given name

given name, part of a personal name that distinguishes an individual from other members of a group, clan, or family. It is typically used in conjunction with a surname, or “family name,” which in many cases is inherited and held in common by members of a family.

The origins of given names

Scholars agree that the use of personal names arose at an extremely early period in human development. Personal names are derived regularly from ordinary words or from other names. Less commonly, they are derived from the synthesis of essentially meaningless units, such as parts of words, single syllables, or mere sounds or letters. In general, every human being receives some name shortly after birth, in a matter of minutes or days or weeks, whether or not this name is considered permanent or temporary. This name is necessarily given by someone other than the individual receiving it, generally by a parent or both parents or at least some member or members of the family or group. Since these are well-wishers of the child, the name in any society will ordinarily be a “good” or auspicious one, whether chosen because of religious feeling, family pride, fashion, or mere practicality.

Since a name is generally considered important, its bestowal is often a solemn or ritual occasion. Such solemnity does not usually prevent the use of a pet name, however, and this nickname may later displace the “real” name for practical purposes and sometimes even officially. Because a newly born child possesses only minimal individuality, few even of its physical traits being determined, fitting descriptive names can rarely be applied, although parental pride may indulge in such a name as Callias, Greek for “beautiful.” Some peoples have resorted to numbering their children (e.g., the Roman praenomina: Quintus, Sextus, etc.), although in such cases the original name is sometimes (though not among the Romans) considered to be only temporary.

In contrast to the rarity of truly descriptive names, incident names are common throughout history and across cultures. These are suggested by the time or circumstances of the birth or sometimes of the pregnancy. Ben-oni (Benjamin), “Son of My Sorrow” (Genesis 35: 18), was the name of an infant whose mother died in childbirth. This is an example of an “unpleasant” or seemingly inauspicious name that found use among the Puritans, perhaps being given on similar occasions. Even among modern peoples, incident naming, particularly with reference to the occasion of birth, is not uncommon; thus, a child might be called April or June or even Christmas. Incident names can also manifest through numerous saints’ names (including even the French Toussaint, “All Saints”) given, partly at least, because of the day of birth.

The desire to give a child a “good” name regularly imparts a euphemistic flavour, but many namings are even more definitely so intended and consciously try to start the child out under proper auspices. A baby may be put into what is conceived to be a proper relationship with a totem by being called Wolf, or Son-of-the-Wolf. Even among the Puritans such auspicious names were much more common than their opposites; examples include Hope, Constant, Increase, Comfort, and Satisfaction. Names that dedicate a child to some god or in some way connect with a god are extremely common (especially in Semitic languages), and many modern names are thus derived: John from the Hebrew “Jah is gracious,” Theodore from the Greek “gift of God,” and various names beginning in Os- (such as Oscar or Oswald) from the Germanic word for deity.

Increasing in frequency is the actual manufacture of a personal name from sounds, letters, syllables, or a combination of other names. Though the practice is probably of ancient date, it became much more commonplace beginning in the late 20th century, especially in the United States. Thus have been coined Jaxxon, Bexley, Paityn, Emberlynn, and a host of others. Inevitably, after the passage of a few generations, names lose touch with their origins, tend to be repeated, and become “just names.” The common practice of naming a child “after” someone, usually some member of the family, is chiefly responsible, along with the power of tradition, for making the use of an established name seem safer and more suitable. With the continuation of this practice, a name may become meaningless to later generations and degenerate into a mere label or tag. This loss of lexical meaning affects especially names borrowed from one language into another. In compensation, the name acquires a new richness of suggestion as the result of remembered people who have borne it. Thus, today few know that Thomas means “twin” and was originally applied to one of twins; on the contrary, a child is so named “after” a relative or someone else or simply because “Tom is a good name.” Often the name will be given with both ideas in mind and perhaps even with the additional thought of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas More, or another historical Thomas.

The original name, however given, may be replaced, and such is the regular practice among some peoples. The name may be changed at some definite time, as at puberty, or it may be changed on the occasion of some exploit. Again, a “good” name is sought. The person to be named may now have attained sufficient maturity to choose their own name or to aid in doing so. Since they will by now have attained individuality, the name can often be descriptive, either of appearance or of character, or it may spring from an exploit. There is often a close association of names with culture and religion. The new name may have to be “good” in these connections also. Such full-fledged change of names has not been a noteworthy feature in the tradition from which modern European and American naming has sprung, but the giving of additional names has been of great importance, since the use of family names has developed from it.

