Baton Rogue-based rapper Kevin Gates and his wife Dreka have two children: daughter Islah (pronounced ees-lah), born in late 2012, and son Khaza, born in mid-2014.
Both of their names have been featured in Kevin’s music recently. As a result, both names have also seen a relatively steep rise in usage recently.
In May of 2015, Gates released the song “Khaza” [vid]. The same year, the baby name Khaza was the 2nd-highest-rising boy name of 2015 (after Rhydian). Usage was largely in the South.
- 2017: 72 baby boys (and 10 baby girls) named Khaza
- 13 in LA, 9 in GA, 7 in TX, 6 in TN, 5 in AL (56%)
- 2016: 77 baby boys (and 6 baby girls) named Khaza
- 18 in TX, 11 in LA, 7 in AL, 6 in GA, 6 in FL, 6 in NC, 5 in TN (77%)
- 2015: 34 baby boys named Khaza
- 8 in TX, 6 in LA (41%)
- 2014: 6 baby boys named Khaza [debut]
- 2013: unlisted
I’m not certain where the name comes from, but my wild guess is that it’s based on the Quranic word khaza’in, which means “treasures” in Arabic. (Gates is a practicing Muslim.)
In January of 2016, after releasing various mixtapes and singles, Gates finally put out his first studio album, Islah. Music magazine Spin called it “the most balanced Kevin Gates project to date.” The same year, the baby name Islah was the 2nd-highest-rising girl name of 2016 (after Kehlani).
- 2017: 58 baby girls named Islah
- 9 in FL, 8 in TX
- 2016: 48 baby girls (and 5 baby boys) named Islah
- 8 in CA, 8 in TX
- 2015: 8 baby girls named Islah
- 2014: unlisted
- 2013: unlisted
In this case I can tell you precisely where the name came from, because Gates talked about it in several interviews. Here’s how he defined the album title for HotNewHipHop in late 2015:
To reform, to improve, to make better. And I believe that’s what my first daughter did to me, so I named my first album after my first daughter. Because it improved me, it made me better.
And that’s exactly what the Arabic word islah means: “to improve, to better, to put something into a better position.”
Which baby name do you like more, Khaza or Islah? Would you use either one?
Sources:
- Kevin Gates Speaks On Naming His Album After Islah & Parenthood (Interview) [vid]
- Kevin Gates – Wikipedia
- Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, vol. 1, ed. by Josef W. Meri. New York: Routledge, 2006.
- Review: Kevin Gates Needs No Assists to Fuse His Yin and Yang on ‘Islah’
.jpg){kind=link}
