History of First Names included in First Name Almanac
Given names most often derive from the following categories:
Aspiring personal traits (external and internal). For
example, the name Clement means "merciful" . English
examples include Faith, Prudence, August(us), and Fido (The
last coming from the Latin word 'fides' meaning 'faith').
Occupations, for example George means "farmer"
Circumstances of birth, for example Thomas meaning "twin" or
the Latin name Quintus, which was traditionally given to the
fifth male child.
Objects, for example Peter means "rock" and Edgar
means "rich spear"
Physical characteristics, for example Calvin means
"bald".
Variations on another name, especially to change the sex of
the name (Pauline, Georgia) or to translate from another
language (for instance, the names Francis or Francisco that
come from the name Franciscus meaning "Frenchman")
Surnames, for example Winston, Harrison, and Ross.
Such names are common in upper-class American families and
often come from families that are frequently intermarried
with the family bearing the individual's surname
Places, for example Brittany and Lorraine.
Time of birth, for example day of the week, as in Kofi
Annan, whose given name means "born on Friday", or the
holiday on which one was born, for example, the name Natalie
meaning "[born on] Christmas day" in Latin.
Combination of the above, for example the Armenian name
Sirvart means "love rose"
Names of unknown or disputed etymology, for example
Mary.
In many cultures, given names are reused, especially to
commemorate ancestors or those who are particularly admired,
resulting in a limited repertoire of names that sometimes
vary by orthography.
The most familiar example of this, to Western readers, is
the use of Biblical and saints' names in most of the
Christian countries (with Ethiopia, in which names were
often ideals or abstractions — Haile Selassie, "power of the
Trinity"; Haile Miriam, "power of Mary" — as the most
conspicuous exception). However, the name Jesus was
considered taboo or sacrilegious in some of the Christian
world.
Similarly, the name Mary, now popular if not ubiquitous
among Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, was
considered too holy for secular use until about the 12th
century. In countries that particularly venerated Mary, this
remained the case much longer; in Poland, until the arrival
in the 17th century of French queens named Marie.
Most common given names in English (and many other
European languages) can be grouped into broad categories
based on their origin:
Hebrew names, most often from the Bible, are very
common in — or are elements of names used in — the
historically Christian countries. Some have elements meaning
"God", especially "El." Examples: Michael, Joshua, Daniel,
Joseph, David, Adam, Elizabeth, Hannah and Mary. There are
also a handful of names in use derived from the Aramaic,
particularly the names of prominent figures in the New
Testament — such as Thomas, Martha and Bartholomew.
All of the Semitic peoples of history and the present day
use at least some names constructed like these in Hebrew
(and the ancient Hebrews used names not constructed like
these — such as Moses, probably an Egyptian name related to
the names of Pharaohs like Thutmose and Ahmose). The Muslim
world is the best-known example (with names like Saif-al-din,
"sword of the faith", or Abd-allah, "servant of God"), but
even the Carthagenians had similar names: cf. Hannibal, "the
grace of the Lord" (in this case not the Abrahamic God, but
the deity — probably Marduk — whose title is normally left
untranslated, as Baal).
Germanic names are characteristically warlike; roots
with meanings like "glory", "strength", and "will" are
common. The "-bert" element common in many such names comes
from beraht, which means "bright." Examples: Robert, Edward,
Roger, Albert, Carl, Alfred, Rosalind, Emma, Eric and
Matilda.
French forms of Germanic names. Since the Norman conquest of
England, many English given names of Germanic origin are
used in their French forms. Examples: Robert, Charles,
Henry, William, Albert.
Celtic names are sometimes anglicised versions of
Celtic forms, but the original form may also be used.
Examples: Alan, Brian, Brigid, Mórag, Ciarán, Jennifer, and
Seán. These names often have origins in Celtic words, as
Celtic versions of the names of internationally known
Christian saints, as names of Celtic mythological figures,
or simply as long-standing names whose ultimate etymology is
unclear.
