62-498: A formal Irish name consists of a given name and a surname . In the Irish language , most surnames are patronymic surnames (distinct from patronyms , which are seen in Icelandic names for example). The form of a surname varies according to whether its bearer is a man, a woman, or a woman married to a man, who adopts his surname. An alternative traditional naming convention consists of
124-564: A "her" and a "their", which cause h-prothesis and eclipsis respectively. Lenition caused stops and *m to become fricatives, *s to debuccalise to [h] , *f to elide , and the liquids *l , *n , *r to split into fortis and lenis variants. Though by the end of the Middle Irish period lenited *m largely lost its nasal quality, lenited *t debuccalised to [h] , and lenited *d lost its coronal articulation. Lenition did not only occur word initially, though non-initial lenition
186-404: A causes lenition when used as "his" ( a bhád ), causes eclipsis when used as "their" ( a mbád ), and neither when used as "her" ( a bád ). The numbers that trigger eclipsis (the noun being in the singular) are: Before a vowel in is written instead of i n- . The genitive plural article na eclipses a following noun: In western and southern dialects, nouns beginning with
248-451: A maiden name , a patronymic , or a baptismal name . 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
310-472: 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,
372-595: 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. Songs can influence the naming of children. Jude jumped from 814th most popular male name in 1968 to 668th in 1969, following the release of the Beatles ' " Hey Jude ". Similarly, Layla charted as 969th most popular in 1972 after the Eric Clapton song. It had not been in
434-562: A comprehensive study of Norwegian first name datasets shows that the main factors that govern first name dynamics are endogenous . Monitoring the popularity of 1,000 names over 130 years, the authors have identified only five cases of exogenous effects, three of them are connected to the names given to the babies of the Norwegian royal family. Since the civil rights movement of 1950–1970, African-American names given to children have strongly mirrored sociopolitical movements and philosophies in
496-495: A family in the manner of American English Seniors, Juniors , III , etc. Similarly, it is considered disadvantageous for the child to bear a name already made famous by someone else through romanizations , where a common name like Liu Xiang may be borne by tens of thousands. Korean names and Vietnamese names are often simply conventions derived from Classical Chinese counterparts. Many female Japanese names end in -ko ( 子 ), usually meaning "child" on its own. However,
558-444: A following word initial *s was lenited to [h] which (combined with the loss of the *-ā , *-ī ) devoiced the preceding *-d to *-t . The prothetic ⟨h⟩ of vowel initial words has two origins, the first being epenthetic to avoid vowel hiatus, and the second being the fossilised remnant of a historic consonant. For example, the *s of Proto-Celtic *esyās "her" was lenited between vowels to [h] . Overtime *esyās
620-498: 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 several Spanish -speaking countries to acknowledge the families of both parents. The order given name – mother's family name – father's family name is commonly used in Portuguese -speaking countries to acknowledge
682-529: A given name has versions in many languages. For example, the biblical name Susanna also occurs in its original biblical Hebrew version, Shoshannah , its Spanish and Portuguese version Susana , its French version, Suzanne , its Polish version, Zuzanna , or its Hungarian version, Zsuzsanna . Despite the uniformity of Chinese surnames , some Chinese given names are fairly original because Chinese characters can be combined extensively. Unlike European languages, with their Biblical and Greco-Roman heritage,
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#1733086316120744-454: A government-appointed registrar of births may refuse to register a name for the reasons that it may cause a child harm, that it is considered offensive, or if it 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
806-407: A little longer than this before the child gets an official name. 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
868-405: A name formed by the first name (or nickname), followed by the father and the paternal grandfather's name, both in the genitive case , e.g. Seán Ó Cathasaigh (Seán O'Casey), son of Pól , son of Séamus , would be known to his neighbours as Seán Phóil Shéamuis . Occasionally, if the mother or grandmother was a well-known person locally, her name may be used instead. If the mother's name
930-520: A name in the genitive case, e.g. Mac Giolla Phádraig , Ó Maoil Eoin . Many Irish people use English (or anglicised ) forms of their names in English-language contexts and Irish forms in Irish-language contexts. The Irish names of some people more famous under their English names include: Other people are generally better known by their Irish name than by their English name, including
992-447: A noncoronal consonant are eclipsed after combinations of preposition + article in the singular (except den , don , and sa(n) , which trigger lenition) In environments where lenition occurs a vowel initial word remains unchanged: However, In environments where neither eclipsis nor lenition is expected, an initial vowel may acquire a prothetic consonant. For example, a vowel-initial masculine singular nominative noun requires
