Is Faiyum a surname?

May 26, 2023 11:40 AM

I'm researching a surname used in a fictional story. I don't see any references to it being used as a person's name, only the name of a place. As a surname, it might be entirely made up, a little made up, or a name I just haven't found elsewhere. Have you heard or seen it (or an alternate spelling) before?

All I've found for Faiyum is that it's the name of a governate in Egypt. As a surname, I haven't found any evidence.

posted by mr_bovis to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

In case it matters for the author, Faiyum will be recognizable as a place name to many readers. It's not as recognizable as Cairo, but it's the location of the famous Faiyum mummies and is one of Egypt's most ancient cities. Readers who are familiar with the history of Egypt, Rome, or even just have an interest in art history might recognize it.

It does appear to at least rarely be used as a surname, which I verified by Googling it in conjunction with common Arabic names to see if any returned real people, e.g. Mohamed Faiyum, Mahmoud Fayoum. There are not many results that are people, though, which makes me suspect it's rare (and I didn't dig further to see where these people are from).

If it was my fiction novel, I'd probably choose a different name unless someone told me that it's common where they're from. Otherwise, I'd worry I'd named someone the equivalent of "Bob Cleveland" or something.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 12:24 PM on May 26, 2023

I perked up at the question because the Fa[i]yum Depression is a known site for Oligocene primate fossils. Might load some meaning for some people if your character is not relentlessly happy?
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:29 PM on May 26, 2023

Response by poster: @Kutsuwamushi
Yes, those were exactly my thoughts. The name's association with a place could turn it into a Bob Cleveland situation, which feels odd. Maybe it's helpful that you can match a fictional person to a place, which could imbue them with specific attributes. For Cleveland, maybe it makes the character a Midwesterner. For Faiyum, the use of Cairo could be more recognizable, so although Faiyum might make the character Egyptian, there's at least one other city that would seem to do the job a little better.

@BobTheScientist
Actually, the character is the most upbeat in the whole cast. Good insight though. Thanks for the link.
posted by mr_bovis at 2:34 PM on May 26, 2023

I've seen Fayyum as a surname, and also as a place (in that case, meaning the ancient Cairo area. Fayyum is how someone I know who had done some research spelled it - although they're natively a French speaker so they may have either misspelled it or had an alternate / French spelling).
posted by nouvelle-personne at 2:38 PM on May 26, 2023

A little to the side of the topic, but... Cleveland maybe isn't the best example to use here....

(But maybe we can talk about, IDK, Bob Quebec? It's surprisingly hard to come up with a major US city that isn't also some kind of personal name.)
posted by verbminx at 7:57 PM on May 26, 2023

FWIW Faiyumi is an actual Arabic surname.
posted by zompist at 8:16 PM on May 26, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. This gives me a lot of perspective for the character.

Confirmation of Fayyum and Faiyumi make Faiyum look realistic and potentially just a different spelling of a similar name. I can't reach into the author's mind, but this helps a lot.
posted by mr_bovis at 9:12 PM on May 26, 2023