Old British names. Women's English names. The influence of literature on the formation of names

Until the eleventh century, English names served as the only source of personal identification, the English did not have patronymics. People differed simply by name, and three old Anglo-Saxon names of that period - Edith (Edith), Edward (Edward) and Edmund (Edmund) have survived to this day.

Foreign names in England

Most of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) names that have come down to us are bibasic: Æðelgar - æðele (noble) + gār (spear), Eadgifu - eād (wealth, prosperity, luck, happiness) + gifu, gyfu (gift, gift), Eadweard - eād (wealth, prosperity, luck, happiness) + weard (guardian, guardian).

Old English names were given to newborns at the christening ceremony. Ancient names were given to children depending on the social status of the family. The Norman nobility bore Germanic names - Geoffrey (Geoffrey), Henry (Henry), Ralph (Ralph), Richard (Richard), Roger (Roger), Odo (Odo), Walter (Walter), William (William) and from Brittany - Alan (Alan) and Brian (Brian).

The Normans proposed the idea of ​​forming Old English female names from male- Patrick (Patrick), Patricia (Patricia), Paul (Paul), which are used in England to date. Between 1150 and 1300, the number of names in use began to decline rapidly. By the end of the fourteenth century, most of the male population had one of five names: Henry (Henry), John (John), Richard (Richard), Robert (Robert), William (William).

Women's names in the fourteenth century also did not differ in variety: Alice (Alice), Anne (Anne), Elizabeth (Elizabeth), Jane (Jane) and Rose (Rose). Since the personal name was no longer able to individualize one or another member of society, the use of hereditary surnames began, for example, Richard, son of John (Richard, son of John). This process in London proceeded very slowly, moving down the social ladder from wealthy aristocrats to the poor. In the north of England, even at the end of the sixteenth century, many inhabitants still did not have their own surnames.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, New Testament biblical names came into vogue.:

• Andrew.
• John.
• Luke.
• Mark.
• Matthew.
• Peter (Peter).
• Agnes.
• Anne.
• Katherine.
• Elizabeth (Elizabeth).
• Jane.
• Mary

Common names in 18th century England were John, William, and Thomas, and women's names were Mary, Elizabeth, and Anna. In the 19th century, male names were John, William and James, and female names were Mary, Helen and Anna. In the 20th century, the English fashion for names changed significantly every ten years..

Popular English names of the last 500 years

The Office for National Statistics conducted an unusual English family history experiment. She studied over 34 million British and Irish birth records from 1530 to 2005 and identified the 100 most popular male and female names.

English names for men:

• John.
• William (William).
• Thomas (Thomas).
• George.
• James (James).

English female names:

• Mary
• Elizabeth (Elizabeth).
• Sarah.
• Margaret.
• Anna (Ann).

Rare and unusual names

Unusual English names were determined according to the Office for National Statistics of England. Each name on the lists below was established in 2016 from the registration data of children in England. The rare case of the name being used, as it was given to no more than three newborns, confirms the high degree of uniqueness in the context of the whole country.

The rarest English girl names:

• Adalie. Meaning: "God is my refuge, noble one."
• Agape. Meaning: "Love" in ancient Greek.
• birdie. Meaning: "Bird".
• noam. Meaning: "Pleasant".
• Onyx. Meaning: "Claw or nail" in ancient Greek. Black gem.

The rarest English boy names:

• Ajax. Meaning: "Eagle" in ancient Greek mythology.
• Dougal. Meaning: "Dark Stranger" in Gaelic.
• Henderson. Meaning: A traditional English surname.
• Jools. Meaning: Descended from Jupiter.
• marvelous. Meaning: beautiful, beautiful, wonderful. More traditionally, it is the name of a Nigerian girl.

Modern tendencies

Fashion trends for names are in dynamic motion all the time. New names were born, old ones returned from the distant past, gaining again forgotten popularity, and sometimes the British simply borrowed names from other peoples. England has its own characteristics - the fashion for names is also dictated by the royal family. The names of members of the royal family Harry, William, Elizabeth, George are especially popular with the people. In 2017, the National Statistics Service of the United Kingdom ONS published an annual report that provides data on the names of newborns in 2016.