Greek names can be derived from the Greco-Roman gods, or may
have other meanings. Some may be derived from the New
Testament and early Christian traditions. Some of the names
are often, but not always, anglicised. Examples: Eleanor,
Stephen, Alexander, Andrew, Peter, Gregory, George,
Christopher, Melissa, Margaret, Nicholas, Jason, Timothy,
Chloe and Zoë.
Latin names can also be adopted unchanged, or
modified; in particular, the inflected element can be
dropped, as often happens in borrowings from Latin to
English. Examples: Laura, Victoria, Marcus, Justin, Paul
(from Lat. "Paulus"), Julius, Cecilia, Felix, Julia, Pascal
(not a traditional-type Latin name, but the
adjective-turned-name paschalis, "relating to the Pascha" —
English "Easter").
Word names come from English vocabulary words.
Feminine names of this sort — in more languages than
English, and more cultures than Europe alone — frequently
derive from nature, flower, birds, colors, or gemstones.
Examples include Jasmine, Lavender, Dawn, Daisy, Rose, Iris,
Petunia, Rowan, and Violet. Male names of this sort are less
common — sometimes names like Bronco and Wolf associated
with strong or dangerous animals. (This is more common in
some other languages — such as Turkish — than in English).
Trait names most conspicuously include the Christian
virtues, mentioned above, and normally used as feminine
names (such as the three Christian virtues — Faith, Hope,
and Charity).
Nicknames
Nicknames are often used to distinguish between two or more
people with the same given name. Names that are currently in
fashion tend to be varied the most. Nicknames are informal
forms of names, often made by abbreviating and adding a y.
Shortenings reduce the size of a long name, but nicknames
can also be the same length as, or even longer than, the
original name. Nicknames are often used especially in
childhood; in English, Robert may be shortened to Robby and
then Rob. In German the names Johann and Margarete are
shortened to Hänsel and Gretel in the famous fairy tale.
Examples: Vicky, Rob, Danny, Abby, Ali, Max and Steve.
Feminine variations Many masculine names have
feminine variations, often multiple ones. Examples:
Charlotte, Stephanie, Philippa, Jane, Jacqueline, Danielle,
Paula, Patricia and Francesca.
Frequently, a given name has versions in many different
languages. For example, the biblical Hebrew name Susanna
also occurs in its original Hebrew version, Shoshannah, its
Spanish and Portuguese version Susana, and its French
version, Suzanne, and its Polish version, Zuzanna.
Slavic names are often of a peaceful character, the
compounds being derived from word roots meaning "to
protect", "to love", "peace", "to praise [gods]", "to give",
and so on.
Chinese are often unique, because meaningful Hanzi
and Hanja characters can be combined extensively. But Korean
names and Vietnamese names are usually simply conventions
derived from their Chinese counterparts.
However, some parents recycle popular given names as well.
The names of famous and successful persons are also reused
occasionally. Nevertheless, many Chinese and Korean parents
invest a tremendous amount contemplating the names of their
newborns before their birth, often with comprehensive
dictionaries or with religious guides, formal or informal.
Sometimes, especially in traditional families, paternal
grandparents are the name-givers. The Chinese language
doesn't have a particular set of words that function as
given names, which differs from English. Any combination of
Chinese characters theoretically can be used as given names,
but usually not any combination of English letters are used
as given names, which sometimes make Chinese people think
that there may be more English-speaking people sharing
identical full names than Chinese. This is not the case, due
to the much larger set of words used as family names in
English.
In many Westernized Asian locations, many Asians also take
on an unofficial English given name in addition to their
official given name. This is also true for Asian students at
colleges in countries like the United States, Canada, and
Australia, and people who wish to do business
internationally — both as means to ease communication with
people who cannot properly pronounce the names in their
official languages. It's also interesting to note that when
Chinese immigrants or students give themselves English given
names, they tend to pick one that closely matches their
original name if possible. For example, a Chinese man named
"Ah Dar" might become "Arthur" if he emigrates to the United
States, or a Vietnamese man named "Khanh" might become "Ken"
if he moves to a more developed country.
Many female Japanese names, such as Yoko Ono's, end in ko
(?), which means "child". This has caused some confusion
among westerners, because in some Romance languages,
masculine names often end in o, and feminine names often end
in a. People used to names like Tino/Tina are surprised that
Mariko or Yoko is female.
