In June there's a major conference on this subject.

It appears not thought has been give to the name for this currency.

Any thoughts? Thanks. Sul.

I think that something with "khalij" (Gulf in arabic) would be good. Something like Khalij dinar or khalij dirham..

What is the Arabic word for pearl?
I know unfortunately very little of that part of the world but I had some very remote memory of the city being en route for the Mesopotamian traders and something about pearls. So I've done some quick n'dirty searches on the web and sure enough found that Dubai has a very long history of pearl harvesting. I also found "Pearl estate" this and "Pearl properties" that - so perhaps the word Pearl is already too "tainted"?
I do not think pearls are the bearer of any offensive meaning - but I could be totally wrong. Anyway I would like to count my money in "pearls".
I am of course meddling with something I have no knowledge of - but I got so fascinated with the idea of a new currency needing a name - don't happen too often I think?
Annika
http://www.skidubai.com/dubai/history/
http://www.sheikhmohammed.ae/vgn-ext-templ...000b0140a0aRCRD

Annika, no it does not happen often. Interesting route 'Pearl'. I am surprised at the first post since of course naming is an area we work on a lot by coincidence. Suleyman needs to get some Arab speakers on here!!

My suggestions for what they are worth would be:

Gulfi

Gulfiar

Gulfar

Gulfinar

Rinar

Riyar

Diral

Diri

Diryal

Diriyal

Dinyal

Diyal

Riyaldi

Rialdi

I think Rinar is my favourite.

Interesting how Dinar, an existing currency name of course, is so close to Dinari (plural of Latin currency) and Denaro the Italian word for money. Probably no coincidence at all.

The first people to develop coins were the Lydians in what is now Anatolia (Turkey) in 600 B.C.

We did infact develop a symbol, and also a name, for the single global currency - the 'only' world currency. http://www.worldcurrency.org/

Quote from a site:

"There seem to be disagreement on the name of the currency: most likely the Kuwaits and Bahrainis like it to be called the Dinar, the Saudis, Qataris, and Omanis like the Riyal (or Rial), the UAE probably likes the Dirham. I wonder if they realize that all these names are either of pagan origin (the Dinar and Dirham) or Christian kaffir origins (the Riyal or Rial). The Dinar 's origins are Roman- the Dinarius was the currency of ancient Rome- while the Real (Royal) is Spanish and Catholic to boot. Of course, there is always the Shekel to fall back on, and it was used by some venerable old Prophets...."

Rinar remains favourite for me. Wonder what that could mean in Arabic. Anyone?

Very interesting. I grew up in the US - my Arabic is way rusty so cannot give much assistence on meaning of new names! Hope some great arab speakers come on here to help.

Diryal sounds best to me. Dirham, Dinar and Rial or Riyal all combined. Have no idea what it means...

Or Diriya without the L and with the additional i.

This might be easier to say for the plural in English. One Diriya, two Diriya could even remain the same.

It's a great political solution. The Di of Dinar and Dirham, the majority names, come before the Riyal but that somehow gets even weight by virtue of being the main word part even though it is second.

Is it too Saudi because of this?:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diriyah

So candidates now seem to be:

Gulfir

Gulfiar

Gulfar

Gulfinar

Rinar

Riyar

Diral

Diri

Diryal

Diriyal

Dinyal

Diyal

Khalij

Raldi

Riyaldi

Rialdi

Good Morning, looks good!

I have done some hasty research. I have no idea if it has any aggravating consequences that the words/names already are in use????
There is Gulfi Wine & Gulfi geneaology
http://www.gulfi.it/inglese/azienda.htm
http://www.gulfi.net/
Company/domain name
http://gulfiar.com/
Gulfar General Transport
http://www.ameinfo.com/db-793448.html
Gulfinar, Rinar & Riyar are names
http://www.lcfsrefugees.blogs.com/photos/r...s/img_6240.html
http://movies.aol.com/celebrity/lilian-rinar/150781/main
http://www.classmates.com/directory/public...regId=608765411
Company
http://www.diryal.com/
Dinyal is a synonym for shaman among Turkmens in Central Asia
http://www.khyber.org/publications/041-045...hanshaman.shtml
Ad’Diriyah a city of religious importance
http://www.arriyadh.com/En/Tourism/LeftBar...iya.doc_cvt.asp
Don’t know how important the “H” is for pronounciation
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&...&d=5&m=2&y=2008
A Sri Lankan name Diriyal
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/080427/News/news0011.html
There is also a Diriyal Tea Farm in India.
A ship
http://www.dawn.com/2002/08/13/ebr16.htm
Feeling like spoilsport
Annika