The leader in this list is the name of the boy Oliver (Oliver), and the female leader is Amelia (Amelia). This star couple has been holding this championship since 2013. Although in fact, many believe that in London the male name Muhammad is in the first place. If you carefully analyze the list of the best baby names in England and Wales, it seems that this opinion is true.

Muhammad is an Arabic name and has several spellings, so the name Muhammad appears several times in the statistics given. Muhammad ranked 8th, Mohammed ranked 31st, Mohammad ranked 68th, with a total of 7,084 people. And the name Oliver was given to 6623 newborns, so the obvious advantage of Mohammed over Oliver. Representatives of the ONS attribute such popularity of the Muslim name in England to social changes in the country.

Ahead of the ONS, English parenting site BabyCentr released its official version of the 100 Best Baby Names in 2017. The lists are compiled from a survey of over 94,665 parents of newborns (51,073 boys and 43,592 girls). Olivia again took first place in the nomination of female names. This year, the name Muhammad confidently overtook the name of Oliver, taking a leading position. The site also notes that in England they began to give names that are gender-neutral, for example, the name Harley is almost the same name for male and female children.

The best English female names of 2017:

The best English male names of 2017:

Meanings of English names

Numerous life stories, research results and theories suggest that names help shape a person's personality. Names are certainly not the only force in life that causes a person to develop in a certain way and become a person, but the importance of a name has been noticed even in antiquity.

English male names and their meanings

Meanings of English female names

1. Olivia (Olivia). This name is in Latin oliva, which means "olive".
2. Sophia (Sophia). The legends about her probably arose as a result of the medieval "Hagia Sophia", meaning "Holy Wisdom".
3. Amelia (Amelia). Mixture of medieval names Emilia and Amalia. In Latin, it means "industriousness" and "striving." Its Teutonic meaning is "protector".
4. Lily (Lily). In English, the meaning of Lily: the lily flower is a symbol of innocence, purity and beauty.
5. Emily (Emily). Emily is a female name derived from the Roman female name Aemilia. The Latin name Aemilia, in turn, may come from the Latin word aemulus (or from the same root as aemulus) - this means "rival".
6. Ava (Ava). Maybe from the Latin avis, meaning "bird". It can also be a short form of the name Chava ("life" or "living"), the Hebrew form of Eve.
7. Isla (Isla). The traditionally used mostly Scottish usage derived from Islay which is the name of an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is also the name of two Scottish rivers.
8. Isabella. Variant of Elizabeth, meaning "dedicated to God" in Hebrew.
9. Mia (Mia). In Latin, the meaning of the name Mia is a desired child.
10. Isabelle. In Hebrew, the meaning of the name Isabelle is dedicated to God.
11. Ella (Ella). In English meaning: Eleanor and Ellen's abbreviation is a beautiful fairy.
12. Poppy (Poppy). It is a female name from the name of the poppy flower, derived from the Old English popæg and referring to various species of Papaver. The name is gaining popularity in the UK.
13. Freya. In Scandinavia, the meaning of the name is lady. Derived from the name of Freya, the Scandinavian goddess of love and fertility and the mythological wife of Odin.
14. Grace (Grace). In English, the meaning of the word is "grace", derived from the Latin gratia, which means the blessing of God.
15. Sophie. In Greek, the meaning of the name Sophie is wisdom, wise.
16. Evie (Evie) in Hebrew, the meaning of the name Evie: life, live.
17. Charlotte. Charlotte is a female given name, the female form of the male given name Charlot, a diminutive of Charles. It is of French origin meaning "free man" or "little one".
18. Aria (Aria). Italian - "air". In music, an aria is usually a solo in an opera. In Hebrew it comes from Ariel which means the lion of God and its Teutonic origin is related to the bird.
19. Evelyn. In French: From a surname derived from the French Aveline, meaning hazelnut.
20. Phoebe. Feminine form of the Greek phoiba (bright), which is derived from phoibo (bright). Phoebe is found in Greek mythology as the name of Artemis, goddess of the moon. In poetry, Phoebe personifies the moon.

Each of us was given a name at birth. However, when we look at our lives, we wonder who we would be if our names were different.

It is customary to give names to children after birth, but parents come up with them long before the babies are born. When choosing a name for a future daughter, parents consider various aspects: a combination of letters, euphony, the meaning of the name and even its influence on the fate of a person. Each couple tries to come up with something special and unique.