1054-416: A pivotal character in his epic prose work, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia ; Jessica , 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; Wendy , an obscure name popularised by J. M. Barrie in his play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up ; and Madison ,
1116-546: 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 , Switzerland , 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
1178-440: 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. The order given name – family name , commonly known as Western name order ,
1240-520: A voiced stop into nasal stops, nasal stops followed by a voiceless stop into voiced plosives, nasal stops followed by a voiceless labial fricative into a voiced fricative, and words which have lost their final nasal add an ⟨n-⟩ to vowel initial words. These cluster reductions did not only occur word initially, though non-initial coalescence was never grammaticised. For example, Proto-Celtic *lindos → lind → linn "pool", and *kʷenkʷe → cóic → cúig "five". This table shows
1302-581: A woman marrying Pól Mac Siúrtáin may choose to adopt Bean Mhic Siúrtáin or Mhic Siúrtáin as her surname. Mag , Nig , and Mhig are sometimes used instead of Mac , Nic , and Mhic before a vowel or ⟨fh⟩ (which is silent) followed by a vowel. Norman surnames formed by de (always lowercase; "of") followed by a name, e.g. de Búrca ( Burke ), de Paor ( Power ), or de hÍde ( Hide , Hyde ). Some names consist of Mac Giolla ("servant's son") or Ó Maoil ("follower's descendent") followed by
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#17330863161201364-416: A word ended in a vowel and the next word began with a consonant + a vowel, the consonant lenited. Today, these former final vowels are usually elided, but the lenition of following consonants remains and has been grammaticised . For example, Proto-Celtic *esyo "his" caused the lenition of a following consonant due to its final vowel and its modern form a now causes lenition, keeping it distinct from
1426-483: Is blocked in these constructions if two coronals are adjacent. The singular form is used after numbers and is lenited in the following cases: Constructions of adjective + noun are written as compounds. In these constructions coronals are lenited even following other The possessive pronouns that trigger eclipsis are ár "our", bhur "your (pl.)", a "their" a can mean "his", "her" or "their", but these different uses can still be distinguished, since
1488-426: Is followed by ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ . Thus the daughter of Seán Ó Dónaill has the surname Ní Dhónaill and the daughter of a Pól Mac Siúrtáin has the surname Nic Shiúrtáin . In Ulster it is common for a woman who adopts her husband name to just use Ní or Nic rather than the forms seen below. If a woman marries a man, she may choose to take his surname. In this case, Ó
1550-406: Is followed by a vowel, a (lowercase) ⟨h⟩ is attached to the vowel, e.g. Ó hUiginn (O'Higgins) or Ó hAodha (Hughes). A woman's surname replaces Ó with Ní (reduction of Iníon Uí "descendant's daughter") and Mac with Nic (reduction of Iníon Mhic "son's daughter"). In both cases the following name undergoes lenition , except for when Nic
1612-940: Is predominant. Also, a particular spelling is often more common for either men or women, even if the pronunciation is the same. Many culture groups, past and present, did not or do not gender their names strongly; thus, many or all of their names are unisex. On the other hand, in many languages including most Indo-European languages (but not English), gender is inherent in the grammar. Some countries have laws preventing unisex names , requiring parents to give their children sex-specific names. Names may have different gender connotations from country to country or language to language. Within anthroponymic classification, names of human males are called andronyms (from Ancient Greek ἀνήρ / man, and ὄνυμα [ὄνομα] / name), while names of human females are called gynonyms (from Ancient Greek γυνή / woman, and ὄνυμα [ὄνομα] / name). The popularity (frequency) distribution of given names typically follows
1674-486: Is replaced by Bean Uí ("descendant's wife") and Mac by Bean Mhic ("son's wife"). In both cases Bean may be omitted, which results in Uí or Mhic . In both cases the following name undergoes lenition , except for when Mhic is followed by ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ . Thus a woman marrying Seán Ó Dónaill may choose to adopt Bean Uí Dhónaill or Uí Dhónaill as her surname and
1736-580: Is the Baby Name Game that uses the Elo rating system to rank parents preferred names and help them select one. 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" (anglicisation of Irish name Ciara) respectively became
1798-769: 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 Eastern name order , is primarily used in East Asia (for example in China , Japan , Korea , Taiwan , Singapore , and Vietnam , among others, and by Malaysian Chinese ), as well as in Southern and North-Eastern parts of India , and as
1860-461: Is used, then the maternal grandfather or grandmother may follow it, e.g. Máire Sally Eoghain . This system can be particularly useful for distinguishing people who live in the same area and who share a common surname but are not closely related, e.g. two people named John McEldowney might be known as "John Patsy Dan" and "John Mary Philip" respectively. Even the Irish forms sometimes survive in parts of
