Abdul

Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; Arabic: عبد ال, ʿAbd al-) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word Abd (عبد, meaning "servant" or "slave") and the definite prefix al / el (ال, meaning "the"). It is the initial component of many compound names, such as عبد الحميد ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (usually spelled Abdel Hamid, Abdelhamid, Abd El Hamid or Abdul Hamid; lit. "servant of the Praised"), عبد الله ʿAbd Allāh (Abdullah), and عبد الملك ʿAbd al-Malik (Abdul Malik). The most common use for Abdul by far, is as part of a male given name, written in English. When written in English, Abdul is subject to variable spacing, spelling, and hyphenation. It is a common name in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and predominantly Muslim countries of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also used amongst African Americans and Turkic peoples of Russia. The meaning of Abdul literally and normally means "Slave of the", but English translations also often translate it to "Servant of the".