Re: Language naming terminology)

Steg Belsky wrote:
>
>
> Nope, it's not restricted to English-speaking cultures....in Israel, for
> instance, many people changed their lastnames, especially from European
> ones, into more Hebrew ones.

Not only last names...

This may be an appropriate point to "confess" to the list that I wasn't
born Shaul Vardi.  My original name was Paul Rose. I changed Paul to
Shaul (i.e. Saul), reversing the process of Shaul of Tarshish in early
Christian history. As for Vardi: it's the adjectival form of the Hebrew
word vered = rose, pink.


Among my many immigrant friends here, changes of first name are actually
more common than last name changes. Often the changes are relatively
minor and predictable - e.g. John or Jonathan changes to Yonatan; Debby
to Devora, etc. I'm one of the more "radical" examples I know, perhaps
since as a professional translator, translating my own name seemed the
ultimate challenge.



Shaul Vardi