The results of research conducted by various historians have revealed the fact that the very first English names were derived from words (nouns and adjectives) that existed in Old English. It was not the name of the person that carried a special semantic load, but his nickname.

The situation with names changed dramatically after the conquest of England by the Normans. There was a rapid replacement of English names with Norman ones. Today, only a small part of the English have truly English names.

It is also noteworthy that there are very few old native English names. To this day, they almost did not reach. The vast majority of them were borrowed from such cultures as Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Celtic, Norman, etc. At that time, people received long and short names that praised the gods, the forces of nature, and any human qualities.

In the 16th century in England, old English female names, mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, were quite common. Among the following can be noted:

• Mary is a derivative form of the Hebrew name Maria. This ancient name has a very beautiful meaning - "serene";
• Anna is named after the mother of the prophet Samuel. Translated as "grace";
• Maryann - the combined names of Mary and Anna;
• Sarah is named after Abraham's wife. The meaning of this name is "mistress".

The influence of literature on the formation of names

Writers also played a huge role in the emergence of new female names. It is thanks to literature that such a rare female name as Sylvia, Ophelia, Stella, Jessica, Vanessa, Julia, Juliet, Jessica and Viola appeared in the English language.

Among other things, literary works kept many Old English names. Among the beautiful female names there are old names borrowed from other languages. Names of similar origin include: Anita, Angelina, Jacqueline, Amber, Daisy, Michelle and Ruby. And this is not the whole list.

Popular English female names

Fashion for names, like for many other aspects of life, comes and goes. Some are quickly forgotten, and forever, while others return from time to time - usually in their original form, but sometimes in a new interpretation.

The most popular names in recent years have been Olivia, Emma and Sophie, according to UK National Statistics. A list of 30 other popular English female names is presented below:

1. Olivia
2. Sofia
3. Isabel
4. Charlotte
5. Emily
6. Harper
7. Abigail
8. Madison
9. Avery
10. Margaret
11. Evelyn
12. Edison
13. Grace
14. Amelie
15. Natalie
16. Elizabeth
17. scarlet
18. Victoria

Successful names and not so

It has long been known that the name of a person largely determines his fate. Psychologists from all over the world are actively working on this issue, conducting various studies, observations and surveys. As a result, the success rate of individuals named by one name or another also has a strong influence on the popularity of the name itself.

So, one of the surveys conducted in the UK showed which British names were recognized by the inhabitants of Foggy Albion as the most successful, and which ones were the other way around. The survey results are shown in the table below.

Rare English female names and their meanings

There are many names that remain outside the popularity rankings, being the least used. The so-called "outsider names" include:

• Annick - benefit, grace
• Allin is a bird
• Amabel - attractive
• Bernays - bringing victory
• Bambi is a child
• Bekkai - the one that traps
• Bets is my vow
• Willow - willow
• Gabby - power from God
• Dominic - Lord's property
• Jojo - multiplying
• Delours - longing
• Juel is a gem
• Georgina - peasant woman
• Eline is a bird
• Kiva is beautiful
• Kelly - blonde
• Lukinda - light
• Lalaj - babbling
• Morgan - sea circle
• Marley - beloved
• Melissa - bee
• Mackenzie is beautiful
• Mindy - black snake
• Megan - pearl
• Penelope is a cunning weaver
• poppy - poppy
• Rosaulin - gentle mare
• Totti is a girl
• Phyllis - crown of a tree
• heather - heather
• Edvena is a wealthy friend

The most beautiful female English names

The beauty of the name and its euphony is of great importance for girls and women. All my life I will associate her with the name given to her by her parents. There is no dispute about tastes, and if one person likes the name Amelia or Elizabeth, then it can annoy another. However, there is a ranking of names that, according to most people, seem to be the most beautiful.

Unusual female English names

Ordinary people rarely have unusual names. Indeed, many parents, when choosing a name for a child, are guided not only by their preferences, but also think that their child does not become a subject for ridicule among children. But celebrities have their own view on this matter, they choose strange female and male names, guided only by their imagination and the desire to attract as much attention to themselves as possible.

Scout Larue and Tallupa Bell - this is how Bruce Willis named his younger daughters. And this is neither more nor less than the nicknames of your favorite horses who won at the races.

Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple, which is how the name Apple is translated into Russian.

Rapper 50 Cent named his son Marquise, ignoring male English names.

Singer David Bowie ignored all the famous English names for boys and named his son Zoe, simply considering the combination of Zoe Bowie to be funny.

Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z named their daughter Blue Ivy, which means "blue ivy".

The daughter of actress Mila Jovovich is called Ever Gabo. The second part of the name is the first syllables of the names of Mila's parents - Galina and Bogdan.

So much is said about the culture or traditions of England, but it is quite rare to find out about English names. And the topic, by the way, is very entertaining. After all, the naming system is globally different from what we are used to.

If we have a first and last name, then in England it is somewhat different. They have a first name, a middle name, and a surname. In addition, in England it is considered normal to give diminutive forms of the name. For example, even in formal conversations, a person may be called Tony, although his full name sounds like Anthony. If desired, the child can be immediately recorded with a diminutive name and the state will not object. Moreover, almost any word or name can be taken as a name - for example, the name Brooklyn. But if we tried to name our son, for example, Novosibirsk, they would hardly give permission for this.

The system of English given names and surnames

Each of us is already accustomed to the fact that he is the bearer of the surname, name and patronymic. But such a scheme is not suitable for the British, their naming system is absolutely unusual and therefore curious. The main difference between our systems is the lack of a patronymic. Instead, they have a surname, a first name, and a middle name. Moreover, as any of these two names, an Englishman can carry the names of some stars or even his ancestors. Although there is no strict requirement that a person have only these three points. Any Englishman can give a child a name from several names or surnames. For example, if you want to name it in honor of the whole football team at once.

Such a tradition - to give a person a surname as a name, has come down to our days from noble families. Although the history of the English name system developed quite actively, borrowings were made from various countries, and names were also mixed from the Angles, Celtic tribes, Franco-Normans. Since the Anglo-Saxons initially had only one name, they tried to attach special importance to it. Therefore, in the composition of ancient names one could meet such words as wealth or health. Old English female names were most often composed using adjectives, the most common variation being Leof (dear, beloved). And after the Norman invasion of England, a surname was gradually added to the name, making it close to the name system that exists today. The old Anglo-Saxon names gradually began to disappear, and due to the influence of the Christian religion, Christian schools that opened everywhere actively stimulated the registration of newborns who received a name at baptism, so the names changed slightly: from Mary to Mary, from Jeanne to John.

Generator of English names and surnames

GENERATOR OF ENGLISH NAMES AND SURNAMES
(including Anglo-Irish and Anglo-Scottish surnames)

And here are the most common British names. For convenience, they are divided into parts of the country, because in each corner some individual names are most popular. Some of them are the same, some are different. Names are ranked by popularity.

England

Men's

1. Harry- Harry (a diminutive of Henry - rich, powerful)
2. Oliver- Oliver (from ancient German - army)
3. Jack- Jack (a diminutive of John, from Hebrew - Yahweh is merciful)
4. Charlie- Charlie (from ancient German - man, husband)
5. Thomas- Thomas (from ancient Greek - twin)
6. Jacob– Jacob (simplified version of the name James)
7. Alfie- Alfie (from Old English - advice)
8. Riley- Riley (from Irish - courageous)
9. William- William (from ancient German - desire, will)
10. James- James (from Hebrew - "holding on to the heel")

Women's

1. Amelia- Amelia (from ancient German - work, work)
2. Olivia- Olivia (from Latin - olive tree)
3. Jessica- Jessica (the exact meaning is unknown, perhaps the name comes from the biblical name Jescha)
4. Emily– Emily (the female form of the male name Emil is a rival)
5. Lily- Lily (from the English name for the lily flower)
6. Ava– Ava (a variant of the medieval English name Evelyn)
7. Heather- Heather (from English - heather)
8. Sophie- Sophie (from ancient Greek - wisdom)
9. Mia– Mia
10. Isabella- Isabella (Provencal version of the name Elizabeth)

Northern Ireland

Men's

1. Jack– Jack
2. James– James
3. Daniel– Daniel
4. Harry– Harry
5. Charlie– Charlie
6. Ethan– Ethan
7. Matthew- Matthew (from Hebrew - the gift of Yahweh)
8. Ryan– Ryan
9. Riley– Riley
10. noah– Noah

