| The history of names is so ancient that no one | | | | century. This practice was adopted first by the |
| know quite where it began. Oral and written | | | | aristocracy and later on by the peasants. |
| history both profess people having names. Earlier | | | | Bynames came in various types. The patronymic |
| names seem to have some sort of meaning, | | | | referred to the father, a matronymic referred to |
| usually descriptive. In contrast, today's names are | | | | the mother, a locative or toponymic indicated |
| usually given based upon their popularity or | | | | where a person was from,and an epithet |
| pleasing sounds.Early in prehistory, descriptive | | | | described the person in some way ( such as their |
| names were used continuously. Eventually, a | | | | occupation, office, or status).Patronymics are |
| collection of names were formed that identified | | | | common in almost all European cultures. For |
| that particular culture. Today, the meanings of | | | | example, a man named Ivan whose father's |
| many names are not known, due to the aging | | | | name is Nikolay would be know as Ivan |
| history of a name. As time goes on, languages | | | | Nikolayevich or "Ivan, son of Nikolay". In Gaelic, |
| change, and words that formed the original name | | | | the prefix "Mac" is used to form a patronym. An |
| are often unrecognizable.The rise in Christianity | | | | example would be "MacKenzie" - son of Kenneth. |
| transformed the history of names. Christians | | | | The use of the matronymic is much less |
| were encouraged to name their children after | | | | common.Common occupational names included |
| saints and martyrs of the church. Because of this | | | | Baker, Shepherd, Carpenter, and Wright.The |
| influence, we now see names such as Mary, | | | | Romans adopted surnames as far back as 2,000 |
| Martha, Joseph, James, Mark, Paul, and John | | | | years ago, while other areas of the world were |
| prominent among many cultures. These names | | | | slower to begin using surnames. However, by the |
| were spread by early missionaries throughout | | | | Middle Ages, they were used regularly, first by |
| Europe.By the Middle Ages, Christian names were | | | | the nobility and then by the gentry. Following the |
| seen predominantly. Each culture had its collection | | | | fall of the Roman Empire, Ireland was one of the |
| of names, which were a combination of native | | | | first countries to adopt surnames. These Irish |
| and early Christian names. However, the naming | | | | surnames are found as early as the tenth |
| pools continued to evolve. Modern names often | | | | century.Today's names are influenced by |
| bear little resemblance of their predecessors. | | | | celebrities, common popular names, and biblical |
| Surprisingly, the early Christian names changed | | | | names. To find out more about the meaning of |
| very little in comparison.Bynames are additional | | | | your name go to our website.GranMamma is the |
| identifiers used to distinguish two people with the | | | | webmaster at the Baby Names Box - Where you |
| same name. From these bynames, surnames | | | | can explore over 6,000 baby names and their |
| were developed. Surnames are a comparatively | | | | meanings.Sub-categories include Disney, J.R. |
| recent development. These usually started out as | | | | Tolkien names, Fantasy and Folklore names, and |
| being specific to a person and then became | | | | many names from the literary classics. Read |
| inherited from father to son. This was a common | | | | articles ranging from parenting and family to home |
| practice between the twelfth and sixteenth | | | | and gardening. Be sure to say hi to GranMamma! |