Arabic ENS Names
A Quick Guide to Minting 3 and 4 Character ENS Arabic Names on the Ethereum Name Service
An Ethereum researcher reveals the secrets of the Eastern numeral system, quick tips on snagging Arabic ENS names, and a thesis on their future adoption.
History & Context
After Fibonnaci encountered the Hindu-Arabic Numeral system in the Algerian city of بجاية in the early 13th century, he embraced the system and was one of many European scholars who helped evangelize its use, promoting it in his 1202 book Liber Abaci. Originating from the work of Indian mathematicians, it became known as the Western Arabic numeral system, and has evolved to become the most prevailing numerical system used in the world today.
Over the past few weeks, the Ethereum Name Service has seen a surge of volume relating to the minting and trade of Western Arabic numerical ENS names. A new community called the 10k Club has driven adoption of ENS, providing exclusive membership access for those with verified 3 and 4 digit ENS user names. The ENS project has experienced a tremendous surge in volume overall.
Thesis
The combined supply of 3 and 4 digit usernames is 10998. As floor prices rise and more participants become priced out, history has shown that users will adapt, applying popular community concepts to new projects with a lower barrier to entry.
In the context of ENS minting, it is predicted that Ethereum users will begin minting 3 and 4 digit ENS names using other numerical systems.
Update 5/25/2022:
As of today, 3 digit Arabic ENS names are officially sold out!
Update 6/8/2022:
The ٩٩٩ Club, devoted to 3 digit Arabic usernames, has gotten this subset of ENS names listed on ens.vision, allowing users to see the floor price, activity, listings, and number of owners. The website also has a bulk registration tool for ENS, though I have not audited the contract used for this. Please proceed with utmost caution when using any 3rd party sites.
Update 6/17/2022:
Bishara Mubarak and Callumquin.eth have created an Arabic ENS bot for Twitter: @ArabicENS
Eastern Arabic Numerals
Primarily used in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Northeast Africa, the Eastern Arabic numeral system bares some resemblance to the Western system, and unlike the Arabic language, is written left to right. Adopted by the Ottomon empire, the Eastern Arabic system boasts broad historical utilization, and is present in countless manuscripts throughout the world.
Creating Eastern Arabic Numerical ENS Names
To create an ENS name using Eastern Arabic numerals, go to an Arabic Keyboard website and type in the number combination you want to mint.
To verify it, you can paste the number combination into Google Translate to confirm it’s correct before minting.
Note: You can place a decimal in front of the 1 year registration time to save money minting these names, though they will only reserve for 1 month by doing this.
Unicode Standard
Arabic numbers use the U+66x format, from U+660 to U+669. Use a Unicode lookup tool prior to buying any Eastern Arabic ENS names to ensure they’re correct.
Arabic Words as ENS Names
In addition to Eastern Arabic numerical ENS names, users may choose to use actual Arabic words. Aesthetically, these names look incredible, but those with an untrained eye may be subject to spoofing due to the existence of something called tashkeel marks.
Tashkeel Marks
Used to denote things like short vowels, doubled letters (shadda) and absence of vowels (sukoon), tashkeel marks are added to Arabic words as extra characters. These marks are mostly used in religious literature and in a classroom environment. Because of the existence of these marks, you can mint the same word with a variety of tashkeel marks over each letter. You can even mint words with incorrect vowels. Thus, there is a potential for users to confuse different addresses.
Invalid Metadata
Arabic names which include tashkeel marks currently do not show up on OpenSea, and many other auction sites. A Github post reporting the issue on February 7th shows users reporting all kinds of special characters as being incompatible with the name service.
Copy and Pasting
Because Arabic is written right to left, it is often difficult to copy and paste Arabic names paired with English letters manually. One-click copy and paste buttons work better. Also, sometimes text with both Arabic and English characters do not paste correctly depending on the UI of the website. Twitter, for example, does not accurately paste Arabic ENS names. Metamask also does not paste it correctly, though the correct address does pop up below with a request to confirm if that’s the username you meant to type.
Thesis
There is opportunity to make progress in enhancing different UIs to accommodate Arabic ENS names, though the front end experience is not consistent across the internet. Before these adjustments can be made, ENS names using Arabic text are less likely to see mass adoption than Eastern Arabic numeric ENS names. In the current environment, Arabic text names will likely be used mostly for aesthetic reasons.
Commonly used Arabic words and names without tashkeel marks, especially with 3 and 4 letters, will be the most sought after Arabic ENS names. Many names of Arabic origin are Islamic names, and are written the same way in languages such as Farsi and Urdu. Thus, the demand for these names in Arabic script transcends far beyond Arabic culture.
Creating Arabic Language ENS Names
Make sure to avoid minting Arabic names with tashkeel marks. To do this, utilize Google Translate, as it does not provide translations with these marks. Always reverse translate to ensure you’re using the correct word.
To add some pop, set one of your NFTs as your primary ENS avatar for your Arabic username using this medium article from the ENS team.
Note: You can place a decimal in front of the 1 year registration time to save money minting these names. Once the decimal is placed you can customize the numbers to fit your desired registration time.
Arabizi:
Arabizi is a combination of English letters and Western Arabic numerals to write Arabic words. The numerals appear similar to the Arabic letters. If you see Arabic looking names with numbers placed randomly throughout the word, you’re looking at Arabizi.
Prominent Adopters
Notable Arabic ENS name adopters include:
- Well known blockchain influencer hailing from Oman, SharifaAlBarami.eth — شريفة.eth has participated in multiple discussions regarding ENS on multiple online forums.
- Soccer legend and NFT collector DanielGotHits — 260.eth
- Bishara Mubarak — Web3 consultant, gamer and real estate expert, Bishara is fluent in Arabic and is working to evangelize ENS to the Arab world.
Please contact me to add people to the list.
Conclusion
As support grows for multi-lingual Ethereum users, 3 and 4 Eastern Arabic numeral ENS names are the most likely to scale in adoption, followed by 3 and 4 letter Arabic text names without tashkeel marks. Since Arabic is considered the Latin of the old world, many other languages have Arabic loanwords, which may further drive the demand for Arabic ENS names.
