Often when people first meet me, they ask me how to pronounce either Jonas, Fathy, or both. I usually follow Romeo’s “what’s in a name” and say that I don’t mind. There are two reasons: firstly, I grew up with my first name being pronounced very differently depending on the context I was in, so to me that is natural. Secondly, when it comes to my last name, I can hardly pronounce it myself! When I set up this website, however, I did some digging – and in my early thirties, I learned things about my name I never knew!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” by Sir William Shakespeare
Jonas
My heritage is mixed Egyptian and German. My parents wanted me to be able to live in either culture, so they looked for a first name that could be pronounced across German, Arabic and beyond. Even though neither of them was strictly religious, the Old Testament seemed a sensible source; in one way or another, it is shared amongst Jewish, Christian and Muslim people. My mother loved the story about Jonah and the whale, and so they eventually settled on one of the protagonist’s name variants: Jonas.
The thing about old scripture though: it had a long time to develop and adjust to local culture. So, while the name exists in numerous different languages, it comes in various forms and pronunciations. Germans would pronounce my name Jonas /ˈjoːnas/, and in Egypt I’d be called Younes /’juːnes/. To make things a bit more complicated, I started to speak English very early (thank you, Captain Planet!) with my American-born cousins Mohammed and Sarah. Depending on their mood, they would call me the Arabic version or the English Jonas /ˈʤə́wnəs/.
I know that for many people, their name is part of their identity, and it’s important to them that it is pronounced the way that is correct for them. I understand how this can be important, and there certainly is a conversation about equity, inclusion, and privilege to be had. However, I think it’s not hard to see how this experience growing up made the pronunciation of my name less important to me. It shaped an understanding of my identity that was contextual: while I remain the same person, the way it appears or sounds can change with the context.
Fathy
With my last name, the story is slightly different. Indeed, if you asked me how to pronounce Fathy, odds are I told you that I can’t pronounce it properly myself.
While I speak a few languages and grew up between Germany and Egypt, my Arabic is lacking, to say the least. I usually avoid my last name, as in most non-Arabic languages, the pronunciation is a pain. I mean, try to pronounce it in English; most things that come to mind don’t sound flattering nor correct. This is why I understand the diversity, equity, inclusion conversation around names (try giving an oral reference for a person whose name you can’t pronounce); but how could I fault anyone for something that I can’t do myself?
Long story short, I never really engaged with my last name. When I built this website, however, I looked a little deeper. After all, I was about to use fathy as the domain name. I realised that there is indeed an interesting connection to my purpose!
I learned that it’s root lay in fath [فتح], which means ‘open’ or ‘to open’. One way to translate the meaning of Fathy is ‘whom things are opened by‘. That, I love!
Fathy | name
pronunciation fat·ḥiy
Arabic فتحي
from root fath (فتح) – to open
lit. whom things are opened by
What I am motivated by is helping others overcome barriers; in a way, opening doors that were formerly closed. It’s a metaphor often used in coaching: you can help someone find the right door, and help them open it, but they have to go through it themselves. It’s a beautiful connection to my purpose, and knowing this strengthened my resolve to use this domain as my website.
There is a whole other story about the last name not actually being a last name, and how naming works in most Arabic cultures. But this is a story for another day. To end this post with, I want to leave you with how Fathy is actually pronounced. I might, eventually, get my dad to do a version; until then, I’ll use this reasonably good pronunciation help from YouTube. Note the gutural sound, a bit like a ‘hard h’, after the t.
