

      Delete
  2. Nice write-up. As stated in above comment by Aramide, some Nigerians feel they can spell your name better than you. In as much as the real Arabic pronunciation of my name is Fatimah but on all my certificates it has been been spelt as Fatimat so that's what I write on any documents. The funny thing at work is when I send a mail with my name signature showing Fatimat, I see responses with "Dear Fatimah, Fateemah, Fatimoh, Fatimot"....when u can see my name boldly even showing as the sender.

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  3. For me it's my surname that starts with the letters Uwa. People will start spelling with an N assuming that by all means I must be Igbo. I have given up and just start to spell instead of pronouncing.

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    1. How is the feeling working out?

      I ask because most times when I spell my name - people assume after Q, there’s U. Some also write K in place of Q

      Delete
  4. People spell my name Samiat as semiat, had this mispelling issue on my waec certificate

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  6. Sis, don’t let me get started my Muslim name Silifat. Even my parents didn’t get it right (I mean they should have used the Islamic Pronunciation since it’s a Muslim name right). You will hear Silifaaa, Cilfat, Cilfa I mean what’s all this? Well the Islamic name is Zulfa and it means one close to Allah.

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    1. I didn’t know Silifat and Zulfa are the same name.
      Out of curiosity, what do people call you jokingly - my friend’s nephew calls me biscuit

      Delete
  7. Or is it the fact that most people think all Muslim feminine names must end with a 't' and so they proceed to pronounce that way. Raufat, Ikramat, Aminat, Roqeebat. Losing that 't' is a problem for many people. One thing I ensure is that my name is pronounced properly....it's so important to me and I am happy to correct you as many times as needed.

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    1. Well done on ensuring your name is properly pronounced.

      I once assumed the spelling of my niece's name was Arafat till I saw a video with her name as Arafah (I took corrections immediately).

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  8. People call me silifat but I try correcting them dat it's zulfah .....are they the same

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