Re: OT: Anthroponymics

Quoting Sylvia Sotomayor <terjemar@...>:

> On 10/26/05, Ph.D. <phil@...> wrote:
> > Mark J. Reed wrote:
> > >
> > > João Ricardo de Mendonça wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Is this surname-into-given-name thing common in other
> > > > countries as well?
> > >
> > > It's pretty common in the US. For instance, Addison is a
> > > popular first name for girls. My last name, Reed, is a
> > > common first name as well. CNN anchor Anderson
> > > Cooper is a famous example - I would not blink if I were
> > > introduced to a Cooper Anderson, either.
Surnames in English were originally locatives, eg Parish which derives from
Paris the city, or work-related, eg Smith, Sawyer, Cooper, or ironic, ergo Monk,
Priestly, Bishop, Pope.  Eg, Thomas the Smith, or Henry from the Western
Paddocks, or Simon who's acting like he's the Pope.

And first names were well, use-names, nicknames, parent's names given at birth,
insults, etc.

There aren't any hard-and-fast rules separating them.
> >
> >
> > Yes, in the last ten or fifteen years, this has become a hot
> > trend in the United States (among those of European
> > ancestry). There are lots of children with first names such as
> > Taylor, Madison, Morgan, and Conner, all of which are
> > actually surnames.
Apparently Wesley is yet another such.  In England it's a locative surname
relating to the western side of some contested paddocks/leas in some time long
past; in America it's a first name, and among the Australian/New
Zealander/American expat conglomeration in Papua New Guinea last century it was
acceptable for my NZ parents to name me after an American friend.
> >
> > Among those of African ancestry, the trend seems to be
> > to just select two or three random syllables. In Hispanic
> > families I've met, it seems that all the girls have the first
> > name Maria but with a different middle name: Maria Elena,
> > Maria Teresa, etc. The first name is ignored, and the girls
> > actually go by their middle names.
> >
> In my family, we did that with Elisa: Elisa Cecilia, Elisa Tina, Elisa
> Andrea, etc.
Two of my mother's family take their personal names from their middle names - my
mother and one of her brothers.  Strange but true.  I'm wondering if it was
typical of her family in ages past, and so on and so forth.
> --
> Sylvia Sotomayor
> terjemar@gmail.com
> www.terjemar.net
>
Wesley Parish

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