SAUDI ARABIA, November 8, 2015 (Times of India): Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry has banned 50 names they argue contradict the culture or religion of the Kingdom, according to reports by local media. Parents in the Kingdom will reportedly no longer be able to call their children by names such as Linda, Alice, Elaine or Binyamin (Arabic for Benjamin) after the civil affairs department at the ministry issued a list of the prohibited names.
Some names on the list are allegedly banned by the interior ministry because they are considered “blasphemous,” non-Arabic or non-Islamic, or contradictory to the kingdom’s culture or religion, Gulf News has reported. Included on the list of forbidden names is “Rama (Hindu god).”