Thread: How to pick a good performance name?

Hi all,

I've been dancing for nearly 4yrs (egyptian), and last year started performing, but havn't managed to find myself a name yet. I found one for my friend (Ashima which means 'first ray of sunlight in the morning - or - limitless or boundaryless), and I have as yet not been able to find something for myself.

Maybe you folks could help!?

I'm brunette, tall (5'8"), curvaceous - i would say my style was fairly energetic and my 'strong points' would be my hips, they are very mobile. I'm fairly outrageous and can be cheeky. I kind of don't want to pick something which is cheesy and predictable, and want to try not to pick goddess names! I know that i'm going to be 'stuck' with it once i've picked it and i want it to reflect the way I feel i dance etc.

How did you guys go about choosing your names? Where are good places to get inspiration?

G
x

I think it depends where and for whomyou are performing.
An "exotic" name sounds good for a "pro" performing at parties and in restaurants and your employers may like that.
If you are dancing in theatre and at festivals, I can't see the point of doing other than dancing under your own name.
As you've been dancing 4 years, obviously you've done the local hafla and who uses other than their own name there !?
More and more I find "pros" are ditching the fantasy "tags" and dancing under their own name at least within the community.
But it is fun I suppose. You might look under the list of Arabic names for one similar to your own or one with a similar meaning or one that describes you.
As a semi-pro teacher and mostly unpaid performer in platforms, it's just Liz but then I think we had the Egyptian twins back in the Golden Era called Liz and Lynn. They probably considered them to be "exotic" names!..g.:
As does Lucy!
There are other threads on the board on this subject.

Yeah, i have safety reasons (also to do with my job) where it would be improper for me to use my own name...
thanks for the hints though!

Well...there is no one "right" way...one big thing I would advise though: if you're not sure of the name, either stick with the one you've got for now, or go to your own real name for now. I know a gal who's trying to be/go pro but is on, oh, her third name in as many years (not including her real name which has also been in the mix the whole time) and it's got the potential to get kind of silly. ..g.:

Overall...the two biggest considerations, though:
1. What do you intend to do with it?
2.Does the name mean something to you/speak to you/feel comfortable on you?

#2 is very personal. All I can say is research, look into different names, if you find one you like, sit on it for a while--try it on and turn it over in your head, find out everything you can about it, get thoughts from other people etc. before you settle for sure, but really, only you can know that one.

#1 is a little more straight-forward, but a more long-range. How do you plan to use the name? If dance is just something you're doing avocationally, it doesn't matter a lot--just choose a name that feels fun and makes you feel good, like your "inner dancer."

On the other hand, if you're picking a "business name"...then you need to think about a few more things. Like...who will be your clients, and what does the name mean to THEM. Is it easy enough to pronounce/spell? If, say, many of your clients would be Arabs but the name you love is Hebrew in origin...is that the right choice? On a different thread someone posted this link http://www.asamed.citymax.com/DancersNameRegistry.html but know that this is faaaar from complete and accurate--this is a voluntary self-reporting registry, so not all dancers are included, and not all dancers who ARE included have actually registered their names as business names. If you do have any intention of registering as a business in the future, you should go to the website for secretary of state for your state and see if you can search for business names and assumed names to be sure no one else has a business name the same or similar to the one you are considering.

Also, as Lizajuk mentioned, you need to think about whether you WANT a totally different dance name. If you're going into business, do you want people you never met calling you by that name all the time? (I know several women who initially took dance names but eventually changed to their real first names or a first name that sounds similar to their real first names--some with a "dance" surname--because they felt odd, couldn't get used to answering to such a different name, or no one ever knew who the heck they were--"I just saw Princess Arabia-pantz dance" "WHO??!!!" "You know...Jill...that's her dance name." "Oh, right. Jill. Why didn't you just say so." )

Good luck!

I am going back and forth between going by my dance name and my real name. Sometimes I feel like a fake when I use my dance name, other times I prefer it because of that security stuff, and because it's more stage-worthy.

But all the dancers in my area know me by my real name, so that's tough too. Do I suddenly make my friends call me by my dance name? That'd be weird to me...

