103-466: Marcotte is a French surname , Marcotte originally came from an Old French word, and the root of the word Marcotte translates to "Vineshoot forming a layer'. ...’. The word Marcotte became known a surname for someone who either grows grapes and or tends to vineyards. The surname Marcotte was more common in the rural areas of France where vineyard grapes were grown. As for Marcotte in the New World, we have
206-473: A "usage name". This is not a legal obligation (it is a contra legem custom, as French law since the Revolution has required that no one may be called by any other name than that written on their birth certificate), and not all women decide to do so. However, if they do, they may retain the use of this name, depending on circumstances, even after a divorce. In some cases, the wife, or both spouses, choose to adopt
309-517: A comma, and items are alphabetized by the last name. In France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Latin America, administrative usage is to put the surname before the first on official documents. In most Balto-Slavic languages (such as Latvian, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, etc.) as well as in Greek , Irish, Icelandic , and Azerbaijani , some surnames change form depending on
412-592: A detailed history of the family origins starting with Charles Emile Marcotte, 1599 - 1678 and his brother French surname French names typically consist of one or multiple given names , and a surname . One given name, usually the first, and the surname are used in a person's daily life, with the other given names used mainly in official documents. Middle names , in the English sense, do not exist. Initials are not used to represent second or further given names. Traditionally, most French people were given names from
515-435: A double-barreled, hyphenated surname made from joining the surnames of both partners. Thus, both partners' surnames coexist with whatever usage name they choose. This distinction is important because many official documents use the person's birth or legal surname, rather than their usage name. People may also choose to use other names in daily usage, as long as they are not impersonating others and as long as their usage name
618-560: A famous ancestor, or the place of origin; but they were not universal. For example, Hunayn ibn Ishaq (fl. 850 AD) was known by the nisbah "al-'Ibadi", a federation of Arab Christian tribes that lived in Mesopotamia prior to the advent of Islam . In Ancient Greece, as far back as the Archaic Period clan names and patronymics ("son of") were also common, as in Aristides as Λῡσῐμᾰ́χου –
721-405: A first given name, although it is sometimes given to males as second or third given name, especially in devout Catholic families. Compound given names, such as Jean-Luc , Jean-Paul and Anne-Sophie are not uncommon. These are not considered to be two separate given names. The second part of a compound name may be a given name normally used by the opposite sex. However, the gender of the compound
824-460: A genitive singular form meaning son of Lysimachus. For example, Alexander the Great was known as Heracleides , as a supposed descendant of Heracles , and by the dynastic name Karanos / Caranus , which referred to the founder of the dynasty to which he belonged . These patronymics are already attested for many characters in the works of Homer . At other times formal identification commonly included
927-454: A hyphenated surname, only one word, the first surname, is taken from each parent. The ratio of the number of family names to the population is high in France, primarily because most surnames had many orthographic and dialectal variants, which were then registered as separate names. Contrary to the practice of some other countries, French women do not legally change names when they marry; however, it
1030-619: A number of sources, was an English nickname meaning "effeminate". A group of nicknames look like occupational ones: King , Bishop , Abbot , Sheriff , Knight , etc. but it is rather unlikely that a person with surname King was a king or descended from a king. Bernard Deacon suggests that the first nickname/surname bearer may have acted as a king or bishop, or was corpulent as bishop. etc. A considerable group of surname-producing nicknames may be found among ethnonymic surnames . Ornamental surnames are made up of names, not specific to any attribute (place, parentage, occupation, caste) of
1133-526: A person may use a name of a third party (called the common name) in the following circumstances: Since Law No. 2003-516 of 18 June 2003 on the devolution of family names, there is no longer any distinction between the name of the mother and the father. A child may receive the family name of one or the other, or both family names. Decree No. 2004-1159 of 29 October 2004 implemented Law No. 2002-304 of 4 March 2002, provided that children born on or after 1 January 2004 and children changing names, may have or use only
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#17330846457571236-496: A person's name is usually preceded by: Since 2013, French administration does not use the term mademoiselle anymore for its documents in favour of madame regardless of the status and the age of the woman addressed. During the Ancien Régime , a female commoner was always addressed as mademoiselle , even when married, madame being limited to women of the high nobility, even if they were not married. This practice ceased after
1339-540: A person. Compound surnames can be composed of separate names. Using names has been documented in even the oldest historical records. Examples of surnames are documented in the 11th century by the barons in England. English surnames began as a way of identifying a certain aspect of that individual, such as by trade, father's name, location of birth, or physical features, and were not necessarily inherited. By 1400 most English families, and those from Lowland Scotland, had adopted
