Wikipedia's first sentence called it “honorific widely used in place of given names through the arab world and the medieval muslim world”. Today it says “arabic teknonym”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the October 6, 2023 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Arabic name derived from one's oldest child A kunya ( ) is a teknonym in Arabic names , the name of an adult derived from their oldest child. Sometimes, however, it is derived from the eldest male if the oldest child is a female. A kunya is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet , in theory referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter. By extension, it may also have hypothetical or metaphorical references, e.g. in a nom de guerre or a nickname, without literally referring to a son or a daughter. Use of a kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting. A kunya is expressed by the use of abū (father) or umm (mother) in a genitive construction , i.e. "father of" or "mother of" as an honorific in place of or alongside given names in the Arab world and the Islamic world more generally. Medieval Jewish names generally had stock kunyas referencing the biblical eponym and not any relative. Those named Abraham received "abu Ishaq", those named Jacob, "abu Yusuf," and so on. In some cases the word abu is construed beyond the traditional sense of "father," so a person named Isaac received "abu Ibrahim" (son of Abraham) and one named Moses received "abu Imran" (son of Amram). Also common are kunyas which reflect qualities, such as "abu al-Afiya" (the Healthy) and "abu al-Barakat" (the Blessed). The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day . An Introduction to the Arabic Literature of the Jews .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1175170451.
The opening as it stood in 2010
A kunya ( ) or Kunyat is an honorific widely used in place of given names through the Arab world and the medieval Muslim world. It is a component of an Arabic name , a type of epithet referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter. (A similar, but not identical, practice exists in the Shona language of Zimbabwe .) Shahpurshah Hormasji Hodivala, Historical Studies in Mug̲h̲al Numismatics, Numismatic Society of India, 1976 (Reprint of the 1923 ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 367947645.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
A kunya ( , kunyah ) is a teknonym in Arabic names , the name of an adult derived from his or her eldest child.A kunya is expressed by the use of abū or umm in a genitive construction , i.e."father of" or "mother of" as an honorific in place of or alongside given names in the Arab world and the Islamic world more generally.A kunya is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet , in theory referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter.By extension, it may also have hypothetical or metaphorical references, e.g. in a nom de guerre or a nickname, without literally referring to a son or a daughter.Use of a kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666972969.
The opening as it stood in 2020
A kunya ( , kunyah ) is a teknonym in Arabic names , the name of an adult derived from their eldest child. A kunya is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet , in theory referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter. By extension, it may also have hypothetical or metaphorical references, e.g. in a nom de guerre or a nickname, without literally referring to a son or a daughter. Use of a kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting. A kunya is expressed by the use of abū (father) or umm (mother) in a genitive construction , i.e. "father of" or "mother of" as an honorific in place of or alongside given names in the Arab world and the Islamic world more generally.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 961637764.
The opening as it stood in 2025 13 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Arabic name derived from one's eldest child A kunya ( Arabic : كُنيَة ) is an Arabic teknonym , an epithet mentioning a first born son, or sometimes daughter.Abū or Umm precedes the son's or daughter's name.in the genitive case , for example Abu Bakr or Umm Kulthum .It is often used as a component of an Arabic name , and implies a familiar, but respectful relationship.Historical Studies in Mug̲h̲al Numismatics .Numismatic Society of India .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1298259017. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “honorific widely used in place of given names through the arab world and the medieval muslim world”. Today it says “arabic teknonym”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
honorific widely used in place of given names through the arab world and the medieval muslim world
Now
arabic teknonym
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
