First name

The first name is a name which precedes the patronym or Family name. In certain culture, it there not of first name but one or more Postnom S. the first name is used to nominate a single person of way, in opposition to the family name which is shared and inherited.

Recent character of the concept of first name

Until the end of the the Middle Ages, personal name was the principal name of any identity. It was accompanied (generally followed) by various determining names: name of geographic origin, dwelling, filation (patronym), parentality, trade or nickname. During the last centuries of the the Middle Ages in Europe, later elsewhere (in the Arab Countries for example), one of these determinants becomes family name and acquires, in the identity, a dominating place. The name of anybody is not any more whereas a " prénom" , it is not any more him which is used as entry in the dictionaries although it precedes family name in time (it is the name of childhood), in the C-W communication and the spoken usage.

There remain some traces of the old preponderance of the name of anybody. When the Russian want to be particularly polished and respectful, they address to a person by her name (the first name) follow-up of sound patronym (first name of his/her father) and by omitting family name (Aleksandr Isaïevitch for Alexandre Soljenitsyne). When the Arab Masters draw up the list of their pupils, they arrange the names alphabetically first names, considering secondary family name. Although living with the XVIIe century, the painter Rembrandt van Rijn is known only by one name of anybody who does not precede anything. In the same way the Pope S, the bishop S, the Souverain S are known by a name of anybody accompanied by a sequence number or (and) by a geographical determinant.

For all the names former to the XVe century, it is a Anachronisme and a lexicographical error of speaking about first name: Jules is not the first name of classified César with C but rather César the determinant of Jules, classified name with J. In the same way will appear in the letter J Jean Chrysostome because Jean is a name of anybody supplied with a nickname like determinant.

The choice of the first name in the world

In the majority of the Indo-European Languages, the first name precedes family name in the manner of nominating the persons.

With her birth (and/or its baptism), generally, each person sees herself allotting one or more first names, of which only one (which can be double) will be used thereafter: the usual First name. But in many cultures, in particular in Asia and Africa, the first name is allotted only several days (or several weeks) after the birth.

In certain languages (for example in Vietnamese, Chinese or Korean), family name precedes the first name (simple or made up). In the same way in Finnish, Hungarian or Japanese; but, to avoid the misunderstandings during international exchanges and to conform to the Western uses, the Finns, the Hungarians and the Japanese tend to reverse the traditional use.

This inspiration given by the series or films American or different also does not affect all the countries: among most resistant to the foreign influences, in Europe, the Norway, the Iceland and the Finland appear in good place, the two first picking in funds extremely provided, which must not only with the enormous repertory norrois, but also with the influences of other Germanic people and Gaëliques, primarily Irish, between IXe and XIVe of our era. Moreover, the conscience of the significance of the first name of his/her child is unequal according to the linguistic cultures and surfaces. It is noticed, at least in the French-speaking and anglophone countries, that the choice of the first name more often holds with its consonance or the mode, like known as higher, that with its direction: many are the examples like Melanie - of the Greek μέλαινα : “black (of hair)” -, carried by a fair young girl, who could just as easily have named Terry (of Theodoric, male first name meaning “protective tribe”)… Contrary, a Slave knows that its newborn Володя - Volodya, (or Volya , Volusya etc), diminutives of Володимир (Volodymyr), to which Russian Владимир (Vladimir) or Polish Waldemar corresponds - will have qualities of a “prince reigning by peace”, a Caucasian hopes well that its young person Звияд (Zviad, of the Géorgien ზვიად) will be with the height of the “pride” which one has to have put at the world, the all frail كنزة (Kenza) will be inevitably a “treasure”, and small the Lakhota Mato Sapha maˈtoˈsapˣa wish well to have the intelligence and the force of the “black bear”.

The tradition sápmi (Saami) is satisfied originally with the first name. The indication of filiation is relatively recent, primarily for administrative reasons. The same applies to the Turkish and altaïques, Amerindian populations and well of others.

Apart from Europe, certain choices can astonish the Westerners: that does not have anything extraordinary “to number” his/her child, as in China, with the Vietnam or elsewhere. For example, the first name Samba , frequent in West Africa, means in Pulaar “Second”. This is found sometimes in the Western first names, but the concept of numeration is not present any more in the general conscience, even if there remain about it traces in certain first names of Latin origin; as follows: Quentin , the fifth, Sixth , the sixth or Septime , the seventh.

Certain denominations can surprise, like Benjamin (of the Hebrew בנימין, benyamīn), the “Wire of the South”. A Chinese woman can name in a seemingly banal way, like 瓶子 (Pīnyīn píngzi), one “(small) bottle”, but the knowledge of the culture concerned will prevent from underestimating the value of such first names.

In both cases, this does not prevent the parents from calling upon terms with the more eulogistic or poetic significances, as it is often the case everywhere: Գոհար (Gohar: emerald, female in Armenian, coming from the Farsi گوهر - rather reserved with the women in the Iranian languages); thus, one of most current, in China like elsewhere: 花 (Pīnyīn huā, “flower”, only or in composition), მზექალა (Mzekala: girl of the sun, in Géorgien), Алмаз or Алмас (Almaz or Almas - female first name in certain languages, masculine in others), omnipresent in Central Asia and in the the Caucasus, of the Arab ألماس, meaning “diamond”, and well of others still.