1442-439: A preceding given name, title ( baron , duc etc.), job description ( général , colonel , etc.) or polite address ( monsieur , madame , mademoiselle ). Thus, one would say Monsieur de La Vieuville , but if calling him familiarly by his last name only, La Vieuville (note the initial capital letter); the same applies for Gérard de La Martinière , who would be called La Martinière . Similarly, Philippe de Villiers talks about
1545-718: A surname tradition. Ornamental surnames are more common in communities that adopted (or were forced to adopt) surnames in the 18th and 19th centuries. They occur commonly in Scandinavia, and among Sinti and Roma and Jews in Germany and Austria. During the era of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade many Africans were given new names by their masters. Many of the family names of many African-Americans have their origins in slavery ( i.e. slave name ). Some freed slaves later created family names themselves. Another category of acquired names
1648-480: A traditional French name with a toponymic particule , but a Flemish Dutch name that evolved from a form of De Walle meaning "the wall". In the case of nobility, titles are mostly of the form [title] [ particle ] [name of the land]: for instance, Louis, duc d'Orléans ("Louis, duke of Orléans "), or simply Louis d'Orléans . Former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 's father had his surname legally changed from "Giscard" to "Giscard d'Estaing" in 1922, claiming
1751-479: A work environment. Also, contrary to English or German usage, it is considered impolite to address someone as monsieur X when talking to that person: a mere monsieur should be used, monsieur X being reserved for talking about M. X to another person . When speaking of someone, monsieur/madame given name family name , by far the most polite form of address, is generally reserved for the most solemn occasions. Monsieur/madame family name or given name family name
1854-602: Is Velbienė , and his unmarried daughter, Velbaitė . Many surnames include prefixes that may or may not be separated by a space or punctuation from the main part of the surname. These are usually not considered true compound names, rather single surnames are made up of more than one word. These prefixes often give hints about the type or origin of the surname (patronymic, toponymic, notable lineage) and include words that mean from [a place or lineage], and son of/daughter of/child of. The common Celtic prefixes "Ó" or "Ua" (descendant of) and "Mac" or "Mag" (son of) can be spelled with
1957-521: Is foundlings names. Historically, children born to unwed parents or extremely poor parents would be abandoned in a public place or anonymously placed in a foundling wheel . Such abandoned children might be claimed and named by religious figures, the community leaders, or adoptive parents. Some such children were given surnames that reflected their condition, like (Italian) Esposito , Innocenti , Della Casagrande , Trovato , Abbandonata, or (Dutch) Vondeling, Verlaeten, Bijstand. Other children were named for
2060-533: Is also customary for the Baltic Finnic peoples and the Hungarians , but other Uralic peoples traditionally did not have surnames, perhaps because of the clan structure of their societies. The Samis , depending on the circumstances of their names, either saw no change or did see a transformation of their name. For example: Sire in some cases became Siri, and Hætta Jáhkoš Ásslat became Aslak Jacobsen Hætta – as
2163-541: Is also the name of one of Japan's prefectures ), Yamamoto (山本) means "the base of the mountain", and Inoue (井上) means "above the well". Arabic names sometimes contain surnames that denote the city of origin. For example, in cases of Saddam Hussein al Tikriti, meaning Saddam Hussein originated from Tikrit , a city in Iraq . This component of the name is called a nisbah . The meanings of some names are unknown or unclear. The most common European name in this category may be
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#17330846457572266-641: Is also the case in Cambodia and among the Hmong of Laos and Thailand . The Telugu people of south India also place surname before personal name. There are some parts of Europe, in particular Hungary , where the surname is placed before the personal name. Since family names are normally written last in European societies, the terms last name or surname are commonly used for the family name, while in Japan (with vertical writing)
2369-529: Is believed that the number of surnames in France at all times since 1990 has been between 800,000 and 1,200,000. The number of surnames is high proportional to the population; most surnames have many orthographic and dialectal variants (more than 40 for some), which were registered as entirely separate names around 1880 when " family vital records booklets " were issued. According to the Institute of Statistics ( INSEE ), more than 1,300,000 surnames were registered in
2472-416: Is customary that they adopt their husband's name as a "usage name" for daily life. This distinction is important because many official documents use the person's maiden, or legal or true surname, rather than their usage name. Some artists change their real name to their stage name, but truly changing one's last name, as opposed to adopting a usage name, is a quite complex legal process. In normal polite usage,
2575-533: Is determined by the first component. Thus, Marie-George Buffet has a given name considered as female because it begins with Marie , and George is spelled with a final -e like all the traditional French female given names, instead of Georges with -es for a male. The feminine component in male compound names is mostly Marie , as in Jean-Marie Vianney . In the past, some Frenchmen would have Marie or Anne as first name (example: Anne du Bourg ), which
2678-664: Is not done in French-speaking publications. Second and further given names, when given, typically honour a child's grandparents, great-grandparents, or other ancestors. The practice of giving two or even three names was fairly common until the early 20th century, but has since fallen out of fashion. Traditionally and historically, most people were given names from the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. Common names of this type are Jacques ( James ), Jean ( John ), Michel ( Michael ), Pierre ( Peter ), and Jean-Baptiste ( John
