What’s in a name?

Difficult choice

When it comes to naming a baby, choosing the right name can be a really big issue. Parents can think about name choices for months. 
The arguments may sound like this: 
“We can’t give him your father’s name. I really don’t like your father’s name. My grandfather’s name is much nicer.” 
“No, we can’t name our daughter Claire. That’s the name of my ex-girlfriend.” 
“I don’t care how much you like math. We’re not naming our baby Pi!” 
New parents consider many things before deciding on a name. They might use names from family members. They might name their children after cultural and historic characters. Parents also might choose a name that represents something in which they believe strongly. 
The origin of names associated with various legends, guesses, but it is clear that the set of names to each civilization, each nation is closely linked by historical, cultural, household traditions. 
First names were not written especially: to denote people used any "available" names of the phenomena of the world, for example, animals, plants, celestial bodies, water bodies, seasons, Oak, Winter, Stone, Snake. Another origin of the names of ancient people — the characteristics of the person, features of its natural characteristics, behavior, lifestyle. 
English system of names is very interesting and in many ways unusual for us. As a rule, in English-speaking countries full name consists of three components: the first name (first name, Christian name, given name), middle name (middle name) and surname (name, surname, last name). This is usually chosen the names of relatives, celebrities or historical characters. Until the early nineteenth century a tradition of giving names as personal names was common mainly in the noble families. Remember the Jane Austen novel "Pride and prejudice": the full name of the main character was Fitzwilliam Darcy. Darcy is a typical noble surname of Norman origin, meaning "one who hails from Arsi" (Arcy is a small town in Normandy). But Fitzwilliam - is also a surname and it means "son of William". However, in the case of the hero of Jane Austen, she successfully acts as a name (for us this tradition may seem an absurd - as if anyone from the Pushkin's heroes bore the name of Onegin Lensky I.). On the other hand, the name of Darcy in itself may be given (and is given so far) as a personal name: in Cardiff City team footballer plays Darcy Blake, and in the canadian hockey League has a player named Darcy Tucker. Another feature of English names is the widespread use of diminutive forms.
In English-speaking countries even officially enroll a child under the diminutive name - registration legislation is very liberal and has almost no restrictions. So as the name can choose almost any word: for example, David and Victoria Beckham named their son Brooklyn after the district of new York, in which the boy was born. The number of constraint names either, though most people limited to two or three. But there are exceptions: for example, the English footballer Charlie Oatway parents named in honor of the 11 players of a football team Queens Park Rangers F. C.: Anthony Philip David Terry Frank Donald Stanley Gerry Gordon Stephen James Oatway. Actually double names - the tradition is relatively recent. Up to the XVIII century people were satisfied with just one name and surname. For a long time a source of names, in fact, was one and only Church calendar. But national variations on the theme of the Church's name was very much: Latin form of Maria turned into English in Mary (Mary), who gave diminutive Molly (Molly), and then Polly (Polly). The name Joannes is derived from Hebr. Yohanan ("is gracious, Yahweh; Yahweh has mercy (awards)"), given in medieval England form Jan, Iohn and John (John), and diminutive Jankin, Jackin and finally, Jack (Jack). A female form Ioanna, borrowed through the French Jeanne (Jeanne), turned immediately into three separate name: Jane (Jane), Jean (gene) and Joan (Joan). 
The traditional names affluent parents give to their children are far more likely to catch on than the zany names invented by some celebrity parents. But some, like George, rise and fall in popularity for no apparent reason.
Recently, a Ukrainian man made global headlines for changing his name to iPhone 7. It's doubtful this will catch on, but for the last two centuries we've seen names rise and fall in popularity. 
But it hasn't always been like this. For centuries, name giving was determined by custom, with most babies being given one of only a few names that were handed down from one generation to the next. 
Even in the late 18th Century, more than half of all boys in Britain were baptised William, John or Thomas, and more than half of all girls were baptised Elizabeth, Mary or Anne. 
Harvard sociologist Stanley Lieberson believes the Industrial Revolution caused this change in name giving. It weakened the influence of the extended family, and therefore the position of honour traditionally held by older people. 
As a result, given names associated with the elderly became less attractive to new parents. The Industrial Revolution also speeded up the spread of literacy, and through their reading people came across a much wider variety of names - Dickens alone created a thousand named characters. 
This is not to say that the custom of naming babies after family members has died out, as illustrated by the Royal Family - Philip begat Charles Philip Arthur George, who begat William Arthur Philip Louis, who begat George Alexander Louis. 
The Royal Family is not alone. One quarter of parents still do this, particularly when naming boys. Perhaps not surprisingly, US presidential candidate Donald John Trump's first son is Donald John. 
But increasingly parents are following the fashion to give unusual names. In 2015, more than 60,000 different names were registered in Britain, 50,000 of them to only one or two children. 
At the other end of the spectrum, the percentage of babies given the most popular names has been steadily falling. 
What motivates parents to give unusual names? In part, it's an extension of what happened in the 19th Century. Parents then had Dickens - for example, his characters named Daisy, Flora, Rose and Rosa probably helped foster the Victorian fashion for botanical names for girls. 
