The pronunciation of a word has nothing to do with the translation of its meaning. You may recall that in 1996, the press in Iran had a minor problem covering the American presidential race because in Farsi, “Dole” transliterates to a common street term for the penis. “Dole” has no such meaning in English. The video thus begins with a fallacy and doesn’t make any progress afterwards.
“Obama” is a word from the Luo family of languages resident in the Nile and Sahara regions of Africa. It has no relation whatsoever to Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic. Here’s the WikiAnswers page on the surname’s origins:
Obama was the given name of the senator’s great-grandfather. Like most African cultures, the Luo of Kenya did not have hereditary surnames until the British (or other European colonizers) required them. Most of them chose the names of their fathers as their surnames. Obama was chosen as his surname by the senator’s grandfather.
Most Luo names were given at birth by mothers or grandmothers and referred to circumstances connected with the birth, or to things going on in the life of the mother near the time of birth. Obama is based on the Luo verb that means “to be slightly bent” or “to be twisted”. Though no one knows for sure why his great-grandfather was given the name, experts on Luo language and culture think the most likely possibilities are that the baby either had a leg or arm that looked a little bent just after he was born, or that he was born in the breech position. (Emphasis mine)
Turning now to Obama’s first name, we should note that its origins are similar to madrassa. Both are common Arabic words adopted by cultures wherever Islam has spread. Arabic and Hebrew actually share a common linguistic ancestor, as you can tell from so many similar words that share meaning: shabbat/sabaah, shalom/salaam, elohim/allah. (Yes, Allah derives from the Old Testament word for God.)
Nevertheless, Arabic meanings for “Barack” are very different from the ones offered in the video: in various measures, the verb root can mean “to make a camel kneel,” “to invoke a blessing,” or “to be blessed.” Nouns derived from the root can mean “puddle,” “blessing,” good wishes,” or “fortunate.” My Hans-Wehr Arabic-English dictionary doesn’t offer any links to Satan or high places. At least, not any higher than a camel’s back.
Which brings us, finally, to Obama’s middle name (which, contrary to popular opinion, does not translate to Nicholae Carpathia). Notably absent from the video, “Hussein” is among the most common names in Arabic, directly translating as “handsome” or “beautiful.” The verb root can be used in many different contexts, including “to treat with kindness” and “to act rightly.” Noun variations include husn (“excellence”), hasan (“excellent”), hasana (“charity”) and other positives, but nothing antichrist-y. We’ll just have to chalk this one up as another wingnut fail.
Because wingnuts are smart! With words!
