Last updated:
Short answer: in a certified translation, every name should be spelled exactly as it appears in the person’s passport, and for UAE residents it should also match the Emirates ID. Send a passport copy for each person named in the document, tell us if your own documents spell your name differently, and say which spelling you want used. Those three steps prevent most name problems.
Names look like the easy part of a translation. In practice they are where many avoidable problems start. A single missing letter, a swapped first and family name, or a different transliteration of an Arabic name can be enough for the office receiving your file to ask whether the translation and the passport belong to the same person.
Why the same name can be written several ways
Arabic and English use different alphabets, and there is no single rule for moving a name from one to the other. Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohamed are all common spellings of the same Arabic name. Family names that start with “Al” may be written Al-, El- or joined to the name. An English name can also be written in Arabic letters in more than one way.
None of these spellings is wrong on its own. The problem is consistency. If your passport says Mohamed and your translated certificate says Muhammad, someone checking the file has to decide whether they are the same person, and that decision is not always made in your favour.
What we match names against
- The passport first. The Latin-script name in the passport is the reference for English translations, and the Arabic name where the passport shows one.
- The Emirates ID for residents. For files used inside the UAE, we also check the names against the Emirates ID.
- Earlier translations in the same file. If a birth certificate was already translated for a residence application, the marriage certificate translated today should use the same spellings.
- Every person in the document. Parents, spouses, children, witnesses and company signatories all need a reference, not only the main applicant.
Common mistakes that get a file sent back
- Guessing the spelling of a parent’s or spouse’s name because no passport copy was sent.
- First and family name in a different order from the passport, which often happens with names from countries that put the family name first.
- A shortened name on the translation when the passport shows the full name, or the other way round.
- Two spellings within one file, for example a degree certificate and a transcript translated at different times by different offices.
- An old name on a document issued before a marriage or a legal name change, translated without a note explaining the change.
When your own documents do not agree
Sometimes the source of the problem is not the translation at all. An older certificate may spell a name differently from a newer passport. A translator should translate what the document says and must not “correct” an official record. What we can do is tell you about the difference before the translation is stamped, so you can decide how to handle it with the receiving authority.
If the difference is in your Emirates ID, the issuer is clear about the holder’s duty: the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) lists among ID card holders’ duties that they must report any change in the card’s details to the authority within one month of the change (ICP: ID card holder’s duties). The UAE Government portal says the same on its Emirates ID page. Data on a residence permit is amended through ICP’s own service (ICP: Amendment of residency permit data), not by a translation office.
Why this matters more for courts and official files
The UAE Government portal states that documents presented to the UAE’s courts must be in Arabic, or translated into Arabic by a legal translator approved by the UAE Ministry of Justice (u.ae: Civil cases). In a case file, the names of the parties appear on many documents: the claim, contracts, powers of attorney, IDs and judgments. If each translation spells a party’s name differently, the file becomes harder to read and easier to challenge. For companies and law firms, the same applies to company names, which should follow the trade licence exactly.
How we handle names at Mundo
- We ask for the passport (and Emirates ID if you have one) of everyone named, together with the document.
- We flag differences between your documents before we translate, and use the spelling you confirm.
- A second person reviews names, dates and numbers against the references. Our legal translator, Ahmed Muhammad Sabar, has been registered with the Ministry of Justice under number 302 since 2008.
- Questions come before the stamp: if a spelling is unclear, we ask you before the translation is finalised, so it is settled once.
For a full checklist of what to send, see our guide on how to send your document for translation on WhatsApp. If the document will also need attestation, read attestation or translation first.
Ready? Send your document on WhatsApp to +971 54 588 5472 with a passport copy for each person named, and you get a quote within 10 minutes. Related: Certified translation services in Dubai · Document attestation services · Birth and marriage certificate translation