219 – (sound) The Prophet ﷺ would replace objectionable names with pleasant ones. Zaynab, for example, had originally been called Barra (Pious). People remarked that the name implied she was praising herself, so he renamed her Zaynab; he also disliked hearing someone say, “He has just come from Barra’s house.”

On another occasion he asked a man, “What is your name?” The man replied, “Ḥazn” (Rough). The Prophet said, “No, you are Sahl (Easy).”

He changed the name of a woman called ʿĀṣiya (Disobedient) to Jamīlah (Beautiful), and when a man told him his name was Aṣram, the Prophet said, “Rather, you are Zurʿah.”

He renamed Ḥarb (War) as Salm (Peace), al-Muḍṭajiʿ (the One Lying Down) as al-Munbaʿith (the One Who Has Risen), a piece of land called ʿAfrāʾ (Dust-colored) as Khuḍrah (Green), “Shaʿb al-Ḍalālah” (the Gorge of Misguidance) as “Shaʿb al-Hudā” (the Gorge of Guidance), and the clan “Banū al-Zīnah” (the Sons of Sin) as “Banū al-Rushdah” (the Sons of Rectitude). ⦗164⦘