2781-413: Is now slightly out of fashion, except on formal invitation cards (in France, on a formal invitation card, the traditional formula is always a variant of "Madame Jean Dupont recevra..." . The traditional use of the first name of the woman's husband is now felt in this context as a way to include the husband as equally inviting alongside his wife, while keeping the tradition of reception being formally held by
2884-413: Is placed before personal / first name and in most cases it is only shown as an initial (for example 'S.' for Suryapeth). In English and other languages like Spanish—although the usual order of names is "first middle last"—for the purpose of cataloging in libraries and in citing the names of authors in scholarly papers, the order is changed to "last, first middle," with the last and first names separated by
2987-415: Is polite and used in normal formal occasions, as well as in the formal quality press ( Le Monde , Le Monde diplomatique , for example). By contrast, in colloquial usage the family names of personalities are used alone. Formally, a married or widowed woman can be called by the given name of her husband ( madame (given name of husband) family name or madame veuve (given name of husband) family name ); this
3090-551: Is socially accepted. One example of this is the custom of actors or singers to use a stage name . However, identity documents and other official documents will bear only the "real name" of the person. In some cases, people change their real name to their stage name; for example, the singer Patrick Bruel changed his name from his birth name of Benguigui . Another example of aliases being turned into true names: During World War II , some Resistance fighters (such as Lucie Aubrac ) and Jews fleeing persecution adopted aliases. Some kept
3193-423: Is still nowadays in practice in rare traditional Catholic families (but then the man will have other given names and one of those will be used in everyday life). Second or third given names, which usually are kept private, may also include names normally used by the opposite gender. For instance, in 2006, 81 Frenchmen have Brigitte among their given names, 97 Catherine , 133 Anne , and 204 Julie . In addition to
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3296-409: Is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several given names and surnames are possible in the full name. In modern times the "hereditary" requirement is a traditional, although common, interpretation, since in most countries a person has a right for a name change . Depending on culture, the surname may be placed at either the start of a person's name, or at
3399-546: Is used in daily life; any others are solely for official documents, such as passports or certificates. Thus, one always speaks of Jacques Chirac and never of Jacques René Chirac ; Henri Philippe Pétain is always referred to as Philippe Pétain , because Philippe was the given name that he used in daily life. Middle names in the English sense do not exist; initials are never used for second or further given names. For example, although English-speaking scientific publications may cite Claude Allègre as Claude J. Allègre , this
3502-664: The Arab world , the use of patronymics is well attested. The famous scholar Rhazes ( c. 865–925 AD ) is referred to as "al-Razi" (lit. the one from Ray) due to his origins from the city of Ray , Iran. In the Levant , surnames were in use as early as the High Middle Ages and it was common for people to derive their surname from a distant ancestor, and historically the surname would be often preceded with 'ibn' or 'son of'. Arab family names often denote either one's tribe , profession ,
3605-593: The Army , the Gendarmerie and the Air Force are addressed as Mon [rank] by inferior ranks and deferential civilians. This usage is said not to be the possessive pronoun mon , but an abbreviation of monsieur : consequently, women are not referred to with mon , but with the rank alone (for example Général rather than mon Général ). As a punishment by Napoléon Bonaparte , Navy officers have not been addressed as mon since
3708-596: The Battle of Trafalgar . Confusingly, the title generally does not match the rank, but rather an equivalent rank in other forces: lieutenant is the form of address for an enseigne de vaisseau , capitaine for a lieutenant de vaisseau , and commandant for a capitaine de corvette , frégate , or vaisseau . The commanding officer of a ship is also addressed as commandant , regardless of his/her actual rank. In everyday written contexts, ranks are abbreviated. French people have at least one given name. Usually, only one of them
3811-502: The Council of State . Requests for such changes must be justified by some legitimate interest, for instance, changing from a foreign name difficult to pronounce in French to a simpler name, or changing from a name with unfavorable connotations. Family name A surname , family name , or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It
3914-576: The French Revolution . A traditional address to a crowd of people is Mesdames, Messieurs or Mesdames, Mesdemoiselles, Messieurs —whose order of words represents decreasing degrees of respect. An informal variant is Messieurs-Dames ; it is considered as ill-mannered by purists. It is normally impolite to address people by their given names unless one is a family member, a friend or a close colleague of comparable hierarchic importance. One also does not address people by their last name only unless in
4017-641: The Roman Catholic calendar of saints . However, given names for French citizens from immigrant communities are often from their own culture, and in modern France it has become increasingly common to use first names of (international) English or other foreign origin. Almost all traditional given names are gender-specific, but a few are not. Many female given names are feminine forms of traditional masculine French names. The prevalence of given names follows trends , with some names being popular in some years, and some considered out-of-fashion. Compound given names are not uncommon. (The second part may be one normally used by
