The earliest names on record can be found in the Bible.
Their roots are often traced to the Hebrew and were sometimes
based on a landmark such as the one with Jordan, which means "to flow down". Other times the name represented a personal experience as in the case of Abraham and Sarah. When their son was born, Abraham was 100 years old. Because his wife Sarah thought everyone would laugh at their age, they named their son Isaac, which means "he who laughs". There are many names with meanings that are centered around God --
Michael (Hebrew) "who is like the Lord" or Christian (Greek) "follower
of the annointed".
Over the years, names have gone "in and out of style".
From the late 1800's until the mid 1950's, in New
York, Thomas and Mary were always among the top 3 names. By the 1980's, Thomas had dropped to the twenty-first most popular and Mary to the thirty-seventh! They were replaced by more unusual or "current" names such as
Madison, Lindsay, Ashley and Jacob.
It became common
place for parents to name their children after celebrities, movie or TV characters, political figures and sports heroes.
The results of some studies have shown that the choice of first names is a good indicator of cultural patterns, economic trends and social reform. In conservative times, we tend to see a trend toward conservative names while times of reform bring about
distinctive and innovative names.
Whether you are a serious student of the study of
names or just find them to be fun, there is no getting around the fact that
"names" are fascinating!
