Tariq Ramadan and his name

I asked if Ed Jajko has any comment on the Tariq Ramadan case. "Ramadan" means the hot month, surely an odd family name. Ed replies: "No comment on the case. Ramadan was originally the hot or parched month, but since the Muslim calendar was made lunar and rotates around the solar year, Ramadan can be in the heat of summer or the chill of winter. This year's Ramadan begins on or about 16 October. It's no more unusual a family name than March, May, or August in English or German*. But Mr. Ramadan is of Egyptian origin, and so Ramadan may be his family name only because of European, not Egyptian, practice. There are Egyptians who bear family names -- Boutros Boutros-Ghali and his brothers and other relatives, for example -- but most Egyptians have three names: given name, father's name, grandfather's name. With each new generation, a new name is tacked on in front and the father's name takes the place of the grandfather's. Ramadan is an acceptable given name for a Muslim boy. Not a common one, but quite acceptable. Once Ramadan has a son, whom he names Tariq, the son becomes Tariq Ramadan. In Egypt and the Arab world he is known as Tariq or Mr. Tariq. Europe and the Western world require him to become Mr. Ramadan. (The name of the grandfather, Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, has been omitted.) I find it interesting that he bears the name of Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Berber who defeated Visigoth Spain in 711, who gave his name also to Jabal Tariq, the Mountain of Tariq, i.e. Gibraltar. Ramadan seeks to create a new European Muslim identity. Tariq ibn Ziyad had much the same mission". RH:* The only names of months commonly used as family names in English are March and May. Similarly only a few colors are used as last names: White, Black, Grey, Green, but not pink, purple, etc. These selectivities should be studied. When I said how pleased I was that Randy Black had met Jaqui White, Philip Huyck remarked "Black and White". Red (read) all over? There is no WAISer named "Red". That Tariq ibn Zayad was a Berber lures us into the complex racial and religious history of Muslim Spain. We should also examine the history of Ramadan. It made sense during the hot month to extend the siesta to embrace the day and to live it up at night, but to move Ramadan to suit the lunar calendar makes no sense.