Good work Annika. Virtually no name in the world is clear of any associations 'somewhere'. Provided there is no trade mark registration in conflict, or prior use in some countries, and the associations are not negative, all is possible.

Diri

Ridi are two more.

One Diri, two Diris sound nice and simple and combine all three names. still need Arabic expert here....wish I could be

Diri sounds good!
Pearl in Arabic is "Jawhar" or "Jawhara", but it sounds a bit heavy for a currency. Otherwise, I like the sound "Guinih" which means pound in Arabic. It's the name of the currency in Egypt. So, maybe combined with something else, it could sound good.
Any other translation?

Dubayy Diri sounds good in my Swedish pronounciation/ear! Could be different in Arabic of course. I do not know what this new currency will be connected to -don't know if that is correct term - political science vocabulary is out of my scope. Whatever is used in UEA? Here is a short exposition over the Euro. Nothing to do with names but still a rather newly introduced currency:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7386685.stm
Annika

the new currency is for 4 out of 6 gulf states. Political and economic harmony is still a challenge out there.

diri is the easiest for sure. Needs a full Arabi check... though Farouk says it's cool.

same name is egypt probably would not work.

Ok D Diri is out of question. I still like my "pearl" so Jawhar Diri sounds good in Swedish..... ;-)

Hmmmmm a bit long.

Jaw-Diri then? Sounds OK but the "jaw" gives no good vibes in English? But Diri is good.

sounds weird with the jaw in the way... don't forget the word Gulf might be placed in front....

Diri is a town in Saudi. So is Diriya, but known as Ad'Diriyah... the original capital until the Ottoman's destroyed it in early 1800's

so they would love both names but how about the other countries?

Diriyal may still be best then....

I think Diriyal sounds a bit like some hip talk from a teenagers text message..as in, da riyal.. (the riyal)...(but don't listen to me, I know nothing about currencies)...

it's the sound and meaning of the word that matters for now... thanks lil. and that's kind of a very british/jamaican Ali G 'street' interpretation of the sound, right?

if it is going to be diryal or diriyal then the three letter code can be GDL....

There's only two others that start with G:

Gold Ounces = XAU

Greek Drachmae = GRD

so that works too

There are 9 currencies starting with G. Please see (scroll down)
http://www.xe.com/iso4217.php

The drachmae has retired in favour of the Euro... If that means GDR is free for use - I have no idea but I'm sure ISO would sort that out.
For a list of symbols, please see (scroll down):
http://www.xe.com/symbols.php

According to Wikipedia the name will be: Khaleeji. (on a page modified Apr 08)

The Khaleeji (Arabic: خليجي) is a proposed unified currency of the member states of the GCC or Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

The term 'Khaleeji' is arabic for "of the gulf", and is traditionally associated with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

The currency, when adopted as planned in 2010, will be sole legal tender in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Oman has stated it will not be able to adopt the khaleeji at the onset. In addition, Yemen is slated to join the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) by 2016, although it will not adopt anytime soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaleeji_%28currency%29

that's an interesting name... wonder where wiki got it from as I've not come across that proposal before....

yes drachma gone... if it becomes khaleeji then the three letter code could be GKL or something

khaleeji does mean 'of the gulf' apparently but in a very broad sense... if you google it. not sure how viable it is for a currency as it is also the name of a dance and a band of singers/musicians

not sure whether this bank would be pleased or angry about it too....

http://www.khcbonline.com/

After the Central Bank Governors' meeting of the six GCC states in Doha last Monday 10th June, there is another conference tomorrow in Dubai.