4120-595: The -is suffix will have the -i suffix. Latvian, like Lithuanian, uses strictly feminized surnames for women, even in the case of foreign names. The function of the suffix is purely grammatical. Male surnames ending -e or -a need not be modified for women. Exceptions are: In Iceland, surnames have a gender-specific suffix (-dóttir = daughter, -son = son). This was also the case in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, until they were abolished by law in 1856, 1923, and 1966 respectively. Finnish used gender-specific suffixes up to 1929 when
4223-936: The Baptist ) for males; and Marie ( Mary ), Jeanne ( Jane ), Marguerite ( Margaret ), Françoise ( Frances ), and Élisabeth ( Elizabeth ) for females. In certain regions such as Brittany or Corsica , more local names (usually of local saints) are often used (in Brittany, for instance, male Corentin or female Anne ; in Corsica, Ange (suitable both for males and females, French version corresponding to Corsican Angelo , Angela ). However, given names for French citizens from immigrant communities are often from their own culture, such as Mohammed, Karim , Saïd , Toufik , Jorge , etc. for males, Fatima , Fatoumata , etc. for females. Furthermore, in recent decades it has become common to use first names of English or other foreign origin, mainly in
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4326-518: The Eastern Roman Empire, however it was not until the 11th century that surnames came to be used in West Europe. Medieval Spain used a patronymic system. For example, Álvaro, a son of Rodrigo, would be named Álvaro Rodríguez. His son, Juan, would not be named Juan Rodríguez, but Juan Álvarez. Over time, many of these patronymics became family names, and they are some of the most common names in
4429-570: The Irish name Ryan , which means 'little king' in Irish. Also, Celtic origin of the name Arthur, meaning ' bear '. Other surnames may have arisen from more than one source: the name De Luca , for instance, likely arose either in or near Lucania or in the family of someone named Lucas or Lucius; in some instances, however, the name may have arisen from Lucca, with the spelling and pronunciation changing over time and with emigration. The same name may appear in different cultures by coincidence or romanization;
4532-509: The Marriage Act forced women to use the husband's form of the surname. In 1985, this clause was removed from the act. Until at least 1850, women's surnames were suffixed with an -in in Tyrol. Some Slavic cultures originally distinguished the surnames of married and unmarried women by different suffixes, but this distinction is no longer widely observed. Some Czech dialects (Southwest-Bohemian) use
4635-714: The Netherlands (1795–1811), Japan (1870s), Thailand (1920), and Turkey (1934). The structure of the Japanese name was formalized by the government as family name + given name in 1868. In Breslau Prussia enacted the Hoym Ordinance in 1790, mandating the adoption of Jewish surnames. Napoleon also insisted on Jews adopting fixed names in a decree issued in 1808. Names can sometimes be changed to protect individual privacy (such as in witness protection ), or in cases where groups of people are escaping persecution. After arriving in
4738-479: The Old English element tūn may have originally meant "enclosure" in one name, but can have meant "farmstead", "village", "manor", or "estate" in other names. Location names, or habitation names, may be as generic as "Monte" (Portuguese for "mountain"), "Górski" (Polish for "hill"), or "Pitt" (variant of "pit"), but may also refer to specific locations. "Washington", for instance, is thought to mean "the homestead of
4841-688: The Rosenkrantz ("rose wreath") family took their surname from a wreath of roses comprising the torse of their arms, and the Gyldenstierne ("golden star") family took theirs from a 7-pointed gold star on their shield. Subsequently, many middle-class Scandinavian families desired names similar to those of the nobles and adopted "ornamental" surnames as well. Most other naming traditions refer to them as "acquired". They might be given to people newly immigrated, conquered, or converted, as well as those with unknown parentage, formerly enslaved, or from parentage without
4944-549: The Spanish-speaking world today. Other sources of surnames are personal appearance or habit, e.g. Delgado ("thin") and Moreno ("dark"); geographic location or ethnicity, e.g. Alemán ("German"); and occupations, e.g. Molinero ("miller"), Zapatero ("shoe-maker") and Guerrero ("warrior"), although occupational names are much more often found in a shortened form referring to the trade itself, e.g. Molina ("mill"), Guerra ("war"), or Zapata (archaic form of zapato , "shoe"). In England
5047-623: The United States, European Jews who fled Nazi persecution sometimes anglicized their surnames to avoid discrimination. Governments can also forcibly change people's names, as when the National Socialist government of Germany assigned German names to European people in the territories they conquered. In the 1980s, the People's Republic of Bulgaria forcibly changed the first and last names of its Turkish citizens to Bulgarian names. These are
5150-675: The Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, family names were uncommon in the Eastern Roman Empire . In Western Europe, where Germanic culture dominated the aristocracy, family names were almost non-existent. They would not significantly reappear again in Eastern Roman society until the 10th century, apparently influenced by the familial affiliations of the Armenian military aristocracy. The practice of using family names spread through
5253-441: The above-described custom of using Marie for males, this is due to the habit of traditional Catholic French families to give children the names of their godmother and godfather: if there is no counterpart of the opposite gender for the name of the godparent who is not of the same sex as the child, generally the name of the godparent will be left as such. For instance, a male child born to a traditional Catholic family choosing for him
