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Help[Facts] Wojdan?
Does anyone have any information on the female Arabic name Wojdan?
I've been thinking of it because of the groundbreaking Saudi Olympic athlete.
I've been thinking of it because of the groundbreaking Saudi Olympic athlete.
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It's funny: If I tell Google to search for pages with that given name that do *not* contain the family name of the athlete (in about 5 different spellings...), nothing is left - as if that given name did not exist before this Wojdan went to the Olympics.
Using Latin letters to write something from Arabic is always quite tricky, and so Wojdan may be just a very unusual transliteration / transcription of something that is quite common. A search for Wjdan, without the "o" then, gives quite a number of people who write their name this way in Latin script. But, first Wjdan looks strange to me, and second I could not find anything about that name either...
Using Latin letters to write something from Arabic is always quite tricky, and so Wojdan may be just a very unusual transliteration / transcription of something that is quite common. A search for Wjdan, without the "o" then, gives quite a number of people who write their name this way in Latin script. But, first Wjdan looks strange to me, and second I could not find anything about that name either...
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I'd look at the Wikipedia talk page for Wojdan Shaherkani. They have some interesting information on the name:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wojdan_Shaherkani
Apparently it means "excitement, ecstasy".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wojdan_Shaherkani
Apparently it means "excitement, ecstasy".
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Interesting, thanks! I never knew how to read Wikipedia "behind the scenes" discussions like that. It looks from the Wikipedia discussion that Wijdan is the more common spelling of this name. When I google "name meaning Wijdan", a lot comes up. (Granted, who knows how valid any of those websites are, but it shows that it's a known name).
But I agree with the Wikipedia commenters that her name in Wikipedia should be spelled Wojdan, because she competed in the Olympics under that spelling.
Thanks!
But I agree with the Wikipedia commenters that her name in Wikipedia should be spelled Wojdan, because she competed in the Olympics under that spelling.
Thanks!
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