Name

HISTORY

The earliest person we know the name of is a Mesopotamian called Kushim who lived over 5000 years ago. Evidence suggests that he was an accountant.

One of the most prevalent superstitions in Ancient Egypt was connected with the religion of names. The Egyptians gave to each of their gods a name indicative of special office and attributes.

A cartouche indicates that the Egyptian hieroglyphs enclosed are a royal name.

Some theologians believe that the Israelites were influenced by this superstition during their long bondage in Egypt and that it is to that, which Moses refers in Exodus 3 v13 and that out of indulgence to this weakness, God was pleased to give Himself a name.

For every 1,000 men living in London in the year 1260, 176 had the first name John — the most common male name then, and the most common in England for the next 500 years.

For 500 years from the 13th century, 70 per cent of Englishmen were called Robert, John, Thomas, Richard or William.

In 1379, more than 600 years ago, a baby girl in Yorkshire was christened Diot Coke.

Middle names were unusual before 1800. The term 'middle name' was first used in 1835.

After Mao Zedong promised China's steel production would one day surpass England's and America's, many children born in 1958 and 1959 were named 'Chaoying' ('Surpass England') or 'Chaomei' ('Overtake America').

INDIVIDUAL NAMES

Wendy's popularity as a girl's name is attributed to the character Wendy Darling from J.M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and its novelization Peter and Wendy seven years later. The name was inspired by young Margaret Henley, daughter of Barrie's poet friend W. E. Henley. With the common childhood difficulty pronouncing Rs, Margaret reportedly used to call him 'my fwiendy-wendy'.

Wendy Darling sits mending clothes in the Underground Home

The name Jessica was created by Shakespeare in the play Merchant of Venice.

The name Imogen is a mistake. Shakespeare wrote ‘Innogen’ in the play Cymbeline and the printer misread it.

The girl’s name Miranda was invented by Shakespeare for a character in The Tempest.

The female name Vanessa was invented by the satirist Jonathan Swift for his lover Esther Vanhomrigh. The name was created by taking "Van" from Vanhomrigh and adding "Essa", a pet form of Esther.

The origins and etymology of the name "Samantha" are uncertain. It first appeared on record in the 17th century, but was was very rare until the 1873 publication of the first novel in a series by Marietta Holley, featuring the adventures of a lady named "Samantha", wife of Josiah Allen. It fell out of use again until Bewitched aired in 1964, which made it popular once more

"Cedric" was not a name until Sir Walter Scott misspelled the Saxon name "Cerdic" in his novel Ivanhoe.

The name "Madison" was nearly unheard of as a girls' name until 1984, when the film Splash was released. In the movie, Daryl Hannah's character, a mermaid named Madison, chooses the name after seeing a street sign. Tom Hanks' character, Allen Bauer, tells her that Madison isn't a real name, but she insists that it is.

The film's popularity helped to popularize the name Madison, and it quickly became one of the most popular girls' names in the United States. In 1985, the name Madison ranked 1,056th on the list of the most popular girls' names in the United States. By 1997, the name Madison had reached number 2 on the list.

Dorothy and Theodore are the same name reversed. They're both made from the Greek roots "doron" (gift) and "theos" (God).

When Kylie Jenner tried to trademark her name Kylie™ in 2016, Australian pop star Kylie Minogue successfully got the request blocked, with her lawyers telling the US government Kylie Minogue is "internationally renowned" while Kylie Jenner is a "secondary reality TV personality."

NAMES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

The 'O' in front of so many Irish names actually means 'descendant of.'

Today, a third of American boys have a name that ends with 'n,' largely due to names like 'Aiden,' 'Jaden,' and 'Braden.'

In some European countries, including Denmark, Germany, and Finland, your baby's name must indicate the gender. So if you wanted to name your beautiful baby girl Gary, for example, they'd refuse.

The term "Kevinism" is used to describe the prejudice against people in Germany who have names that are considered to be of lower social class. The name Kevin is often used as an example of a name that is associated with Kevinism. The prejudice against people with Kevinism names is thought to have originated in the 1980s, when there was a trend among lower-class Germans to give their children names that were popular in English-speaking countries. This trend was seen by some as a way for lower-class Germans to try to improve their social status.

It is traditional in parts of China to wait until a baby is 100 days old before naming it. This is a throwback to the days of high infant mortality rates.

60% of South Korean families use professionals to find a name for their newborns.

The majority of Vietnamese people have the last names Nguyen (46%) or Tran (13%).

In 2014, Saudi Arabia banned the baby name "Linda" due to its association with Western culture.

Babies’ names in Iceland must be approved by a naming committee. Among names that have been banned are Duncan, Harriet, Ludwig and Zoe.

Ivan is just the Slavic variant of the name “John.”

UNUSUAL CELEBRITY NAMES

William Lear, Founder of the Lear Jet Corporation, named one of his daughters Crystal Shanda Lear.

All five of the boxer George Foreman's sons are named George. One of his daughters is called Georgetta. He said: "I called them all George because I was worried that when I was older I might suffer from memory loss. I would have called my five girls George, too, but my wife said she thought that was overkill."

Rapper Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian named their four children North West (born June 2013, Saint West (born December 2015), Chicago West (born January 2018 , and Psalm West (born May 2019).

The actor Matthew McConaughey's brother, Rooster McConaughey, named his son Miller Lyte and got free beer for a year.

Tina Fey's first name is not short for "Christina," but for "Stamatina," her original middle name.

FUN FACTS

The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

Since American baby names' popularity started to be recorded in 1880, only one girls' name has has never gone out of the top 100 most popular: Elizabeth. It reached a high of #3 in 1887, low of #26 in 1948, and was the 13th most popular girls' name in 2018.

Boys who have unusual first names are more likely to have mental problems than boys with common names. Girls don't seem to have this problem.

People with positive initials like A.C.E., J.O.Y., or H.U.G. live 3 to 4.5 years longer than average.

Ann Pepper, who was born in Liverpool in 1882, was given 26 names — one for each letter of the alphabet, except the ‘P’ for her surname. Her full name was: Ann Bertha Cecilia Diana Emily Fanny Gertrude Hypatia Iug Jane Kate Louisa Maud Nora Orphelia Quince Rebecca Starkey Teresa Ulysis Venus Winifred Xenophen Yetty Zeus Pepper.

Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. was a German-born American typesetter who held the record for the longest personal name ever used. His name was made up of 27 names, each of which started with a different letter of the English alphabet in alphabetical order; these were followed by an enormously long single-word surname.  Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff was born in Bergedorf (now part of Hamburg), Germany, and later emigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia. He became a typesetter and died on October 24, 1997, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

Sean is pronounced Shawn because it comes from John. The Irish language does not have the sound which English typically writes as "J".

You are a Jr. if you're named after your father, but a II (second) if you take the name from someone else in the family.

An aptonym (or euonym) is a personal name that is appropriate to their job, such as Liz Potter, Katherine Barber, or Martin Shovel.

Here is a list of songs with girls names in the title.

Here is a list of songs with boys names in the title.

Source Daily Mail