I propose to merge Masih (surname) into Masih (name). The name is used as a given name as well, and is also used outside of India and Pakistan (we have articles on two Afghan and two Iranian footballers who have Masih as a given name; see here). It is therefore better to have one article covering both the given name and the surname, as well as its Arabic origin and etymology.

I would preserve most text, but remove the image on the target page (which with its Islamic honorific misleadingly suggests that it's a Muslim name), as well as the {{Christianity in India sidebar}} (which is inappropriate given that this name is widely used outside of India). ☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 07:24, 26 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

User:Apaugasma, it looks like a blocked user who had repeatedly tried to push his POV here to eliminate any association of the surname with Christianity (how it is used in South Asia), created Masih (name). I would recommend that we have two separate articles on Masih (surname) and Masih (given name) as the usage is quite different. What are your thoughts? Kind regards, Anupam^Talk 15:38, 26 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Anupam, yes I'm quite familiar with this blocked user; in fact it is in cleaning up behind them that I came here. Most of their edits are disruptive and need to be reverted, but they also sometimes create articles which are bad in content but are actually notable as a subject: such articles which have been kept are, e.g., Names and titles of Jesus in the Quran (created by sockpuppet SharqHabib, gone through AfD here), or John the Baptist in Islam (created by sockpuppet UmatiKhan). Masih (name) seems to be another such article: Masih does indeed seem to be a name that is used both as a surname and as a given name, and so is primarily a 'name'.

I believe that having a separate article Masih (given name) would serve little purpose: I suspect that the given name is also largely used by Christians, and in any case both the given name and the surname are directly derived from the Arabic word for 'Christ' (FYI, Arab Christians also often have names containing 'Masih'). Masih (name) seems WP:PRECISE enough for both the given name and the surname (as well as other forms such as Dionysius bar Masih, 'Dionysius the son of Masih'), and is most WP:CONCISE. Thanks for taking this into consideration, ☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 16:50, 26 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your reply User:Apaugasma. If you do decide to merge the articles, I would recommend that a specific section be devoted to the usage of the surname in the Indian subcontinent (chiefly India and Pakistan) that incorporates the information that I wrote at Masih (surname). Kind regards, Anupam^Talk 17:00, 26 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]