...ANYWAYS! I started by trying to find names that mean something that describe how I feel about dance. I couldn't find any of those that I like *and* that weren't already taken by famous or area dancers. I looked at names that are similar to my real name and didn't like any of those. So I just started to look through Arabic baby names and found Safiyah (means "best friend" iirc). I really liked the sound of it - similar to Sophia, which I like too. (Actually I get called that sometimes. Oh well) I googled it and found that Safiyah was a wife(?) of Mohammed in the Quran, but couldn't find any reason to believe it would be "forbidden".

So I think you just need to do some searching. Your name is so personal, I don't think someone else can choose it for you. It kind of has to call out to you ;)

Yeah, I chose my friends name and she loved it instantly - it was lucky, and it suited her very well.

I'm finding it muuuch harder to find m y own. I'm unlikely to use it for business, i will be performing more professionally in the future, but my first business is as an artist. I am actually changing my n ame for that too (i do fantasy illustration as well as fine art), becuase of a stalker situation and becuase of rebranding. The people who l ike to buy the fine art, don't 'get' the fantasy/horror stuff I do. So i'm leaving my real name for the fantasy and thinking up a 'rich' and inviting sounding name to do my portraiture and fine art stuff. Thats a task in itself thinking up that one as its a brand.

I just want my dance name to express the part of me that is dancing - which is my sassy side. So i'm trying to think of something cheeky and fun. I was thinking of going for something with gravitas like Salome! But there's so much weight with that name, one really has to live up to it and i don't think i can .... yet.

My real name is e m i l y (typed like that so i'm not searchable on here by the nutty stalker), and I really don't feel its very good for a dramatic stage name. A slightly more exotic name really makes for the whole picture. My friend who i named Ashima was dancing in a restaurant, and i heard one of the people there saying to the restaurant owner where is she from (or something to that effect), so the name worked to make that mysterious veil around the dance.

Hmmm... its so tricky!

I just recently decided to give myself a name. I've been dancing for 10 years but not on a professional level.

I've always liked Abdel Halim Hafez so I incorporated his last name and decided on....... Hafeza

..g.:

Originally Posted by Michelle75

I just recently decided to give myself a name. I've been dancing for 10 years but not on a professional level.

I've always liked Abdel Halim Hafez so I incorporated his last name and decided on....... Hafeza

..g.:

I hoped you looked that name up just to be sure it wasn't Arabic for Camel's Hoof or Big Fat Backside.... that's the kind of thing I might do.

Originally Posted by Grizzle

I just want my dance name to express the part of me that is dancing - which is my sassy side. So i'm trying to think of something cheeky and fun. I was thinking of going for something with gravitas like Salome! But there's so much weight with that name, one really has to live up to it and i don't think i can .... yet.

Try not to pick a name ending in 'a'. There's so many of 'em. Grizzle has a certain ring....LOL How about Griselde....Isolde...

Sassy, huh? You don't get any more sassy that Missy Elliot. How's about Missy Sissy, or Missy Grizzle, or combine the two...Missy Gristle

I orignailly used my nick name as my dance name. It is Urdu and has a lovely meaning. the problem was thart in Arabic, it didn't have a lovely meaning.

So, my very kind at the time Iraqi BF asked me to rename myself and helped by asking me the meanings of my various names. I have several. We found Tahira as it has the same meaning as my babtismal mane - Kathareen. Pure.

now, the side bar is that Tahira is also a food distribution company in the ME!

{{{HUGS}}}

I kinda like Grizzle too! How about "Gizelle"?

i use my real name as a stage name =)

I blogged about my dance name. I wasn't comfortable taking a foreign name, so I looked to other things that evoke memories and strong emotions for me.

Bug Girl's Tokyo Story

I chose Sagira because it has the same meaning as my birth name. I also like safira ( Sapphire as that is my birth stone. If I had had another daughter she would have been Hana pronounced Harna, kind of a breatheless and slightly long ha ( basically it is the Asian way of pronouncing the name. It means happiness. Janaan is pretty that means heart or soul.

Maybe try to find out if there is a Middle Eastern name that has the same meaning as your given name or your birth stone.

Good luck, and do let us know what you come up with.