1922-590: The Chinese language does not have a particular set of words reserved for given names: any combination of Chinese characters can theoretically be used as a given name. Nonetheless, a number of popular characters commonly recur, including "Strong" ( 伟 , Wěi ), "Learned" ( 文 , Wén ), "Peaceful" ( 安 , Ān ), and "Beautiful" ( 美 , Měi ). Despite China's increasing urbanization, several names such as "Pine" ( 松 , Sōng ) or " Plum " ( 梅 , Méi ) also still reference nature. Most Chinese given names are two characters long and—despite
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1984-531: The Sperrins , so that among the principal families of Glenullin some branches are known by father/grandfather forms such as Pháidí Shéamais or Bhrian Dhónaill . A man's surname is generally formed by Ó ("descendant"; historically Ua ) or Mac ("son") followed by a name or definite noun (often a profession) in the genitive case , e.g. Ó Dónaill (literally "descendant of Dónall ") and Mac Siúrtáin (literally "son of Jordan"). When Ó
2046-610: The orthographical and phonological effects of lenition, eclipsis, h-prothesis, and t-prothesis. Vowels are represented by ⟨v⟩ and /V/ . Consonants are broad before ⟨a, á, o, ó, u, ú⟩ and slender before ⟨e, é, i, í⟩ . See also Irish orthography which has a table showing non-initial lenited consonants which elided or vocalised to form diphthongs or long vowels. * Not all dialects contrast lenited ⟨l⟩ and ⟨n⟩ from their unlenited forms. See Irish Phonology#Fortis and lenis sonorants . The definite article triggers
2108-476: The 51st and 92nd most popular girls' names in the UK, following the rise in popularity of British actress Keira Knightley . 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
2170-521: The African-American community. Since the 1970s neologistic (creative, inventive) practices have become increasingly common and the subject of academic study. Irish initial mutations Irish , like all modern Celtic languages , is characterised by its initial consonant mutations . These mutations affect the initial consonant of a word under specific morphological and syntactic conditions. The mutations are an important tool in understanding
2232-509: The Proto-Celtic masculine definite article *sindos . Before vowels, the *s of the ending *-os was lenited to [h] , which (combined with the loss of the *-o- ) devoiced the preceding *-d- to *-t . The prosthetic ⟨t⟩ of ⟨s⟩ initial words is a fossilised fragment of the d of Proto-Celtic nominative feminine definite article *sindā and masculine genitive definite article *sindī . Since they ended in vowels,
2294-519: 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,
2356-738: The character when used in given names can have a feminine (adult) connotation. In many Westernised Asian locations, many Asians also have an unofficial or even registered Western (typically English) given name, in addition to their Asian given name. This is also true for Asian students at colleges in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia as well as among international businesspeople. Most names in English are traditionally masculine (Hugo, James, Harold) or feminine (Daphne, Charlotte, Jane), but there are unisex names as well, such as Jordan , Jamie , Jesse , Morgan , Leslie/ Lesley , Joe / Jo , Jackie , Pat , Dana, Alex, Chris / Kris , Randy / Randi , Lee , etc. Often, use for one gender
2418-668: The corresponding statistics for 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 favour in the English-speaking world, but the overall distribution of names has also 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. Education, ethnicity, religion, class and political ideology affect parents' choice of names. Politically conservative parents choose common and traditional names, while politically liberal parents may choose
2480-503: 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 remain popular in the Southern United States . Double names are also common among Vietnamese names to make repeated name in
2542-452: The examples above—the two characters together may mean nothing at all. Instead, they may be selected to include particular sounds, tones , or radicals ; to balance the Chinese elements of a child's birth chart ; or to honor a generation poem handed down through the family for centuries. Traditionally, it is considered an affront , not an honor, to have a newborn named after an older relative and so full names are rarely passed down through
Irish name - Misplaced Pages Continue
2604-535: The families of both parents. Today, people in Spain and Uruguay can rearrange the order of their names legally to this order. 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 United Arab Emirates ). In many Western cultures , people often have multiple given names. Most often
2666-407: 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. 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 ). A child's given name or names are usually chosen by
2728-509: The first name followed by a double patronym, usually with the father and grandfather's names. This convention is not used for official purposes but is generalized in Gaeltachtaí (Irish-speaking areas) and also survives in some rural non- Gaeltacht areas. Sometimes the name of the mother or grandmother may be used instead of the father or grandfather. A first name may be modified by an adjective to distinguish its bearer from other people with