With the Vietnam, it is current to associate in the name of family (họ) and with the first name (tên) an intercalated name defining the sex of the child: Thị for a girl and Văn for a boy, inter alia possibilities.

Can one give any first name to his child in France?

Until 1966, a law of Germinal year XI obliged the parents to choose the first name of their child in various Calendrier S or among the characters of the history Antique. After 1966, one authorizes any first name of which the use is Consacré, in particular by the evolution of the Moeurs. Last evolution of the Legislation on the matter date of 1993. Article 57 of the Civil code stipulates that one can give any first name to his child, insofar as it carries Préjudice neither to the right of the thirds nor to the child. Exceptional fact, Mr. and Mrs. Renaud had, in the years 1990, to fight in justice so that their Mégane daughter preserves the first name under which they had declared it at the Registry office, following a decision of the Public prosecutor of Nantes to require in justice the name change. In the same way, the Breton first name Kawrantin (" Corentin" in French) started the lightnings of the Public prosecutor in Noumea which called upon a name " with the consonances barbares" , but this one was repudiated by the judge.

The most current first names in France

Among boys

Michel, Mohammed, Jean, Pierre, Philippe, Adrien, Loïc, Valentine, Guillaume, Kevin, Théo, Simon, Julien, Damien, Hoël, Thomas, Alexandre, Milan, Bastien, Hugo, Martin, Sylvain.

In the girls

Nathalie, Monique, Catherine, Marie, Emilie, Justine, Sandra, Melissa, Alison, Anaïs, Juliette, Claire, Camille, Siham, Fiona, Maëva, Noémie, Pascale.

The first name-mask

Another interesting characteristic of truth (pre) name of a Diné is the mystery which surrounds it: on the one hand, the child hardly does not need to be named in family setting, the terms indicating the family ties are used in the place of the name. Even if it is allotted some time after the birth, the ʼájiʼ (name of war) is employed the least most often possible, in order not to dispossess it of its protective capacity; in addition, traditionally, he is never pronounced in front of a foreign person with the family. Specialist in Dined, Marie-Claude written Feltes-Strigler: “The name of a person is her secret good. If a third person has it in her possession, the name is not reliable any more and can be even turned over against its owner. ” One Dined will see its ʼájiʼ masked by the various nicknames which it will receive its life during and those which the Civil statue allots to him. Without counting that in the past, it was not rare that the same individual gives, with its own way, various false names with its interlocutors, either to thwart the pointing of the services of census, or to divert its Mexican interlocutors, then American.

There exists in Mongolia a similar and quite alive practice, especially out of the agglomerations, which consists with malnommer his/her child, in order to dissuade the malfaisants spirits to harm to him or to remove it: a little boy can name very well Мүү-охин ( ˈmyːoxᵊn , “unpleasant girl”), even Тэрбиш ( ˈtɛrbɨʃ , “it is not him”).

The social use of the first name

The first name is very important in the majority of the cultures known as Western. It makes it possible to be recognized like entity with whole share and to distinguish the Parenté from the hierarchy.

The friendly report/ratio makes the use of the first name very important, sign of membership of the same group. A Surnom often makes it possible to harden the identity of the group, because only some people (even in the group) know the source of this nickname. One however frequently observes, in the bands of friends (it does not matter the age), one or two people whose interpellation is done by family name. In general, these people have much influence on the others, or are appreciated and are used as scapegoat.

In several institutions (an office, a coalition of doctors, certain universities), family name nominates the person in hierarchical power, often supported by a title like Professor (teaching), Maître (right), Mister (courtesy) which replace the first name thus, then signs of life private or of not-formalism. On the other hand, several companies get rid today of these signs of regards become choking to make the reports/ratios to the authority more convivial, which can, sometimes, to induce only one form of less visible hypocrisy.

Also, a means of bringing back to the order an individual can be done by naming its complete name, since this one includes the personal identity and the family position of this same individual. In the courses of college, the teenagers have fun of such an example coming from an episode of the televised series Lizzie McGuire, where the mother is on the point of sermonizing her daughter by challenging it by sound a “Miranda Isabel Sánchez…” , including the second first name.

Esotericism

The first name, in the Numerology and the popular etymology, is seen by certain spiritualistic movements like a means of knowing the emotional personality of the individual, who would be " formé" starting from its first name or influenced by its consonance.

Thus, one has been able to see emerging for a few years of the bookmarks montrant the significance of the first name, the tendencies emotional that it brings, and even the vibration (expression replacing the word “color”) related to the destiny of the carrier of this same first name.

Statistics

In France, INSEE publishes an exhaustive database of: 12000 first names with their geographical distribution and of the statistics on nearly 80 years. In Belgium, the INS (http://www.statbel.fgov.be/port/home_fr.asp) prepares a similar gate. The Federal Office of the Swiss Statistics publishes a prize list (http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/themen/bevoelkerung/uebersicht/blank/analysen__berichte/prenoms/01.html) which is not limited to the only Confederation. As regards Canada, StatCan places at the disposal of the public documents on the subject - simplest being asresser with the libraries.

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