Grizzel is actually a family name (scottish) way back... but its a bit, well.. grizzly?!
I think Gizelle (famous ballerina), is a little to delicate and graceful for me, i'm not built like a gazelle... its a beautiful name though.
I have always loved the name Isolde though... beautiful name, that could be the one...

I always loved the name for that herb/spice sassafrass - but it would be a bit of a silly name!! LOL

I think Sassafrass could be quite cool, actually.

*koff* A variant of your name that I just found is Amilya. Or there is Raizel, a bit like Grizel, which means "rose" and also "carefree".

My deceased cat was called Dalba, which is Irish for "cheeky" and has the added bonus of sounding a bit like Dalla....

Oooh i like Raizel - that could fit!

Not mega keen on a variant of my own name, kind of want to keep it mega separate... but its alovely one amilya.

I wasn't going for this whole dance name for a long time - but when dancing with Hakan, having a German name that nobody can pronounce is kinda unintentionally funny. But, I'm also not so much into the idea of using something deeply meaningful and etheral for a dance name - moonlight or shining morning would come with equal slapstick possibilities.

Recently, I found cheerful, happy, etc. in a Turkish dictionary, which translates to Neseli (with cedilla-s). Also, faintly similar to Steffi in sound - that works for me. It's accurate, but not of much spiritual significance, and I don't think that whole dance name thing has to be.

Yes, goddess names could carry such weight with them, that if one could not dance 'up' to it, then it would be hilarious. I've found a couple of those on YouTube... hehe

My dance name is a variation of my own given name, Susan. Souzan can mean either fire or lilly in Persian. In Hebrew, Susan is Shoshanna, and means lily. I prefer the fire part cause it suits me better. There are some other dancers with variations of this. Sausan in California, for example. And here in Florida another dancer who uses Souzzon. We all have red hair.

My name was actually given to me back in the early 80s by an Iranian guy I was doing some freelannce editing for. He always called me Souzan (Sews On is how it is pronounced) and told me what it meant. When I started dancing it was an easy name to take.

Souzan

for you I like dahlal, or dallal. it means indulged, somebody you want to spoil rotten. :) yes, there is a gigantic costume import company by that name, but I don't think that should be an issue.

I, too, suggest staying away from names ending in a if you can. there are so darned many of them!! and most of those end in "ira" (samira, mahira, amira, safira, nadira), and most of them have A I A for the vowels (aziza, halima, anisa). buck the trend. ;)

my name is close to the uh-EE-uh sounding names, but I was born with it. I tried on some different stage names over the years, but none of them ever stuck. what I did was tack an arabic last name onto my given name and that has worked for me very well. :)

Originally Posted by elisagamal

I, too, suggest staying away from names ending in a if you can. there are so darned many of them!! and most of those end in "ira" (samira, mahira, amira, safira, nadira), and most of them have A I A for the vowels (aziza, halima, anisa). buck the trend. ;)

Yes. In my neck of the woods, names ending in "-ah" are even more ubiquitous. Names ending in -a are classic, but those that end with consonants (or vowels other than -a, for that matter) definitely stand apart from the pack. My vote is also with bucking the trend ..l;,

Good thread, as I'm currently toying with a transition from Maiya to Carrara Sahar.

Originally Posted by ozma

I wasn't comfortable taking a foreign name, so I looked to other things that evoke memories and strong emotions for me.

Oddly enough, this sums up a lot of my feelings in creating a stage name. I'm an American girl from a small Connecticut town, who grew up idolizing Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson. My big blue eyes and sandy blonde hair are a dead giveaway that I'm not of any "exotic" descent. (Though people thought I was Lebanese all the time when I dyed my hair artificial jet black....go figure.) And though I try my hardest to do this dance and ME culture a justice, at the end of the day, I don't look or feel a heck of a lot like a Samira, a Safiyah, a Namira, or a Layla.

I would perform under my real name in a heartbeat, if it wasn't so damned WASP-y. I don't need any help in the department of people having snarky things to say about my heritage, thankyouverymuch.

Most important: make sure nobody else in your area is using the name.

Almost as important: choose a name that people will be reasonably comfortable/confident pronouncing if they see it in print. For one thing, if you're dancing with a live band, they're more likely to introduce you properly. More importantly, people are less likely to call you to hire you if they're uncertain about how to pronounce your name. It makes them feel less good about themselves, which makes them feel less good about you.

