Choosing a Name

FAMILY TRADITIONS

Names that have been passed down through a family from generation to generation were at one time the automatic choice for many parents, especially for a first-born. If the traditional name was masculine, it was sometimes feminized for a girl (Thomas, Thomasina), especially if there was no male heir. These customs have lapsed in recent times, leading to many traditional family names being dropped, although they are sometimes used as a child’s middle name.

Some families, particularly among the aristocracy in Scotland, and in the American South, used the mother’s maiden name as the first-born son’s given name. This appears to be dying out, although the maiden name is still given as a middle name. Because of this custom, surnames such as Russell, Howard, and Cameron have become normal as first names, particularly for boys. Couples who are not married or in which the woman prefers to keep her maiden name sometimes like to give the mother’s surname as the child’s middle name.

Many parents choose names for their children that work together, although few go as far as the Victorians (see column, right). Some parents like all their children’s names to start with the same initial, although this can cause confusion with letters and official documents.

NATIONALITY

Many parents choose names that reflect where they come from, even though they no longer live there. This can lead to problems of spelling and pronunciation, so the spelling may be simplified ­from Gaelic to English, for example (Sile-Sheila; Aodan-Aidan). In other cases, first names. that are perceived as being “national” may not be used in their country of origin. Colleen, for example, comes from the Celtic caitlin, meaning “girl” or “wench,” and is popular for girls of Irish origin in North America and Australia, even though it’s not used as a given name in Ireland.

MEANINGS The meaning or origin of a name tends to be less important than its associations for most modern Western parents. Many Western first names have had a more convoluted history than those of other cultures. This is because these names, along with other traditions and customs, have been transferred from one society to another, often by invasion followed by integration, migration, or contact between different cultures. For this reason, many names have become divorced from their original meanings, but some Western parents do still choose names primarily because of what they mean.

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