There Is Much More in a Name A lot of beauty, culture, meaning and identity, actually BY HABEEBA HUSAIN
Hasan Minhaj
Wajahat Ali
n an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last April, Muslim American comic Hasan Minhaj used much of his airtime to focus on the correct pronunciation of his name. DeGeneres said, “It’s Hasan Minhaj (ha-SAAN mi-NAAJ),” to which Minhaj quickly responded, “No.” The “Patriot Act” star then went on to lightheartedly explain how people always mispronounce Hasan, even though they can correctly and effortlessly articulate the unique names of White celebrities like actors Ansel Elgort and Timothée Chalamet. He walks DeGeneres through a mini lesson on how to correctly say his name, making sure that she gets every syllable right. He recalls his early public appearances: “So, for like two months I’d go to open mics and I was Sean. I kept trying to negotiate. I was like, ‘All right, Hasan — people can pronounce Hasan.’ And it just got weirder and weirder … but I’d always have that open mic host in my head: ‘You’ve got to do it to make it.’” Muslims in the U.S. can definitely relate to this experience. Their names are butchered, shortened or replaced with what is easier for the tongues of their peers, coworkers and classmates. The change is oftentimes not of their own accord. New Jersey resident Zaheer Hussain is simply known as Z at his office. Born Mohammed Zaheeruddin Hussain, he ran into many issues in his first few years in the U.S. He and his brothers, father, and nephews all share the same first and last names. Only their middle names differentiate them on paper.
Hussain’s older brother worked in the same organization as he did, and on one occasion his workplace sent him the wrong paycheck. Hussain even mistakenly received his brother’s ten-year service award, even though he had only been there for two years, despite a difference in the spelling of their last name. His coworkers were confused as to why he and his brother had the same name. Hussain tried to emphasize that his middle initial was different: Z vs. his brother’s Q. His Italian coworker, who had to change his original last name Blanco to White to suit the English speaker, understood and jokingly called him Z from across the small office.
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SOME PEOPLE FEEL COMPELLED TO CORRECT, WHILE OTHERS JUST LET IT PASS. STILL OTHERS ADOPT A MISPRONOUNCED VERSION BECAUSE IT’S EASIER (AND LESS DRAINING) THAN WALKING SOMEONE THROUGH THE CORRECT PRONUNCIATION, THE WAY MINHAJ DID FOR DEGENERES.
“Initially, it was weird, but it started in a funny way. I just let it go since we were all Mohammed Hussain,” he says. “Z was a little different.” Hussain accepted the moniker because for him, it was a lot better than always being confused with his brother at work. While he shared his workplace with one brother, he shared his home address and phone number with three other brothers. When people called the house asking to speak with Mohammed Hussain, the phone often ended up in the wrong brother’s hands — ultimately resulting in an unintentionally canceled job interview and a tardy work clock-in. Bank letters and tax refunds didn’t include the middle initial on the addressee’s name either, making it hard to keep track of which document belonged to which brother. “It was so frustrating for me initially in my first five years in the United States,” Hussain says. “I was desperate to change my name.” When given the opportunity to do so upon attaining citizenship, he quickly opted in and legally became Zaheer Hussain to avoid further confusion. But by then, Z had already caught on at his workplace. He has been called Z ever since. Journalist Wajahat Ali writes in The New York Times, “By fifth grade, the scimitar forged by and for mainstream simplicity chopped off two syllables, leaving me as only “Waj” — the friendly neighborhood token American Muslim kid of Pakistani descent with lentil stains on his OshKosh B’Gosh shirt and husky pants” (Oct. 3, 2015). If not shortened, names have been changed altogether, and it isn’t always a welcome one: Rayyan to Ryan, Soofia to Sophia, Tahira to Terry, Imran to Ron, Mariya to Maria, and the list goes on. Some people feel compelled to correct, while others just let it pass. Still others adopt a mispronounced version because it’s easier (and less draining) than walking someone through the correct pronunciation, the way Minhaj did for DeGeneres. “I remember in college we had to share MAY/JUNE 2020 ISLAMIC HORIZONS 49
