My baptismal name comes from St. Gabriel the ArchAngel. Having a deep affinity for the Middle East and Arabic culture, I decided to go with the Arabic word for refugee/immigrant/emigrant- Muhajir. Thus, the Arabic rendition of Gabriel the Refugee becomes Jibra'il Al-Muhajir. I see this choice as a mystical/esoteric meaning of someone who lives
in this world but called to be not
of it; a pilgrim trying to get back to my true home.
I suppose the main reason I chose this name though, is because ethnically I'm Scots/Irish and fiercely proud of my ancestry. I love all things Irish (our ancestral home is County Donegal) and am learning to play the Feadog, the Irish tinwhistle. But this can sometimes present a problem (for me) in the form of focusing too much on my ethnic heritage. So, rather than choosing an Irish name (sometimes I wish I had anyway), I chose something completely different to help keep me focused.
Yeah, sometimes I put waaay too much thought into things.