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#17330846457575356-481: The alias as a legal name after the war or added it to their name ( Jacques Chaban-Delmas ' name was Delmas , and Chaban was the last of his wartime aliases; his children were given the family surname Delmas). Legally changing one's last name, as opposed to adopting a usage name, is quite complex. Such changes have to be made official by a décret en Conseil d'État issued by the Prime Minister after approval by
5459-487: The change. Children in France were until 2005 required by law to take the surname of their father, unless the father was unknown and the child was given the family name of the mother. Since 2005, parents can give their children either of their names, or a hyphenation of both, subject to a limit of at most two hyphenated names. In case the two parents cannot come to an agreement, both of their family names are used and hyphenated in alphabetical order ; if one of them already has
5562-576: The child to mockery. To change a given name, a request can be made before a court ( juge des affaires familiales ), but except in a few specific cases (such as the Gallicization of a foreign name), it is necessary to prove a legitimate interest for the change (usually that the current name is a cause of mockery or when put together with the surname, it creates a ridiculous word or sentence, e.g.: Jean Bon sounds jambon "ham", or Annick Mamère = A nique ma mère , slang for "she fucks my mother"). It
5665-403: The chosen names (alone or in association with the last name) may be detrimental to the child's interests, or to the right of other families to protect their own family name, the registrar may refer the matter to the local prosecutor, who may choose to refer the matter to the local court. The court may then refuse the chosen names. Such refusals are rare and mostly concern given names that may expose
5768-458: The cities and the need for new arrivals to choose a defining surname. In Portuguese-speaking countries , it is uncommon, but not unprecedented, to find surnames derived from names of countries, such as Portugal, França, Brasil, Holanda. Surnames derived from country names are also found in English, such as "England", "Wales", "Spain". Some Japanese surnames derive from geographical features; for example, Ishikawa (石川) means "stone river" (and
5871-405: The country between 1891 and 1990, and about 200,000 have disappeared (mainly unique orthographic variants). According to different estimates, 50 to 80 percent of French citizens may bear rare family names (fewer than 50 bearers alive at the census time). Not all family names are of French origin, as many families have some immigrant roots. In France, until 2005, children were required by law to take
5974-445: The double de La are. In other countries and languages, capitalisation may follow different rules. A common misconception is that particules indicate some noble or feudal origin of the name, but this is not always the case. Many non-noble people have particules in their names simply because they indicate the family's geographic origin. One example is Dominique de Villepin . French statesman Charles de Gaulle 's surname may not be
6077-524: The end. The number of surnames given to an individual also varies: in most cases it is just one, but in Portuguese-speaking countries and many Spanish-speaking countries, two surnames (one inherited from the mother and another from the father) are used for legal purposes. Depending on culture, not all members of a family unit are required to have identical surnames. In some countries, surnames are modified depending on gender and family membership status of
6180-457: The family name may be referred to as "upper name" ( ue-no-namae ( 上の名前 ) ). When people from areas using Eastern naming order write their personal name in the Latin alphabet , it is common to reverse the order of the given and family names for the convenience of Westerners, so that they know which name is the family name for official/formal purposes. Reversing the order of names for the same reason
6283-721: The family name of the father or the mother or both family names. However, whichever form is used, a person's name must be used consistently on all identification documents, such as a passport or identity card. The list for France is different according to the sources. A list including the births between 1891 and 1990 shows : 1 – Martin , 2 – Bernard , 3 – Thomas , 4 – Petit , 5 – Robert , 6 – Richard , 7 – Durand , 8 – Dubois , 9 – Moreau , 10 – Laurent . A list of birth between 1966 and 1990 yields: 1 – Martin, 2 – Bernard, 3 – Thomas, 4 – Robert, 5 – Petit, 6 – Dubois, 7 – Richard, 8 – Garcia (Spanish), 9 – Durand, 10 – Moreau. This list masks strong regional differences in France and
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#17330846457576386-574: The family of Wassa", while "Lucci" means "resident of Lucca ". Although some surnames, such as "London", "Lisboa", or "Białystok" are derived from large cities, more people reflect the names of smaller communities, as in Ó Creachmhaoil , derived from a village in County Galway . This is thought to be due to the tendency in Europe during the Middle Ages for migration to chiefly be from smaller communities to
6489-626: The female form Nováková, the family name is Novákovi in Czech and Novákovci in Slovak. When the male form is Hrubý and the female form is Hrubá, the plural family name is Hrubí (or "rodina Hrubých"). In Greece, if a man called Papadopoulos has a daughter or wife, she will likely be named Papadopoulou, the genitive form, as if the daughter/wife is "of" a man named Papadopoulos. Likewise, the surnames of daughters and wives of males with surnames ending in -as will end in -a, and those of daughters and wives of males with
6592-425: The first estate name (such as Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, assuming in everyday life the name of Philippe de Villiers) or, in some cases, only the family name. Whether the family name or the estate name is used for the shortened form depends on a variety of factors: how people feel bearing a particule (people may for instance dislike the connotations of nobility that the particule entails; on