2790-407: 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 a compound given name or might be, instead,
2852-507: The following categories: 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
2914-399: The following: Given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name ) is the part of a personal name 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
2976-468: The former final nasals have been elided, but still have an effect on the pronunciation of a following consonant, which has been grammaticised . For example, the Proto-Celtic genitive plural of the definite article *sindoisom has lost its final nasal and been reduced to na but it now causes the eclipsis of a following consonant or the prothesis of ⟨n-⟩ to a vowel. The cluster reductions involved in eclipsis turned nasal stops followed by
3038-462: The lenition of: Lenition is blocked when a coronal consonant is preceded by an . Instead of leniting to /h/ , after the definite article, /sˠ, ʃ/ become /t̪ˠ, tʲ/ (written ⟨ts⟩ ): The possessive pronouns that trigger lenition are mo "my", do "your (sg.)", a "his" These were originally preceded by the particle do and often still are in Munster. Lenition
3100-507: 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: Frequently,
3162-505: The names of literary characters or other relatively obscure cultural figures. Devout members of religions often choose names from their religious scriptures. For example, Hindu parents may name a daughter Saanvi after the goddess, Jewish parents may name a boy Isaac after one of the earliest ancestral figures, and Muslim parents may name a boy Mohammed after the prophet Mohammed . There are many tools parents can use to choose names, including books, websites and applications. An example
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#17330863161203224-602: 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,
3286-493: The relationship between two words and can differentiate various meanings. Irish, like Scottish Gaelic and Manx , features two initial consonant mutations: lenition ( Irish : séimhiú [ˈʃeːvʲuː] ) and eclipsis ( urú [ˈʊɾˠuː] ) (the alternative names, aspiration for lenition and nasalisation for eclipsis, are also used, but those terms are misleading). Originally these mutations were phonologically governed external sandhi effects: lenition
3348-642: The rise to fame of singer-actress Miley Cyrus (who was named Destiny at birth). 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 Pamela , invented by Sir Philip Sidney for
3410-526: The same name. Mór ("big") and Óg ("young") are used to distinguish parent and child, like " senior " and " junior " are used in English , but are placed between the given name and the surname, e.g. Seán Óg Ó Súilleabháin corresponds to "John O'Sullivan Jr." (anglicised surnames often omit ⟨O'⟩ , leaving no trace of original Ó ). The word Beag ("little") can be used in place of Óg . This does not necessarily indicate that
3472-469: 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,
3534-517: The top 1,000 before. 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 need not be admirable in order to influence naming trends. For example, Peyton came into
3596-474: The top 1000 as a female given name for babies in the United States for the first time in 1992 (at #583), immediately after it was featured as the name of an evil nanny in the film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle . On the other hand, historical events can influence child-naming. For example, the given name Adolf has fallen out of use since the end of World War II in 1945. In contrast with this anecdotal evidence,
3658-418: The younger person is smaller in stature, merely younger than their parent or in some cases to imply a baby was small, possibly premature , at birth. Adjectives denoting hair colour may also be used, especially informally, e.g. Pádraig Rua ("red-haired Patrick"), Máire Bhán ("fair-haired Mary"). Colloquially in Gaeltachtaí (Irish-speaking areas) and some other areas it remains customary to use
3720-501: Was caused by a consonant being between two vowels, and eclipsis when a nasal preceded an obstruent , including at the beginning of a word. Irish also features t- prothesis and h-prothesis, related phenomena which affect vowel-initial words. See Irish phonology for a discussion of the symbols used on this page. Lenition as an initial mutation originally stems from the historical allophonic lenition of an intervocalic consonant, both word internally and across word boundaries, i.e if
3782-402: Was never grammaticised. For example Proto-Celtic *knāmis → cnáim → cnáimh "bone", and *abalnā → aball → abhaill "apple tree". While it is not initially apparent, the prothesis of ⟨t⟩ and ⟨h⟩ stems from historical lenition combined with vowel reduction. The prosthetic ⟨t⟩ - of vowel initial words is a fossilised fragment of
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#17330863161203844-420: Was reduced to a but the [h] remains when it is followed by a vowel initial word but is now written as part of the following word. Eclipsis originally stems from the historical coalescence of consonant clusters beginning with a nasal, both word internally and across word boundaries, i.e if a word ended in a nasal and the next word began with a stop or labial fricative, they would coalesce. Today, many of
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