Feminine name

A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a family or clan) who have a common surname. The term ''given name'' refers to a name usually bestowed at or close to the time of birth, usually by the parents of the newborn. A '' Christian name'' is the first name which is given at baptism, in Christian custom.

In informal situations, given names are often used in a familiar and friendly manner. In more formal situations, a person's surname is more commonly used. The idioms 'on a first-name basis' and 'being on first-name terms' refer to the familiarity inherent in addressing someone by their given name.

By contrast, a surname (also known as a family name, last name, or ''gentile'' name) is normally inherited and shared with other members of one's immediate family. Regnal names and religious or monastic names are special given names bestowed upon someone receiving a crown or entering a religious order; such a person then typically becomes known chiefly by that name.

Name order

The order ''given name – family name'', commonly known as the ''Western order'', is used throughout most European countries and in countries that have cultures predominantly influenced by European culture, including North and South America; North, East, Central and West India; Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The order ''family name – given name'', commonly known as the ''Eastern order'', is primarily used in East Asia (for example in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysian Chinese, Singapore, and Vietnam, among others), as well as in Southern and North-Eastern parts of India, and as a standard in Hungary. This order is also used to various degrees and in specific contexts in other European countries, such as Austria and adjacent areas of Germany (that is, Bavaria), and in France, Belgium, Greece and Italy, possibly because of the influence of bureaucracy, which commonly puts the family name before the given name. In China and Korea, part of the given name may be shared among all members of a given generation within a family and extended family or families, in order to differentiate those generations from other generations.

The order ''given name – father's family name – mother's family name'' is commonly used in Spanish-speaking countries to acknowledge the families of both parents. Today the order can also be changed legally in Spain and Uruguay using ''given name – mother's family name – father's family name''.

The order ''given name – mother's family name – father's family name'' is commonly used in Portuguese-speaking countries to acknowledge the families of both parents.

The order ''given name - father's given name - grandfather's given name'' (often referred to as ''triple name'') is the official naming order used in Arabic countries (for example Saudi Arabia, Iraq and UAE).

Compound

In many Western cultures, people often have multiple given names. Most often the first one in sequence is the one that a person goes by, although exceptions are not uncommon, such as in the cases of John Edgar Hoover (J. Edgar) and Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland (Barbara).
The given name might also be used in compound form, as in, for example, John Paul or a hyphenated style like Bengt-Arne. A middle name might be part of compound given name or might be, instead, a maiden name, a patronymic, or a baptismal name. Sometimes, a given name is used as just an initial, especially in combination with the middle initial (such as with H. G. Wells), and more rarely as an initial while the middle name is not one (such as with L. Ron Hubbard).

In England, it was unusual for a person to have more than one given name until the seventeenth century when Charles James Stuart ( King Charles I) was baptised with two names. That was a French fashion, which spread to the English aristocracy, following the royal example, then spread to the general population and became common by the end of the eighteenth century.

Some double given names for women were used at the start of the eighteenth century but were used together as a unit: Anna Maria, Mary Anne and Sarah Jane. Those became stereotyped as the typical names of servants and so became unfashionable in the nineteenth century.

Double names are also common among Vietnamese names to make repeated name in the family. For example, Đặng Vũ Minh Anh and Đặng Vũ Minh Ánh, are two sisters with the given names Minh Anh and Minh Ánh.

Legal status

A child's given name or names are usually chosen by the parents soon after birth. If a name is not assigned at birth, one may be given at a naming ceremony, with family and friends in attendance. In most jurisdictions, a child's name at birth is a matter of public record, inscribed on a birth certificate, or its equivalent. In western cultures, people normally retain the same given name throughout their lives. However, in some cases these names may be changed by following legal processes or by repute. People may also change their names when immigrating from one country to another with different naming conventions.

In certain jurisdictions, a government-appointed registrar of births may refuse to register a name that may cause a child harm, which is considered offensive or which is deemed impractical. In France, the agency can refer the case to a local judge. Some jurisdictions, such as Sweden, restrict the spelling of names. In Denmark, one does not need to register a given name for the child until the child is six months old, and in some cases, one can even wait a little longer than this, before the child gets an official name.

Origins and meanings

Parents may choose a name because of its meaning. This may be a personal or familial meaning, such as giving a child the name of an admired person, or it may be an example of nominative determinism, in which the parents give the child a name that they believe will be lucky or favourable for the child. Given names most often derive from the following categories:
* Aspirational personal traits (external and internal). For example, the male names:
**Clement ("merciful"); as popularised by Pope Clement I (88–98), saint, and his many papal successors of that name;
**Augustus ("consecrated, holy"), first popularised by the first Roman Emperor; later (as Augustine) by two saints;
English examples include numerous female names such as Faith, Prudence, Amanda (Latin: worthy of love); Blanche (white (pure));
* Occupations, for example George means "earth-worker", ''i.e.'', "farmer".
* Circumstances of birth, for example:
** Thomas meaning "twin";
**'' Quintus'' (Latin: "fifth"), 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 "Frank or Frenchman").
* Surnames, Such names can honour other branches of a family, where the surname would not otherwise be passed down (e.g., the mother's maiden surname). Modern examples include:
**Winston,
**Harrison,
** Ross.
Many were adopted from the 17th century in England to show respect to notable ancestry, usually given to nephews or male grandchildren of members of the great families concerned, from which the usage spread to general society. This was regardless of whether the family name concerned was in danger of dying out, for example with Howard, a family with many robust male lines over history. Notable examples include
**Howard, from the Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk;
**Courtenay, from the surname of the Earls of Devon;
**Trevor, from the Welsh chieftain Tudor Trevor, lord of Hereford;
**Clifford, from the Barons Clifford;
**Digby, from the family of Baron Digby/Earl of Bristol;
**Shirley (originally a man's forename), from the Shirley family, Earls Ferrer;
**Percy, from the Percy Earls and Dukes of Northumberland;
**Lindsay, from that noble Scottish family, Earls of Crawford;
**Graham, from that noble Scottish family, Dukes of Montrose;
**Eliot, from the Eliot family, Earls of St Germans;
**Herbert, from the Herbert family, Earls of Pembroke;
**Russell, from the Russell family, Earls and Dukes of Bedford;
**Stanley, from the Stanley family, Earls of Derby;
**Vernon, Earl of Shipbrook
**Dillon, the Irish family of Dillon, Viscount Dillon
* 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 (Noel (French "Christmas"), a name given to males born at Christmas); also April, May, or June.
* Combination of the above, for example the Armenian name Sirvart means "love rose".

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 is considered taboo or sacrilegious in some parts of the Christian world, though this taboo does not extend to the cognate Joshua or related forms which are common in many languages even among Christians. In some Spanish speaking countries, the name Jesus is considered a normal given name.

Similarly, the name Mary, now popular 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 historically Christian countries. Some have elements meaning "God", especially "Eli". Examples: Michael, Joshua, Daniel, Joseph, David, Adam, Samuel, 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 people

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