6695-484: The first of their names, if they each have a hyphenated name themselves. A 1978 declaration by the Council of Europe requires member governments to take measures to adopt equality of rights in the transmission of family names, a measure that was repeated by the United Nations in 1979. Similar measures were adopted by Germany (1976), Sweden (1982), Denmark (1983), Spain (1999), and Austria (2013). In France,
6798-411: The first person to acquire the name, and stem from the middle class's desire for their own hereditary names like the nobles. They were generally acquired later in history and generally when those without surnames needed them. In 1526, King Frederik I of Denmark-Norway ordered that noble families must take up fixed surnames, and many of them took as their name some element of their coat of arms; for example,
6901-585: The form "Novákojc" as informal for both genders. In the culture of the Sorbs (a.k.a. Wends or Lusatians), Sorbian used different female forms for unmarried daughters (Jordanojc, Nowcyc, Kubašec, Markulic), and for wives (Nowakowa, Budarka, Nowcyna, Markulina). In Polish, typical surnames for unmarried women ended -ówna, -anka, or -ianka, while the surnames of married women used the possessive suffixes -ina or -owa. In Serbia, unmarried women's surnames ended in -eva, while married women's surnames ended in -ka. In Lithuania, if
7004-458: The gender of the bearer. In Slavic languages, substantivized adjective surnames have commonly symmetrical adjective variants for males and females (Podwiński/Podwińska in Polish, Nový/Nová in Czech or Slovak, etc.). In the case of nominative and quasi-nominative surnames, the female variant is derived from the male variant by a possessive suffix (Novák/Nováková, Hromada/Hromadová). In Czech and Slovak,
7107-452: The group. Female praenomina were less common, as women had reduced public influence, and were commonly known by the feminine form of the nomen alone. Later with the gradual influence of Greek and Christian culture throughout the Empire, Christian religious names were sometimes put in front of traditional cognomina , but eventually people reverted to single names. By the time of the fall of
7210-482: The husband is named Vilkas, his wife will be named Vilkienė and his unmarried daughter will be named Vilkaitė. Male surnames have suffixes -as, -is, -ius, or -us, unmarried girl surnames aitė, -ytė, -iūtė or -utė, wife surnames -ienė. These suffixes are also used for foreign names, exclusively for grammar; Welby, the surname of the present Archbishop of Canterbury for example, becomes Velbis in Lithuanian, while his wife
7313-457: The increasing number of foreign names among the French citizens. Some French last names include a prefix called a particle (French: particule ), a preposition or article at the beginning of the name. The most widespread of these are de (meaning "of"), le or la ("the"), and Du or de La ("of the"). The capitalisation of particules can vary. In France, particles de , le and la are generally not capitalised, but Du and
7416-542: The inhabited location associated with the person given that name. Such locations can be any type of settlement, such as homesteads, farms, enclosures, villages, hamlets, strongholds, or cottages. One element of a habitation name may describe the type of settlement. Examples of Old English elements are frequently found in the second element of habitational names. The habitative elements in such names can differ in meaning, according to different periods, different locations, or with being used with certain other elements. For example,
7519-575: The introduction of family names is generally attributed to the preparation of the Domesday Book in 1086, following the Norman Conquest . Evidence indicates that surnames were first adopted among the feudal nobility and gentry, and slowly spread to other parts of society. Some of the early Norman nobility who arrived in England during the Norman conquest differentiated themselves by affixing 'de' (of) before
7622-441: The mandate to have a surname. During the modern era many cultures around the world adopted family names, particularly for administrative reasons, especially during the age of European expansion and particularly since 1600. The Napoleonic Code, adopted in various parts of Europe, stipulated that people should be known by both their given name(s) and a family name that would not change across generations. Other notable examples include
7725-400: The name Germaine , which is generally associated with the idea of an elderly lady. However, as noted above, such old-fashioned names are frequently used as second or third given names, because in France the second or further given names are traditionally those of the godparents or the grandparents. Some older names, such as Suzanne , Violette , and Madeleine , have become fashionable again in
7828-422: The name Nicolas and whose godparents are called Christian and Véronique could be called Nicolas Christian Marie Véronique . First names are chosen by the child's parents. There are no legal a priori constraints on the choice of names nowadays, but this has not always been the case. The choice of given names, originally limited only by the tradition of naming children after a small number of popular saints,
7931-399: The name of a family line extinct since the French Revolution . Adding a particule was one way for people of non-noble origins to pretend they were nobles. In the 19th century, wealthy commoners buying nobility titles were derisively called Monsieur de Puispeu , a pun on depuis peu meaning "since recently". Similarly, during the French Revolution of 1789–1799, when being associated with
8034-571: The name of their village in France. This is what is known as a territorial surname, a consequence of feudal landownership. By the 14th century, most English and most Scottish people used surnames and in Wales following unification under Henry VIII in 1536. A four-year study led by the University of the West of England , which concluded in 2016, analysed sources dating from the 11th to the 19th century to explain
