A naming convention is a generally accepted approach for naming things and persons. A personal naming system, also referred to as an anthroponymic system, describes the way people choose their names in a particular society. Personal names are made up of one or more parts, such as the given name, surname, and, in certain communities, patronymic or matronymic.
In contemporary Western countries (with the exceptions of Iceland,[1] Hungary,[2] and even Flanders, depending on the situation), the most common naming custom is for a person to have a given name, which is usually gender-specific, followed by their parents' family name. In onomastic nomenclature, given names of males are termed andronyms.
Personal names
Common elements of names given at birth may include:
- Personal name: A given name (or acquired name in certain cultures) can come before a family name (as in most Indo-European cultures), come after the family name, as in some East Asian cultures and Hungary, or be used alone as mononyms, as in Bhutan, Tibet,[3] Myanmar, Afghanistan[4] and most notably, the Javanese in Indonesia.[5]
- Patronymics are surnames based on the father's given name. In some cultures, they are used as the middle name instead.
- Matronymic is a surname based on the mother's given name. In some cultures, they are used as the middle name instead.
- Family name: A name shared by all members of a family. In some cultures, they may take the patronymic or matronymic form.
Name order
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With the emergence of a globalized world and in order to avoid possible confusion, in some parts of the world, like France, have established a convention in which the family name must be written in uppercase letters when engaging in formal correspondence or when writing for an international audience.[6] This is also commonly used in genealogy by French speakers.
Western name order
The Western name order, which is made of given names, family name,[7] is often used in Western European countries as well as non-Western European countries with cultures strongly influenced by Western Europe, considered part of the Western World (for example, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand as well as Latin America. It is also used, albeit not universally, in non-Western countries such as most of India; Pakistan; Bangladesh; Thailand; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; the Philippines; most of Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia and less traditionally in Malaysia and Indonesia. In Spain, Portugal and countries colonized by these, it is common to have two surnames; in the Spanish-speaking world the father's surname goes first and in Portugal and Brazil, the mother's surname usually goes first.[7]
Eastern name order
The order family name, given name, also known as the Eastern name order,[7] became prevalent in Ancient China and influenced the East Asian cultural sphere (China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam), particularly among Chinese communities in Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. It is additionally used in southern and northeastern India, as well as Central Europe by Hungarians. In Uganda, the format of "traditional family name first, Western origin given name second" is also often employed.
Whenever East Asian names are transliterated into the Latin script, some choose to change them to the Western order,[7] while others keep them in the Eastern order but capitalize the family name.
Surnames
Surnames, or hereditary names, are those passed by parents to children, usually the father's; however, in some countries it is possible to decide which of the parents' surnames will be passed down to their children and in countries like Portugal and Brazil, the norm is to pass first the mother's name and then the father's; in Cambodia, it common to inherit the mother's or the father's surname.[8] An unique custom is that in Ethiopian and Eritrean surnames, where the surname assigned to the children's is the father's first name;[9] for example:
- Kewestos and Zaditu, the son and daughter of Mr. Yona Bogale and Mrs. Kidist Tesfaye and would not be registered as Kewestos Bogale and Zaditu Bogale but as Kewestos Yona and Zaditu Yona;
- Kewestos' children with Ms. Kokeb Tegegne, Haile and Fekr, would be Haile Kewestos and Fekr Kewestos
- Zaditu's children with Mr. Dawit Teklemariam, her son Desta and her daughter Liya would be registered as Desta Dawit and Liya Dawit.
See also
Explore more about naming conventions
- Why Do We Have Middle Names? on the the MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- What’s in a Surname: The History of Surnames and How They Help in Family History Research webinar on the MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- Multiple Naming Systems and How They Changed in the 1800s webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Surname Origins – Why? When? Why then? webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Name Changes and the Law webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- German Names and Naming Patterns webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
References
- ↑ Icelandic names - everything you need to know. Reykjavík Excursions
- ↑ Hungarian names: a quick guide. Hungarian Citizenship Services
- ↑ An Eye from History and Reality — Woeser and the Story of Tibet. Cerise Press
- ↑ Goldstein, Joseph (2014-12-10). For Afghans, Name and Birthdate Census Questions Are Not So Simple. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331
- ↑ Naming Conventions. Indonesian Culture - SBS Cultural Atlas
- ↑ Why Are French Last Names In All Caps?
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 How do naming customs vary around the world? Oban International
- ↑ Hein, Jeremy (2006-04-13). Ethnic Origins: The Adaptation of Cambodian and Hmong Refugees in Four American Cities. Russell Sage Foundation. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-61044-283-1.
- ↑ Naming. Ethiopian Culture - SBS Cultural Atlas