A Saudi citizen and resident of the northern city of Arar, Salem Amer Salem Al-Ayashi Al-Anzi, has named his new born baby girl Ivanka, after U.S. first daughter, Ivanka Trump, Arab News reported Thursday.



The girl was born in Arar and her name was registered with the Health Ministry at the Women and Children Hospital in the city.



A picture of the birth certificate has been circulating via Whatsapp all over the kingdom drawing mixed reactions.



Al-Anzi spoke to Arab News and explained that he chose the name for his daughter because his colleagues told him it meant "upmost beauty [sic]," and "God is gracious."



He insisted on the name further after a few people told him that he would not be allowed to register it.



Saudi journalist Moteeran Al-Nams, a friend of Al-Anzi, also told Arab News that what pushed the father to select the name was the fact that his friends challenged him to do it. “In our culture, we don’t step back from a challenge," he said.



"The General Administration of Civil Status in the kingdom prevents the registration of names that are blasphemous, names that fatwas have declared impermissible, names that are not socially valid and composite names, as per the civil status system."



Al-Anzi explained that there are no "religious or moral prohibitions" over the name in Arabic or the Saudi culture, adding that he had registered the name and submitted it to the Civil Status authority in Riyadh for approval.