8137-461: The naming system to facilitate census-taking, and the use of census information. Originally, Chinese surnames were derived matrilineally, although by the time of the Shang dynasty (1600 to 1046 BC) they had become patrilineal. Chinese women do not change their names upon marriage. In China, surnames have been the norm since at least the 2nd century BC. In the early Islamic period (640–900 AD) and
8240-556: The nobility was out of favor and even risky, some people dropped the de from their name, or omitted the mention of their feudal titles. In some cases, names with particules are made of a normal family name and the name of an estate (or even of several estates). Thus, Dominique de Villepin is Dominique Galouzeau de Villepin ; Hélie de Saint Marc is Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc (in both cases, omitting second or other given names). As in these examples, most people with such long family names shorten their name for common use, by keeping only
8343-412: The occupation of smith . There are also more complicated names based on occupational titles. In England it was common for servants to take a modified version of their employer's occupation or first name as their last name, adding the letter s to the word, although this formation could also be a patronymic . For instance, the surname Vickers is thought to have arisen as an occupational name adopted by
8446-658: The oldest and most common type of surname. They may be a first name such as "Wilhelm", a patronymic such as " Andersen ", a matronymic such as " Beaton ", or a clan name such as " O'Brien ". Multiple surnames may be derived from a single given name: e.g. there are thought to be over 90 Italian surnames based on the given name " Giovanni ". This is the broadest class of surnames, originating from nicknames, encompassing many types of origin. These include names based on appearance such as "Schwartzkopf", "Short", and possibly "Caesar", and names based on temperament and personality such as "Daft", "Gutman", and "Maiden", which, according to
8549-410: The opposite sex; the gender of the compound is determined by the first part.) First names are chosen by the child's parents. Nowadays, there are no legal a priori constraints on the choice of names, though this was not always the case as recently as a few decades ago. To change a given name, a request can be made before a court, but except in a few specific cases, one must prove a legitimate interest for
8652-412: The origin describes the original bearer such as Brown, Short , or Thin – though Short may in fact be an ironic 'nickname' surname for a tall person." In the modern era, governments have enacted laws to require people to adopt surnames. This served the purpose of uniquely identifying subjects for taxation purposes or for inheritance. In the late Middle Ages in Europe, there were several revolts against
8755-637: The origins of the surnames in the British Isles . The study found that over 90% of the 45,602 surnames in the dictionary are native to Britain and Ireland, with the most common in the UK being Smith , Jones , Williams , Brown , Taylor , Davies , and Wilson . The findings have been published in the Oxford English Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland , with project leader Richard Coates calling
8858-400: The other hand, they may enjoy the impression of nobility), tradition, etc. For instance, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is never referred to as "d'Estaing", probably because his particule is a recent addition to the family surname by his father. On the contrary, the press often simply refers to him as "Giscard". Traditionally, the particule de is omitted when citing the name of a person without
8961-490: The place of origin. Over the course of the Roman Republic and the later Empire, naming conventions went through multiple changes. ( See Roman naming conventions . ) The nomen , the name of the gens (tribe) inherited patrilineally, is thought to have already been in use by 650 BC. The nomen was to identify group kinship, while the praenomen (forename; plural praenomina ) was used to distinguish individuals within
9064-679: The popular classes of society, such as Kevin , Enzo , or Anthony (instead of Antoine in the upper classes) for males; for females, Jessica , Jennifer , Karine or Barbara (instead of Barbe , now out of fashion, because it sounds exactly the same as barbe "beard" as in the expression la barbe! "What a drag! / How boring!"). Also, females are often given names like Jacqueline and Géraldine that are feminine forms of traditional common masculine French names. The prevalence of given names follows trends , with some names being popular in some years, and some considered definitely out-of-fashion. As an example, few children born since 1970 would bear
9167-570: The pronunciation is the same but the spelling is different: Frédéric (m) / Frédérique (f). In medieval times, a woman was often named Philippe (Philippa), now an exclusively masculine name (Philip), or a male Anne (Ann), now almost exclusively feminine (except as second or third given name, mostly in Brittany). From the mid-19th century into the early 20th century, Marie was a popular first name for both men or women, however, before and after that period it has been almost exclusively given to women as
9270-563: The pure possessive would be Novákova, Hromadova, but the surname evolved to a more adjectivized form Nováková, Hromadová, to suppress the historical possessivity. Some rare types of surnames are universal and gender-neutral: examples in Czech are Janů, Martinů, Fojtů, Kovářů. These are the archaic form of the possessive, related to the plural name of the family. Such rare surnames are also often used for transgender persons during transition because most common surnames are gender-specific. The informal dialectal female form in Polish and Czech dialects
