Perhaps not, but Iqbal means “good fortune” in Arabic!

Professor Jason Kilborn gave me permission to reprint his post from the Civ Pro List Serve:

The real stumper for me comes when you’ve got Arabic names like . . . Iqbal (which means, ironically, “good fortune”!).  In Arabic, the “a” in this name is long—“iq-BAAL” but I gather everyone pronounces this name like a distasteful sporting good—“ICK-ball”.

Turns out I’ve been pronouncing it wrong all this time. So much for my favorite Courtoon, which I’ve shown in several classes.

Speaking of pronouncing tough SCOTUS case names, the Green Bag has published the definitive guide (Iqbal is, alas, not included).

H/T Brian Frye, my co-author, who just started as a Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law.