It also wouldn't hurt if it is easy to guess the correct spelling.

If you've developed your style enough to know that you prefer a particular style of dance or music (egyptian, turkish, etc.), you may want to choose a name from that tradition. It's not crucial by any means, but it's nice.

Shira has a great article on names (which includes links to name listings) at:
Belly Dance: Do You Need A Stage Name?

Also, think about synonyms for the meaning of your name. Nadira means rare or precious, and it's used as a woman's name (i.e., not just a made-up stage name), but the owners of a Lebanese Armenian restaurant I danced at asked me if I knew that it can also be used to mean "expensive". It's a synonym for "precious" but has very different overtones!

I recently dubbed myself with a dance name, even though I've been dancing for a very long time. It is not super popular in the tribal world to have a dance name. I decided I need one because I don't want my potential Hollywood clients googling me for credits and up pops my youtube (that sounds a bit rude actually). I too felt uncomfortable/silly picking a traditional ME or traditionally belly dance name, especially one with a meaning like bringer of light or what have you, so I picked an oddball name that is fun to say, doesn't end in "a", and looks good written out. I always picked boyish names for myself when I played when I was little, so I thought it would be fun to have a boy's name. And I like the letter "z". Although I actually toyed with "Ozma" as well! So my name Denzel is kind of goofy, but every one of my friends said, "wow, that's actually cute and works"! My other choice was "Princess Banu", especially since my teacher would tell me I danced like a princess (???), but she is FAR too famous. Since then I have found some cute 19th century "Cricassian Beauty" circus names I like as well.
PS, I love your screen name "Satinworship" and little signature.

OK, I am dying to be in on this conversation as I am in a similar stage in my dancing in that I would like a professional name (due to a alter ego day job, luckily not a stalker thank goodness!) I really like a few of the suggestions so far especially Raizel. I on the other hand tried to look up hummingbird and couldn't find anything that also wouldn't send the tongue tied rolling. Any suggestions for Annette/moon/ hummingbird? I sound like G's alter ego being petite, brunette and more smooth in a mix of Egyptian, Lebanese, and other middle eastern/american fusion style (although not adverse to a few hips here and there) I have to say this is always such an awkward issue but I am glad someone is talking about it. So, how about it girls...any help? -A.

Hi, I remembered reading an article on this topic here in Australia that you might find interesting:
http://www.shemiranibrahim.com/for-performers/
cheers, clare

I've been thinking about changing my name, but I don't want to lose the associations with my current name. It's hard to pronounce, I guess, and it's Greek, not Arabic, but I've had it forever.

When I was in Egypt last week, an Egyptian guy insisted that I must choose an Egyptian name to dance under. He suggested a few and there was one I really liked. It's meaning goes well with the meaning of my initially chosen name - Nepenthe -. It's "Ahlam" - it means Dreams. I would like to figure out how to add it to Nepenthe as a last name or something. Would it simply be Nepenthe Ahlam, or Nepenthe El Ahlam, or some other connecting word in Arabic?

Aputzkaperrin - if you like the name Moon, then maybe you would like Qamar? It means moon in Arabic. An different Egyptian man told me last week that the word "Moon" is a huge compliment to a woman (we were looking at the moon through a window and he said "here I am looking at two moons, I'm so lucky." and then he explained what he meant. )

I only seem to use my dance name (Adeylah, my Spanish name in high school with the spelling tweaked) when I'm uncomfortable giving my real name. Most of the dance community has no idea I even have one or they've heard it pronounced with my teacher's southern accent which makes it Adella. But it's nice to pull out when some creppy guy is offering to take me to Egypt.

A friend of mine used Zafira for years. But the Egyptian crowds were always telling her to change it. Finally a restaurant owner told her it meant pungent "like a fish smell ..." Needless to say she's now the lovely Stephanie.

That reminds me of something I learned in Egypt too. I had said the word "Nila" thinking it was like the way to say Nile or something (don't laugh) and my guide told me that what it means is "cheap" or "poorly made". So even though it sounds like a great name, I think it's worse to be "cheap" than to be "expensive" (like Nadira!).