Women's

1. Sophie– Sophie
2. Emily– Emily
3. grace- Grace (from English - grace, grace)
4. Amelia– Amelia
5. Jessica– Jessica
6. Lucy- Lucy (from the male Roman name Lucius - light)
7. Sophia– Sofia (variant of the name Sophie)
8. Katie- Katy (from Greek - pure, thoroughbred)
9. Eva- Eve (from Hebrew - breathe, live)
10. Aoife- Ifa (from Irish - beauty)

Wales

Men's

1. Jacob– Jacob
2. Oliver– Oliver
3. Riley– Riley
4. Jack– Jack
5. Alfie– Alfie
6. Harry– Harry
7. Charlie– Charlie
8. Dylan- Dylan (according to Welsh mythology, that was the name of the God of the Sea)
9. William– William
10. mason– Mason (from a similar surname meaning “stone carving”)

Women's

1. Amelia– Amelia
2. Ava– Ava
3. Mia– Mia
4. Lily– Lily
5. Olivia– Olivia
6. ruby- Ruby (from English - ruby)
7. Seren- Serenus (from Latin - clear)
8. Evie– Evie (from the English surname Evelyn)
9. Ella- Ella (from ancient German - all, everything)
10. Emily– Emily

Modern English names

It is very common in English names to have pet and diminutive forms as official names. With us, such a form is allowed only with personal, close communication. For example, take at least people familiar to everyone - Bill Clinton or Tony Blair. They are called by such names even at world negotiations, and this is absolutely acceptable. Although in fact, Bill's full name is William, and Tony is Anthony. The British are allowed to register a newborn child, giving him a diminutive first or second name. Although there are no special prohibitions on choosing a name in English-speaking countries as such, it is possible to give a child a name after a city or district. So, for example, the star couple Beckham did, Victoria and David gave their son the name Brooklyn - it was in this area of ​​\u200b\u200bNew York that he was born.

Gradually, fashion began to change and names in English-speaking countries often began to be borrowed from different languages. Since the 19th century, many female names have appeared such as Ruby, Daisy, Beryl, Amber and others. Willingly used names originally from Spain or France - Michel, Angelina, Jacqueline. But the tendency of some people to give their children unusual names has not disappeared anywhere. Bill Simser, Vice President of Microsoft, named his daughter Vista Avalon. The first part of the name is in honor of Windows Vista, and the second part is in honor of the Avalon system code name. But director Kevin Smith decided to name his daughter Harley Quinn at all - that was the name of the girl from the comics about Batman.

By the way, not every owner likes such unusual names. Many children are embarrassed by this and look forward to coming of age to officially change their name. Little Pixie Geldof, who is the daughter of musician Bob Geldof, was very shy about the prefix "little" at the beginning of her name and chose to call herself simply Pixie in her adult life. But what a resident of New Zealand, whose name is Bus No. 16, will do with his name is even hard to imagine. The fantasies of his parents can only be envied.

Æthelbald
Milred
Ingvald
Wilfrith
Alda
Aldred
Headbert
Bertrand
Aethelnot
Æthelhun
Esne
Keowulf
dinn
Beornwulf
Ealfert
Cuthred
Wulfsig
Denewulf
Edward
female:
Genburg
Wolfrit
Kyunesvit

Æthelflæd
By the way, what exactly is the year on the game? Right here in Kent?

Well, a little addition:
At the semantic level, some Old English compound names appear as peculiar exocentric composites, the meaning of which is not derived from the sum of the meanings of their constituent components. For example, Frithuwulf - peace, security; shelter, shelter + wolf; Wigfrith - fight; dispute, discord; war + peace; safety; refuge, shelter.

The meaning of other Old English compound names can be easily understood by a modern reader, for example: Aethelstan - noble; excellent, excellent + stone; Maerwine - famous, glorious, magnificent + poet. friend; defender. These names appear as already endocentric or non-idiomatic compound words.