The entry in Wikipedia re suggested name for the new single currency has been modified, pls see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaleeji_%28currency%29
The conference in Dubai has attracted some attention (see press release and news items below) although as far as I understand nothing decisive was achieved regarding naming of the proposed single currency?
http://www.godubai.com/citylife/press_rele...id=16445&search
http://www.eyeofdubai.com/v1/news/newsdetail-23168.htm
http://www.spoletonline.com/index.php?sezi...om=&paginafrom=

I beleive the currency shall be made to Darham and Dinar as was at the time of prophet, as Islam is the most Important aspect of life here

I believe the currency shall be made to Darham and Dinar as was at the time of prophet, as Islam is the most Important aspect of life here

That is true but is there a connection between those names and the Prophet apart from the fact those names (might have) existed at his time?

Coins pre-date his arrival.

http://rg.ancients.info/lion/article.html

And neither of those names originate from his time.

http://www.collectionstudio.com/ru/help/article01.htm

We'll see what the GCC decides. Will be interesting though now seems there will be further delays.

I don't think Khaleeji is a good name, imagine your self going to like this store with an English staff and then you ask the guy(Indian,English,Phillpino whatever) you ask him how much is this he says for example "60 Khaleeji", i don't know but i don't think it sounds nice.

well, the Symbol (letter G with vertical bar overlaid it) is perfect and looks gorgeous! I loved it. on the other hand, in Saudi and Qatar its Riyal but I do not really like the new currency to be called (Riyal) because we want to be optimistic we really need a creative name something NEW something unique! and since al-iranyeen also name their currency Riyal we really want to look different. To me, all the names suggested by the INCIDE are really lame! ديريال sounds like فريال same goes with the other names! we should not adapt ديريال just because its consisted of درهم + دينار + ريال ok this might be good idea but still the name sounds exotic and superficial. I also heard that some GCC officials tend to accept the name(كرم)<<this would be the worst and most ridiciulous name ever! in modern world money should means save and used wisely not spend and waste! right? ppl on other parts of the world will think that we do not know to spend money if we name it KARAM. What shall we call the new currency then? well honestly i can not come up with any good name right now but the name MUST be able to be written with Latin letters no more ع or خ sounds and the name should sounds modern and smooth and flows from mouth when pronounced. should be something we all share, something that also happened to have a deep meaning in GCC cultures. What about MAAL?? مال is easy to remember is so relevant name.

well, the Symbol (letter G with vertical bar overlaid it) is perfect and looks gorgeous! I loved it. on the other hand, in Saudi and Qatar its Riyal but I do not really like the new currency to be called (Riyal) because we want to be optimistic we really need a creative name something NEW something unique! and since al-iranyeen also name their currency Riyal we really want to look different. To me, all the names suggested by the INCIDE are really lame! ديريال sounds like فريال same goes with the other names! we should not adapt ديريال just because its consisted of درهم + دينار + ريال ok this might be good idea but still the name sounds exotic and superficial. I also heard that some GCC officials tend to accept the name(كرم)<<this would be the worst and most ridiciulous name ever! in modern world money should means save and used wisely not spend and waste! right? ppl on other parts of the world will think that we do not know to spend money if we name it KARAM. What shall we call the new currency then? well honestly i can not come up with any good name right now but the name MUST be able to be written with Latin letters no more ع or خ sounds and the name should sounds modern and smooth and flows from mouth when pronounced. should be something we all share, something that also happened to have a deep meaning in GCC cultures. What about MAAL?? مال is easy to remember is so relevant name.

I would like to sugest the name DIN, it is simple,have less than 6 letters (so it makes easier to remember), and sounds like "G" for the westerns, also it remembers the Mythological Arab creature "Djiin" and it is a diminutive of the Historic Dinar name. Five Dins("Gins","Djins") sounds much better than Five Khaleeji, and all the other four ones !! Another variations would be JIN(A god one), GIN and DJIN.

Hi, great stuff! You have certainly added excellent names to our very preliminary list. Delighted you like the symbol. What drove you to the gulf currency site over the last two days? Do please spread the word - the more people enter the debate, the better.