9373-699: The servant of a vicar, while Roberts could have been adopted by either the son or the servant of a man named Robert. A subset of occupational names in English are names thought to be derived from the medieval mystery plays . The participants would often play the same roles for life, passing the part down to their oldest sons. Names derived from this may include King , Lord and Virgin . A Dictionary of English Surnames says that "surnames of office, such as Abbot , Bishop , Cardinal and King, are often nicknames". The original meaning of names based on medieval occupations may no longer be obvious in modern English. Location (toponymic, habitation) names derive from
9476-547: The street/place they were found (Union, Liquorpond (street), di Palermo, Baan, Bijdam, van den Eyngel (shop name), van der Stoep , von Trapp), the date they were found ( Monday , Septembre, Spring, di Gennaio), or festival/feast day they found or christened (Easter, SanJosé). Some foundlings were given the name of whoever found them. Occupational names include Smith , Miller , Farmer , Thatcher , Shepherd , Potter , and so on, and analogous names in many other languages, see, e.g., various surnames associated with
9579-432: The study "more detailed and accurate" than those before. He elaborated on the origins: "Some surnames have origins that are occupational – obvious examples are Smith and Baker. Other names can be linked to a place , for example, Hill or Green, which relates to a village green . Surnames that are 'patronymic' are those which originally enshrined the father's name – such as Jackson , or Jenkinson . There are also names where
9682-654: The surname Lee is used in English culture, but is also a romanization of the Chinese surname Li . In the Russian Empire , illegitimate children were sometimes given artificial surnames rather than the surnames of their adoptive parents. In many cultures (particularly in European and European-influenced cultures in the Americas, Oceania, etc., as well as West Asia/North Africa, South Asia, and most Sub-Saharan African cultures),
9785-469: The surname of their father. If the father was unknown, the child was given the family name of the mother. Since 2005, article 311-21 of the French Civil code permits parents to give their children the father's name, the mother's name, or a hyphenation of both: although no more than two names can be hyphenated. In cases of disagreement, both parents' family names are hyphenated, in alphabetic order, with only
9888-596: The surname or family name ("last name") is placed after the personal, forename (in Europe) or given name ("first name"). In other cultures the surname is placed first, followed by the given name or names. The latter is often called the Eastern naming order because Europeans are most familiar with the examples from the East Asian cultural sphere , specifically, Greater China , Korea (both North and South) , Japan , and Vietnam . This
9991-528: The upper class and in the upper middle class. Others such as Jean , Pierre , Louis , and François never really went out of fashion. Alexandre (Alexander) was never very popular, but is not uncommon in middle and upper classes. Almost all traditional given names are gender-specific. However, a few given names, such as Dominique (see above: completely gender-neutral), Claude (traditionally masculine), and Camille (traditionally masculine, now mostly feminine ), are given to both males and females; for others,
10094-629: The use of hereditary surnames. The study of proper names (in family names, personal names, or places) is called onomastics . While the use of given names to identify individuals is attested in the oldest historical records, the advent of surnames is relatively recent. Many cultures have used and continue to use additional descriptive terms in identifying individuals. These terms may indicate personal attributes, location of origin, occupation, parentage, patronage, adoption, or clan affiliation. In China, according to legend, family names started with Emperor Fu Xi in 2000 BC. His administration standardised
10197-433: The votes he receives as le vote Villiers . However, this usage is now losing ground to a more egalitarian treatment of surnames; it is, for instance, commonplace to hear people talking of de Villiers . Note that American English language medial capital spellings such as DeVilliers are never used in France. A French woman retains her birth name when she marries. In some cases, a woman may take her husband's name as
10300-426: The wife. In the workplace or in academic establishments, particularly in a male-dominated environment, it is quite common to refer to male employees by their family name only, but to use madame or mademoiselle before the names of female employees. A military officer is addressed by his rank (and under no circumstance by monsieur , but a group of officers can be addressed by plural messieurs ). Male officers of
10403-404: Was also -ka (Pawlaczka, Kubeška). With the exception of the -ski/-ska suffix, most feminine forms of surnames are seldom observed in Polish. Generally, inflected languages use names and surnames as living words, not as static identifiers. Thus, the pair or the family can be named by a plural form which can differ from the singular male and female form. For instance, when the male form is Novák and
10506-408: Was restricted by law at the end of the 18th century, could be accepted. Much later, actually in 1966, a new law permitted a limited number of mythological, regional or foreign names, substantives (Olive, Violette), diminutives, and alternative spellings. Only in 1993 were French parents given the freedom to name their child without any constraint whatsoever. However, if the birth registrar thinks that
10609-544: Was the norm . Recently, integration into the EU and increased communications with foreigners prompted many Samis to reverse the order of their full name to given name followed by surname, to avoid their given name being mistaken for and used as a surname. Indian surnames may often denote village, profession, and/or caste and are invariably mentioned along with the personal/first names. However, hereditary last names are not universal. In Telugu -speaking families in south India, surname
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