Parents now have Google - the Office for National Statistics lists the 7,500 different names given to three or more British girls (from Aabidah to Zyva) and nearly 5,000 different names given to three or more boys (from Aaban to Zyon). 
Highly unusual names are, of course, common among the children of celebrities. Jamie Oliver's children come to mind - Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice, and River Rocket. 
It's likely high-profile celebrities such as Oliver have encouraged the trend to give unusual names. 
But what about parents naming children after celebrities? People have been copying the names of their social superiors from the time of the Norman Conquest. 
British historian Will Coster describes how 500 years ago "names could move down through the social structure, until they reached a point at which they would have ceased to be reused… New names were most likely to enter towards the top of society, working their way down, and occasionally being dropped." 
Giving a child the name of a celebrity can be seen as a modern version of this historical process. It's most obvious when a celebrity's name is initially quite rare. 
Keira Knightley would have been Kiera had it not been for a misspelling on her birth certificate. In 2001, Kiera was much more popular than Keira, but when Knightley's film career took off in 2002, Keira rocketed into the top 100 names in 2004. And by 2007, at the height of its popularity (and, perhaps, Knightley's) it was a top 50 name, with three times more babies named Keira than Kiera. 
More recently, Knightley's film output has gone down - and so has the popularity of Keira, which left the top 100 in 2013 and is heading downwards. 
Zayn is another unusual name that's become more popular recently. Zayn Malik was a member of the phenomenally successful band One Direction, which first performed in 2010. In 2009, Zayn was ranked 696th on the list of British boys' names, but climbed to 220th in 2015. 
It seems reasonably certain that this change in popularity can be explained by Malik's rise to fame. 
However, it's also instructive to look at the number of babies registered as Zayn - 43 in 2009 and 255 in 2015, an increase of only 200 or so, showing it's possible to exaggerate the role of celebrities in name giving. 
In Britain, one of the most popular names recently educated parents, it starts working its way down the socioeconomic ladder. 
However, to quote researchers Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, "as a high-end name is adopted masse, high-end parents begin to abandon it. Eventually, it is considered so common that even lower-end parents may not want it, whereby it falls out of the rotation entirely." In case you're thinking that this is just those crazy Californians, recall that Will Coster said exactly the same thing about 16th Century England. So, if you want to see some of the most popular British names of the next generation, a good place to start may be today's birth announcements in The Times. 
Following the birth of Prince George in mid-2013, one headline trumpeted: "George makes a comeback as parents copy Wills and Kate." 
But as the chart shows, the comeback began in the 1970s when the name's long downward trajectory suddenly reversed, for no obvious reason, until once again it became a top five name. 
It may be that more influential than celebrities are families who live nearby in more affluent neighborhoods. Poorer parents may believe they can give their children a better chance of success in life by giving them names popular in richer areas. 
Pop culture plays a big part in some parents’ choice of names. The film “The Fault in Our Stars” gave us names like Gus and Hazel. Disney’s hit movie “Frozen” may give us more girls named Elsa. And the popularity of singers such as Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift might mean we see more children with these names. 
Madison is theninth most popular name for baby girls in the U.S. But it was rarely used for girls until after the movie “Splash” came out in 1984. The main character chose it for her name after seeing it on a Madison Avenue street sign in New York City. 
Besides being popularized in a film, Madison is a good example of trends in naming a child for other reasons. Madison is unisex, meaning it can be used for girls or boys. It has been a trend for several years to name a girl a unisex name. 
Madison is a place-name, after Madison, Wisconsin. This is another trend in the U.S. Parents may name their child Asia or Paris or after a city or state, such as Brooklyn or Alabama. 
The name Madison is also a surname, as in James Madison, the fourth president of the U.S. Using a last name as a first name is yet another trend in the U.S. But this trend is not permitted in some other countries. 
If parents have trouble picking a name, they can turn to several websites for help. It did not take long for Harper Lee’s new novel “Go Set a Watchman” to influence baby names. Atticus Finch is the iconic character in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” And the birth of Princess Charlotte to Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, may push the girl’s name Charlotte up to one in 2015. 
Since many English names do not have an exact meaning, people sometimes choose words that mean something they like. New parents may identify a quality they would like their child to have and use it as a first or middle name. Words like King, Maverick, Rebel, and Hope can easily be used to make a name. 
Some celebrities have pushed this trend to an extreme. They are taking more traditional names like Deacon and Faith, and creating names like Reign and Saint. That is why names like Legend, Mercy and Serenity are expected to become more popular in the future. 
When economic conditions are good, some new parents name babies after brand name products. Names like Mercedes, Lexus and Rolex come to mind. 
But when the economy is bad, new parents may want a more grounded name with a nature-theme. For girls, that could mean a rising popularity for names like Lily, Skye, Summer, Rain or Jasmine. And for boys, names like River, Sage and Ash could become all the rage.
Whatever name parents decide, it is most important that they like the sound of it. They will be saying the name a lot.

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