Most names in English are specifically masculine or
feminine, but there are many unisex names as well, such as
Jordan, Jamie, Jesse, Alex, Ashley, Chris, Hillary, Lesley,
Joe/Jo, Jackie, Pat, Sam. Often, one gender is predominant.
Many culture groups down through history did not gender
names strongly, so that many or all of their names were
unisex: Norse/Viking, Hebrew (both male and female Noah),
Gaullish. Others had gender built in as a matter of grammar:
Latin and its descendants Italian and French, Greek.
The term Christian name is sometimes used as a general
synonym for given name. Strictly speaking, the term applies
to a name formally given to a child at an infant baptism or
"christening", practiced by some Christian groups.
Popularity distribution of given names
The popularity (frequency) distribution of given names
typically follows a power law distribution.
Since about 1800 in England and Wales and in the U.S., the
popularity distribution of given names has been shifting so
that the most popular names are losing popularity. For
example, in England and Wales, the most popular female and
male names given to babies born in 1800 were Mary and John,
with 24% of female babies and 22% of male babies receiving
those names, respectively. In contrast, the corresponding
statistics for in England and Wales in 1994 were Emily and
James, with 3% and 4% of names, respectively. Not only have
Mary and John gone out of favor in the English speaking
world, also the overall distribution of names has changed
significantly over the last 100 years for females, but not
for males. This has led to an increasing amount of diversity
for female names.[24]
Influence of pop culture
Popular culture appears to have an influence on naming
trends, at least in the United States and United Kingdom.
Newly famous celebrities and public figures may influence
the popularity of names. For example, in 2004, the names "Keira"
and "Kiera" respectively became the 51st and 92nd most
popular girls' names in the UK, following the rise in
popularity of British actress Keira Knightley.[25] In 2001,
the use of Colby as a boys' name for babies in the United
States jumped from 233rd place to 99th, just after Colby
Donaldson was the runner-up on Survivor: The Australian
Outback. Also, the female name "Miley" which before was not
in the top 1000 was 278th most popular in 2007, following
the rise of tween queen Miley Cyrus.
Characters from fiction also seem to influence naming. After
the name Kayla was used for a character on the American soap
opera Days of our Lives, the name's popularity increased
greatly. The name Tammy, and the related Tamara became
popular after the movie Tammy and the Bachelor came out in
1957. Some names were established or spread by being used in
literature. Notable examples include Jessica, a name created
by William Shakespeare in his play "The Merchant of Venice",
Vanessa, created by Jonathan Swift; Fiona, a character from
James Macpherson's spurious cycle of Ossian poems; and
Wendy, an obscure name popularized by J. M. Barrie in his
play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up; and
Madison, a character from the movie Splash. Lara and Larissa
were rare in America before the appearance of Doctor Zhivago,
and have become fairly common since.
Kayleigh became a particularly popular name in the United
Kingdom following the release of a song by the British rock
group Marillion. Government statistics in 2005 revealed that
96% of Kayleighs were born after 1985, the year in which
Marillion released "Kayleigh".
Popular culture figures do not seem to have to be admirable
in order to influence naming trends. For example, Peyton
came in to the top 1000 as a female given name for babies in
the United States for the first time in 1992, immediately
after it was featured as the name of an evil nanny in the
film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
In other instances, names become less common because of
negative associations in popular culture. For example, Adolf
has fallen out of use since the Second World War.
Twin names
In some cultures, twins may be given distinctive pairs of
names. Twin names are sometimes similar in sound, for
example boy/girl twins named Christian and Christina in
followers of Christianity, or twin girls named Sudha and
Subha in India, or Ojor and Omon in Nigeria. The names may
have a thematic similarity such as Jesse (or Jessica) and
James (named after the American outlaw Jesse James) or
Matthew and Mark (named after the first two books of the New
Testament in the Bible). The oldest ever female twins, who
both died in 2000, were named Kin Narita and Gin Kanie, gold
and silver respectively in Japanese.