The components of complex names were scooped from a special fund of Old English nominal words. The Anglo-Saxons believed in the magical properties of "benevolent" nominal words to give the bearer of the name protection and patronage, wealth, health, prosperity, courage, fame, honor, etc. This includes, for example, the following Old English words: aelf - elf; beorht - bright, brilliant, light; beorn is a poet. human; warrior; hero; eald - old, ancient; former; gar is a poet. a spear; gifu, gyfu - a gift, a gift; favor, mercy; god - good; virtuous; favorable; useful, suitable; skillful; good, gift; property; gold - gold; maere - famous, glorious, magnificent; raid - advice; solution; mind, wisdom; rice - powerful; high rank; rich; power; sae - sea; lake; sige - victory; success; stan - stone; sunu - son; descendant; weard - guardian, keeper; protection; patronage; guard; poet. owner; lord; wig - fight; dispute, discord; war; battle; valor; military force; wine is a poet. friend; protection; wulf - wolf, etc.

Some of these words apparently had a strictly defined place in the compound name, i.e. they could be either only the first or only the second component of the name, and part of the nominal words could occupy any of these two places. For example, the words aelf, aethele, ead, eald, god, gold were used only as the first components of the composite, the words beald, gar, gifu, raed, rice, stan, weard - as the second ones, and beorht, maere, sige, wig, wine, wulf - as any components of complex names.

The belonging of individuals to the same family was indicated by the use of motivated allonyms created either by alliteration or by combining components of the parents' names. The English onomatologist Widick gives the following curious example of allonyms with the alliteration of the consonant m. Three Anglo-Saxon daughters named Maerewald - famous, glorious, magnificent + power; control; the lord were called Mildthryth - soft, meek; merciful; kind + poet. power; power; strength; greatness; glory; shine (modern female name MILDRED), Mildburh - soft, meek; merciful; kind + fortress, castle; walled city and Mildguth - soft, meek; merciful; kind + poet. fight, battle; war) (2).

The combination of components of parental names to indicate kinship is well illustrated by examples given by another well-known English onomatologist, Percy Reaney. At the beginning of the 7th century nephew of King Edwin of Northumbria Hereric - army; army; many + powerful; high rank; rich; power and his wife Breguswith is a poet. leader, lord, king + strong, severe; cruel; the active named their daughter Hereswith - the army; army; set + strong; severe; cruel; active. The name of St. Wulfstan (Wulfstan - wolf + stone), Bishop of Worcester (1062-95) is composed of the first component of the mother's name Wulfgifu - wolf + gift, gift; favor, mercy and the second component of the father's name Aethelstan - noble; excellent, excellent + stone (3).

In terms of structural and semantic features, Old English female names did not differ in any way from male names. The second component acted as an indicator of the gender of the name. In male names, it was represented by masculine nouns: gar - poet. a spear; hafoc - hawk; helm - protection, covering; helmet; poet. protector, patron; man(n) - person; husband; hero; raid - advice; solution; mind, wisdom; sige - victory; success; sunu - son; descendant; weard - guard; the keeper; protection; patronage; guard; poet. owner, lord; wig - fight; dispute, discord; war; wine is a poet. friend; defender, etc. The second component of female names were, respectively, feminine nouns: burg, burn - fortress, castle; walled city; frithu - peace; safety; shelter; shelter; gifu, gyfu - a gift, a gift; favor, mercy; gut - poet. fight, battle; war; henn - chicken; run - secret, secret; (secret) advice; rune etc.

Adjectives were also used as second components. For male names, these are, as a rule, adjectives indicating the social position and character traits of the bearer of the name: beald - brave, steadfast, courageous; beorht - bright, brilliant, light; heah - high; exalted; majestic, important; proud, arrogant: heard - hard; heavy, difficult; strong; vigorous; bold, courageous; persistent; maere - famous, glorious, magnificent; rice - powerful; high rank; rich; power, etc.

Many female names have the adjective leof as the second component - dear, beloved; nice.

The invasions of the Scandinavians (Danes and Norwegians) to England, which began at the end of the 8th century. and repeated over the next centuries until the XI century. (in 1042 the political dominance of the Danes was destroyed), apparently, did not have a significant impact on the name system that developed among the Anglo-Saxons at that time. The Scandinavians settled in the eastern, central and northern parts of England (the territories of Essex, East Anglia, part of the territory of the Mersey and Northumbria), forming the "area of ​​Danish law". Relatively quickly they merged with the Anglo-Saxons, assimilating their customs, language, religion, social order and institutions.