cw@vaxwaller.UUCP (Carl Weidling) (01/24/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** I'm curious about naming conventions in various languages. In English a few first names still have meaning, particularly women's names, for example: Prudence, Hope, Faith, Ernest. Of course many names are derived from words or expressions in other languages like Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Old English, but I'm referring to names that mean something in the current language. I wonder how much significance is attached to the meaning in the current culture. When an English language couple names their child "Charity", are they really trying to make some kind of statement? I seem to recall reading that in old New England people would give names that were little mottoes making complete sentences, "Charity begins at home" for instance. That would be making a statement. If the names are significant then what about nicknames? In the movie "Little Big Man" one of the minor characters was Dirt_On_The_Nose, I remember wondering if he would be likely to be called "Dirt" or "Nose" for short. Having spent two years in the Navy stationed in Japan I know a little about Japanese conventions. The names have meanings, probably because they are written in kanji, which are Chinese ideograms that convey meaning rather than sound. I met women named Haruko, Natsuko, and Akiko (Spring child, Summer child, and Fall child, I didn't meet any Fuyuko's though). Among men's names , for instance, Makoto means Truth, and Star Trek's Mr Sulu's first name is Hikaru which means light ray. I don't know how much signicance the Japanese attach to these meanings though. One would assume that all the Natsukos were born in the summer. Do any Japanese out there want to clarify this? So anyway, what groups are there in which people are named things that really mean something in the modern vernacular? Regards, Carl Weidling
hrs@homxb.UUCP (H.SILBIGER) (01/24/85)
I doubt that many parents are aware of the meaning of the name they give to their children. My name, Herman is derived from the Germanic Heermann, which means warrior (literally army man.) They merely passed on a family name. It has not influenced my behavior either, since I am generally peaceful. Herman Silbiger homxb!hrs
rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (02/01/85)
In article <197@vaxwaller.UUCP> cw@vaxwaller.UUCP (Carl Weidling) writes: >I seem to recall reading that in old New England people would give names that >were little mottoes making complete sentences, "Charity begins at home" >for instance. A friend of mine once had a maid named Iwilla - short for I-will-arise-and-praise-the-lord - or something like that. -- rod williams ------------------------------------------- [decvax!decwrl!amdcad!dual!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw]
riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (02/03/85)
My favorite (which I may have mentioned before) was a country boy my high
school English teacher had met in his youth. The fellow's name was
pronounced "Pizzlem Sieve," which makes no sense until you see it in
writing: "Psalm XIV." A good biblical name, that.
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle
--- riddle@ut-sally.UUCP, riddle@ut-sally.ARPA, riddle@zotz.ARPA