Articles and tools for parents in the UAE

Ramadan 1448 arrives in winter, with shorter, cooler days than recent summer Ramadans, a gentle time to introduce children to fasting. In the UAE the whole household rhythm shifts too, with shorter working hours and long family evenings. Here is a practical guide for Emirati and expat families, from Haq Al Laila to Eid morning.

Zayed, Rashid and Hamdan are names you hear in every Emirati neighbourhood, alongside prophets' names and the short modern names Arab expat families love in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Here are more than sixty Arabic boy names with meanings, plus what to know about spelling the name for the birth certificate, passport and Emirates ID.

The UAE is one of the few places where an Emirati family, an Egyptian family and an Arabic-English mixed family might all be choosing from the same list of names in the same week. Here are more than sixty Arabic girl names with their meanings, from Emirati heritage names to Quranic and modern favourites, plus the practical side of getting the spelling right for the birth certificate, passport and Emirates ID.