British and American given names

Since names are a matter of language and tradition, the practices of naming among English-speaking peoples can be considered together, with certain specification of differences developing since the beginnings of an American tradition. Anglo-Saxons, both before and after their Christianization, used a naming system that was also employed by other Indo-European-speaking groups; it is the best attested Indo-European practice but probably neither the oldest nor the only one. This was a system by which each personal name was formed of two ordinary words; e.g., Hrothgar (Roger), “fame-spear.”

As commonly happens with naming, literal significance was not greatly considered, and names were produced such as Wigfrith, “War-Peace,” which make no sense and may be compared to such a modern coinage as Oakleigh. This system was efficient for the small population groups of the time; if it is assumed that only 100 elements were in use, approximately 10,000 different names were available. In practice, many names were shortened, and nicknames could be used. The only approach to family names seems to have been the practice, at least among royal families, of alliterative naming or of employing a common initial name element for all the sons. Since the Danes and Anglo-Saxons used the same methods of name formation and spoke related languages, the name pattern of Britain was not greatly affected by the Danish invasion. The chief effect of the Norman Conquest was to introduce the use of a few favourite names, themselves of Scandinavian origin but modified by Latin and French influence and still further modified by transference into English—hence the creation and continued popularity of William especially and also of Robert, Richard, and Henry (Harry).

Toward the end of the 12th century, the Roman Catholic Church protested against the use of the old pre-Christian names. Even though these objections could not check the popularity of the Norman names among the upper classes, the insistence upon the use of biblical and saintly names was nothing less than a revolution. From this period dates the popularity (and, in some instances, the first recorded English use) of such names as John, James, Michael, Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, Agnes, Catherine, and Margaret. Although the number of names in the Christian tradition was considerable, only a few came to be popular. At the same time there was a great flourishing of variants, so that anyone named Richard might be distinguished from other Richards by being called Dick, Rich, Rick, Hitch, Hitchcock, Dickon, or Hud, to mention only a few. Many family names are based on such nicknames.

Given names are controlled partly by conservative forces (e.g., established religion or family pride) and partly by forces working for change (e.g., fashion or a desire for novelty). Important postmedieval influences on naming include Puritanism (rejection of the names of non-biblical saints, emphasis on the Old Testament) and Romanticism (great fondness for Charles, revival of old names such as Alfred, Guy, and Guinevere). Any name becoming well known is likely to be more widely used, especially if it carries with it some “good” suggestion, such as of piety or patriotism or stylishness. George became widely adopted after St. George was recognized as the patron saint of England (about 1360). The name grew more popular in Britain with the accession of the Hanoverian kings and in the United States with the emergence of George Washington. Similarly, the Anglo-Saxon name Edward became important because of its use by English kings. Thomas also became a characteristically English name because, it would seem, of the popularity of St. Thomas Becket.

In modern times any popular hero or heroine, even a character in a novel or film, is likely to give vogue to a name. Such influence, however, can be easily overemphasized. It must be remembered that an actor may well assume a stage name that is already becoming fashionable. In that same way, the popularity of Charles may have been aided by Samuel Richardson’s novel The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1754), but, since the name had already begun to rise in popularity before that time, it may be argued that Richardson actually chose his hero’s name for this reason.

Given names around the world

The structure of Arabic society brought an independent development that was nonetheless similar to the European one. Given names such as Muḥammad, Ibrāhīm (Abraham), Maṇsur (“Victor”), and ʿAlī (“Exalted”) are differentiated by surnames such as ibn ʿAbbās (“son of ʿAbbās”) or al-Baghdādī (“from Baghdad”). Caucasian (e.g., Ossetic) personal names consist of a given name preceded by the name of the tribe (gens) in the genitive plural; the name of the father may be inserted, thus giving Gaglojty Soslany fyrt Nafi, “Nafi, son of Soslan, of [the gens of] Gaglo.”

Chinese society has had the institution of hereditary family names since the 4th century bce, but the number of these names has been reduced to some 200. Examples include Chan, Mao, and Lu. In a similar way, there are not more than 300 Korean family names, but just three of them—Kim, Lee, and Park—account for nearly half of all families in Korea. The given name is chosen, but its choice is limited by the practice that one of the two syllables of the name should be identical within a family for a generation; the whole given name should have an auspicious meaning.

The Yoruba generally follow the Western pattern of personal names, but both the given name and the family name are of vernacular stock. There are given names such as Olúṣolá, meaning “god [non-Christian] made greatness,” and Adeyẹmí, meaning “crown befits me,” and family names like Ajólore “who [is] a kind doer.”

By the 20th century the originally European pattern of given name + family name had been introduced practically everywhere.