Abu or Um

It took me a while to get used to the naming system here and it is still difficult to always understand immediately who is mentioned in a conversation.

It seems like everybody - especially the men - have the same name. I guess about 75% is called Mohammed, 15% is called Ahmed, and the rest are Youssefs, Alis, Hassans, Abdel somethings, etc..

So, when you meet a Syrian you don't know or you don't remember his name, just call him Mohammed. Most of the time you are correct.

It is even more complicated. Once, Syrians are married and have a son (which is usually within a few years after the wedding), they name their son after the husband's father and from that moment they are called Abu and Um with the name of the son following.

Let me give you an example :
'"Mohammed and Noura get married.
A son is born after 1 year.
He is called Hassan after Mohammed's father.
Mohammed is now Abu Hassan.
Noura is now Um Hassan."

Sometimes, it happens that a couple doesn't have any son, only daughters.
Sometimes, it happens that a couple cannot have any children.
The Arabic logic is applied. After some time (I don't know how much time), they are Abu and Um anyway.

Let me give you an example :
'"Mohammed and Noura get married.
They don't have a son.
Mohammed's father is called Hassan.
Mohammed is called Abu Hassan.
Noura is called Um Hassan."

It even gets more complicated. 2 or more brothers name their oldest son after their father. So, they start with different names, but get called the same afterwards.
Or, 1 brother has a son and 1 brother doesn't. Again, they are called the same. And so are their wives.

And, it doesn't always help to refer to parents, grandparents, uncles, etc. because then it can get very confusing. Especially, in the villages, nephews and cousins marry each other. Or, uncles and nieces. Or, several brothers of 1 family get married to several sisters of another family. Or, any combination of the above...

I suppose it is complicated for the Syrians also. That's why they call each other Habibi, Hadji, and probably some more denominations that I did not capture yet.