Where does "Idris" come from?

It depends on who you talk to.  I've had people from Malaysia, the Middle East, India, and Great Britain say something to the effect of "You don't look <Muslim, Malaysian, ...>."  Also, because of my Chinese background, the name Idris tends to throw people a lot.

The name is Welsh.  I'm not sure which way the name went.  My mom, the historian, said that it migrated from Wales to the Middle East through the Crusades.  I almost think that's true but there's also a couple references to Idris in the Qu'ran, implying that the name went the other way.  I assume it spread to the rest of Asia through Islam.

From the Qu'ran

19:56-58

56. Also mention in the Book
    Idris:²⁵⁰⁸
    He was a man of truth
    (And sincerity), (and) a prophet:

57. And We raised him
    To a lofty station.

58. Those were some
    Of the prophets on whom
    Allah did bestow His Grace.-
    Of the posterity of Adam,
    And of those whom We
    Carried (in the Ark)

Footnote 2508
Idris is mentioned twice in the Qur-an, viz.; here and in xxi. 85, where he is mentioned among those who patiently persevered.  His identification with the Biblical Enoch, who "walked with god" (Gen. v. 21-24), may or may not be correct.  Nor are we justified in interpreting verse 57 here as meaning the same thing as in Gen. v. 24 ("God took him"), that he was taken up without passing through the portals of death.  All we are told is that he was a man of truth and sincerity, and a prophet, and that he had a high position among his people.  It is this point which brings him in the series of men just mentioned; he kept himself in touch with his people, and was honoured among them.  Spiritual progress need not cut us off from our people, for we have to help and guide them.  He kept to truth and piety in the highest station.

21:85

85. And (remember) Isma'il,
    Idris,²⁷⁴⁸and Zul-kifl, all
    (Men) of constancy and patience;

86. We admitted them to
    Our Mercy: for they
    Were of the Righteous ones.

Footnote 2748
...He was in a high station in life, but that did not spoil him. He was sincere and true, and that was the particular quality of his constancy and patience.

From Wales,

According to http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/arthuriana2z/c.htm

Cader Idris was "The name given to the legendary Welsh giant, 'Cader' meaning chair, 'Idris' being the actual name of the giant. Spending the night is this chair was said to turn the person either towards writing poetry, or it would send a person mad."

There's also a scenic place in Wales called Cadair Idris.  In the "Dark is Rising" series by Susan Cooper, the hill is also referred to as "The Seat of Arthur" but I haven't verified it yet (I haven't taken the time to apply my "advanced" research skills to this yet.  Most of this was done when I was in Junior High.

The Rock of Cader Idris

     [It is an old tradition of the Welsh bards, that on the summit of the mountain Cader Idris is
     an excavation resembling a couch; and that whoever should pass a night in that hollow,
     would be found in the morning either dead, in a state of frenzy, or endowed with the
     highest poetical inspiration.]

I LAY on that rock where the storms have their dwelling,
  The birthplace of phantoms, the home of the oloud;
Around it for ever deep music is swelling,
  The voice of the mountain-wind, solemn and loud.
'Twas a midnight of shadows all fitfully streaming,
  Of wild waves and breezes, that mingled their moan;
Of dim shrouded stars, as from gulfs faintly gleaming;
  And I met the dread gloom of its grandeur alone.

I lay there in silence ­ a spirit came o'er me;
  Man's tongue hath no language to speak what I saw:
Things glorious, unearthly, pass'd floating before me,
  And my heart almost fainted with rapture and awe.
I view'd the dread beings around us that hover,
  Though veil'd by the mists of mortality's breath;
And I call'd upon darkness the vision to cover,
  For a strife was within me of madness and death.

I saw them ­ the powers of the wind and the ocean,
  The rush of whose pinion bears onward the storms;
Like the sweep of the white-rolling wave was their motion,
  I felt their dim presence,­but knew not their forms !
I saw them ­ the mighty of ages departed­
  The dead were around me that night on the hill:
From their eyes, as they pass'd, a cold radiance they darted,­
  There was light on my soul, but my heart's blood was chill.

I saw what man looks on, and dies ­ but my spirit
  Was strong, and triumphantly lived through that hour;
And, as from the grave, I awoke to inherit
  A flame all immortal, a voice, and a power !
Day burst on that rock with the purple cloud crested,
  And high Cader Idris rejoiced in the sun;­
But O ! what new glory all nature invested,
  When the sense which gives soul to her beauty was won !

From Other People Writing In:

Ahmed Shehadeh

Basically Idris is the true Arabic name of a prophet of God. He came shortly after Adam. He lived to be 365 years old approximately. And he is said to have been taken away from the earth alive. He is the Ever living King of Earth. In the Bible he is known as Enoch. I don't know why there is such a huge difference in the way it is said. But I do believe that the Arabic name is the true name of this man, based on my faith in the Quran.

I was searching for more info on him, but it is very rare. In the "Kebra Negast" Ethiopian Glory of the Kings, it says this about Enoch. "...and Jared died and Enoch reigned in righteousness, and feared God, and God hid him so that he might not see death. And he became a King in his flesh in the land of the living. After Enoch disappeared Methuselah reigned....."

The different opinions on how Enoch effects us in our time is varied diversely in religion to another religion. Some believe he is the Christ, the same man. I don't believe so. Some say he is Melchisedec. also another immortal king.

Anyways, I could tell you more..

Peace.

Ayman Shamma

If you see the name in it's Quranic spelling, you'll notice it's an I as in Islam then a D with a little circle above it (denoting silent) followed by an R with a slash underneath (denoting the ree sound).   Which would make the transliterated read as "Id-reese"...with the id pronounced as the Freudian entity and reese like the monkey...though in Arabic the silent trailing E is an A.

http://quran.al-islam.com/Targama/DispTargam.asp?nType=1&nSeg=0&l=arb&nSora=19&nAya=56&t=eng
(it's on the first line, fourth word from the right)

http://quran.al-islam.com/Targama/DispTargam.asp?nType=1&nSeg=0&l=arb&nSora=21&nAya=85&t=eng
(it's on the first line, again fourth word, about center in the line)

Though it's fair to say I'm not sure how Irish would say it.  I'm just assuming the name's Islamic origins would be the equivalent of the "world's" pronunciation.

Good bit of info on your website.

My Story

Now as an interesting side note or possibly foreshadowing, King Idris of Libya, in the same year of my birth (1969), was deposed by Colonel  Muammar al-Qaddafi.  Now my mom tells me that I was also born when the astronauts blasted off to the moon.  So maybe the two events will cancel each other out, leaving me to lead a normal life...

I pronounce the name "eye-dris," which apparantly contradicts the rest of the world's pronounciation of the name as "i - dreese" with the "i" sounding like "fit."  I also have a Chinese name that people frequently mangle, "Hsueh-heng," pronounced "shyeh-heng" with a rising inflection on the first syllable and a falling and rising inflection on the second (I think that's how it's pronounced (Yeah, I know, it's my name and I'm supposed to know it but hardly anyone uses it.  I don't even use it because you wouldn't believe how badly everyone manages to destroy it.  I still have shivers from remembering just about all my pre-college graduation ceremonies.)).  It means, literally, "learn-much or deeply."  The fortunate combination of Occidental and Oriental names means that if someone's referring to an Idris Hsi in the world, there's a darn good chance that it's me.