The Dib name and its variations

The name Dib is an Arabic (possibly Aramaic or Pheonecian) for WOLF. The Wolf in Lebanese folklore stands for courage and strength, so this name was given to people of courage. It was given also as a sign of superstition, where it was believed that by naming your son after a wild animal, it would keep evil spirits away from him, and he would live to an old age and not die young.

Lebanon was under the French Mandate (colonialization) between World War I and World War II, the vital records of Lebanon used the French phonetic rendering of Dib. The name can also be written as Deeb which is the more correct English phonetic rendering of the Lebanese name. Of the many Dibs who obtained passports or other documents for foreign use, some of them chose the Dib spelling, others the Deeb spelling. The Dip spelling also was used by the Dibs who emigrated to Mexico and other Latin American countries. This was the spelling used in the Turkish empire before World War I.