Hi! Originally, the character Faraj was supposed to be Arab from Fantasy North Africa. After doing some research, it turns out a lot of North Africans aren't Arab. In fact, in terms of pure genetics, the majority of North Africans in the region he's from are descended from the Amazigh (pl. Imazighen), which, according to wikipedia, are "the indigenous ethnic population of the Maghreb region of North Africa." You may have heard to them referred to as Lybians in antiquity, or as Berbers today (many don't want to be called Berbers as it comes from the word Barbarian and is not a name they chose for themselves).
The relations between Amazigh and Arabs is complex, and I'm only just scratching the surface in my own research. Many who are genetically North African identify more strongly as Arab due to the fact that they speak Arabic, etc. However, after doing a lot of research and conferring with Imazighen people, I've chosen to model Faraj and his culture as distinct entities from the Arab world. That involves a name change.
At first, I thought it would be fine to keep his name as Faraj because many Imazighen are Muslim and use Arabic names. They have been using them since the middle ages. However, in my research, one theme stood out to me, and that was the importance of language in preserving Amazigh culture. I will be looking at other names, but for now I have decided to go with the Tamazight (the Imazigh language) name Idir, meaning lively. I may change his name again as I gather more information, but for now I will be calling him Idir. Thank you!
