SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON
times avoided by inventing one. It is quite possible that Abu Zeki or Abu Saïd has no children at all.
The daughters of the family are often called after jewels or flowers or constellations; yet, except in Protestant families, the birth of a girl is not an occasion for rejoicing. One father insisted on christening an unwelcome girl baby Balash, which might be translated "Nothing doing!" Another parent, who already had six daughters, was so disgusted at the advent of a seventh that he named her Bikeffeh, "Enough!" A Maronite proverb says, "The threshold mourns forty days when a girl is born." Nevertheless the lot of the Christian woman, even in communities where Christianity means hardly more than a political organization, is usually far better than that of her Moslem sisters.
Surnames are very indefinite and shifting matters. If Musa has a son named Jurjus, the boy will naturally be known as Jurjus Musa. But the father will, of course, change his own name to Abu Jurjus. Many surnames are taken from occupations. Haddad or "Smith" is here, as in every country, one of the most common. Others are derived from localities. Hanna Shweiri is "John from Shweir," and Suleiman Beiruti is "Beirut Solomon." Real family or clan names, however, are not uncommon, especially among the aristocracy.
As a man becomes more prosperous he will often
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