English names are personal names used in, or originating in, England . In England, as elsewhere in the English-speaking world , a complete name usually consists of one or more given names , commonly referred to as first names, and a (most commonly patrilineal , rarely matrilineal ) family name or surname , also referred to as a last name. The given names after the first are often referred to as middle names .
18-576: Slaight is an English surname . Notable people with the surname include: Allan Slaight (1931–2021), Canadian rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist Annabel Slaight , Canadian author Brad Slaight (born 1964), American actor Gary Slaight (born 1951), Canadian broadcasting executive and philanthropist See also [ edit ] Slaight Communications , Canadian radio broadcasting company Slaight Family Music Lab [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
36-633: A legal name, though most people use their birth name (as registered on the Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths , regulated by the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 , which allows only characters that are used in English or Welsh), often using a spouse's surname (proved with a marriage certificate), or (if an adult) a name formally declared by deed poll . No regulations include any specific provisions regarding what names are acceptable. Nonetheless,
54-598: Is a result of a combination of greater individualism in the choice of names, and the increasing ethnic heterogeneity of the UK population, which led to a wider range of frequent given names from non-European traditions. Oliver and Olivia were the most popular baby names in England and Wales in 2018. According to Christopher Daniell, in 1140 marked what might be the first recorded use of a modern surname, inherited by multiple generations. These were not always regularly formed: for example,
72-622: Is among the most commonly given names in Anglophone , Arabic, European, Latin American , Iranian , and Turkic countries. Traditionally in the Anglosphere, it was the most common, although it has not been since the latter half of the 20th century. John owes its unique popularity to two highly revered saints , John the Baptist (forerunner of Jesus Christ ) and the apostle John (traditionally considered
90-702: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles English surname Few given names used in England have English derivations. Many names are of Hebrew ( Daniel , David , Elizabeth , Susan ) or Greek ( Nicholas , Dorothy , George , and Helen ) origin. Some are Germanic names , sometimes adopted via the transmission of French ( Robert , Richard , Gertrude , Charlotte ) or originate from idoeuropean ( Adrian , Amelia , Patrick ) or Celtic. A small fraction of given names has an actual English derivation (see Anglo-Saxon names ), such as Alfred , Ashley , Edgar , Edmund , Edward , Edwin , Harold and Oswald . A distinctive feature of Anglophone names
108-846: Is not unusual for compound surnames to be composed of separate words not linked by a hyphen, for example Iain Duncan Smith , a former leader of the Conservative Party , whose surname is "Duncan Smith". John (given name) John ( / ˈ dʒ ɒ n / JON ) is a common male name in the English language ultimately of Hebrew origin. The English form is from Middle English Ion , Ihon , Jon, Jan (mid-12c.), itself from Old French Jan , Jean , Jehan (Modern French Jean ), from Medieval Latin Johannes , altered form of Late Latin Ioannes , or
126-426: Is the surnames of important families used as given names, originally to indicate political support or patronage. Many examples have now become normal names chosen because parents like them, and any political sense lost. Most are male names like Cecil, Gerald , Howard, Percy, Montague, Stanley or Gordon, though some of those some have female versions like Cecilia or Geraldine. Other languages have few equivalents, although
144-520: The General Register Office and various organizations that help with creating and enrolling deed polls will reject anything that is unreasonable (racist, offensive, fraudulent, implying a title of nobility not held, unpronounceable, not in the Latin script, etc.). Double-barrelled names may be formed for a variety of reasons, including combining of spouses' surnames upon marriage or, more commonly in
162-606: The Old Testament bore this name, and it grew in popularity once borne by the high priest Johanan (fl. 407 BC) and especially by King John Hyrcanus (d. 104 BC). In the Second Temple period, it was the fifth most popular male name among Jews in Judaea and was borne by several important rabbis , such as Yochanan ben Zakai and Yochanan ben Nuri . The Germanic languages (including German , English and Scandinavian ) produced
180-444: The surname Slaight . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slaight&oldid=1187143660 " Categories : Surnames English-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
198-613: The 20th most common name for boys on the Social Security Administration 's list of names given in 2006. John was also among the most common masculine names in the United Kingdom, but by 2004 it had fallen out of the top 50 names for newborn boys in England and Wales . By contrast Jack , which was a nickname for John but is now established as a name in its own right, was the most popular name given to newborn boys in England and Wales every year from 1995 to 2005. It
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#1732868699090216-692: The Middle English personal name is directly from Medieval Latin, which is from the Greek name Ioannis (Ιωάννης), originally borne by Jews transliterating the Hebrew name Yochanan ( יוֹחָנָן ), the contracted form of the longer name Yehochanan ( יְהוֹחָנָן ), meaning " YHWH is Gracious" or "YHWH is Merciful". There are numerous forms of the name in different languages; these were formerly often simply translated as "John" in English but are increasingly left in their native forms (see sidebar). It
234-712: The author of the Gospel of John ); the name has since been chosen as the regnal or religious name of many emperors , kings , popes and patriarchs . Initially, it was a favorite name among the Greeks , but it flourished in all of Europe after the First Crusade . The name John is a theophoric name originating from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן ( Yôḥānān ), or in its longer form יְהוֹחָנָן ( Yəhôḥānān ), meaning " YHWH has been gracious". Several obscure figures in
252-510: The boys born in London in the year 1510, 24.4% were named John , 13.3% were named Thomas and 11.7% were named William. A trend towards more diversity in given names began in the mid-19th century, and by 1900, only 22.9% of the newborn boys, and 16.2% of the newborn girls in the UK shared the top three given names for each gender. The trend continued during the 20th century, and by 1994, these figures had fallen to 11% and 8.6%, respectively. This trend
270-459: The masculine Johann (also Johan (Dutch)), Joan , Jan and Janke (Dutch), Jannis , Jens ( Danish and Frisian ), Jóhannes , Jóhann , ( Icelandic and Faroese ), Jöns ( Swedish ), and Hans (German, Dutch and Scandinavian). John was the most popular name given to male infants in the United States until 1924, and though its use has fallen off gradually since then, John was still
288-433: The past, adding another family's surname as a condition of inheritance. Compound surnames in English feature two or more words, often joined by a hyphen or hyphens: for example, Henry Hepburne-Scott . A few families have three or four words making up their surname, such as Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton and Alexander Charles Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry . However, it
306-471: The saint's surname Xavier is often used by Roman Catholics. During the majority of the 19th century, the most popular given names were Mary for girls and either John or William for boys. Throughout the Early Modern period, the diversity of given names was comparatively small; the three most frequent male given names accounted for close to 50% of the male population throughout this period. For example, of
324-456: The sons of a certain French named Robert used a modern inheritable surname, FitzGerald , in honour of an earlier relative, named Gerald . While it is normal for a child to be given one of their parents' surnames, traditionally the father's (or increasingly some combination of the two), there is nothing in UK law that explicitly requires this. Under English common law, a person may use any name as
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