Obama's first name

Submitted by Denis MacEoin (United Kingdom), Nov 27, 2016 at 13:57

I have always been a little puzzled that it is Obama's second name, Hussein, that is identified as Muslim. I do not know what precedent there is for his first name, Barack, but I do know that it sounds as if linked to the important Arabic root BRK. 'baraka' means a blessing.

Another word from the same root, 'mubarak', meaning 'blessed', has been used in a nominal sense (e.g. the late Egyptian president Mubarak). Is there a Swahili or Kenyan Arabic use of Barack as a name within the Muslim population?

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