Name

NAME. The distinguishing appellation by which a person, place, thing or class of persons or things is known. (O.Eng. nama; the word is common to all-Indo-European languages.) (a). Savage and Barbarian.—To the savage, and in a lessen ing but still considerable degree, to the barbarian and the civ ilized man in his earlier stages, the name shares the essence of the personality. Therefore a savage has a personal name which is seldom or never pronounced, he being referred to in common parlance by some nick-name or by a term of relationship. Not infrequently, to avoid calling the attention of evil spirits to him a savage child is not named at all, being referred to simply as "the child," or he may be given some derogatory name, as "grub," "filth," to deceive hostile powers. Apart from this, we may often distinguish, firstly a birth-name. This is given by the parents or by some relation, as a rule, and its choice is governed by various considerations. Thus, he may be named from some trifling incident at the time of birth, or from the state of affairs in the country at the time ("Famine" and "War" are known Basuto names) ; or he may be given a name signifying "child of such a one" (patronymic or matronymic) ; or frequently among peoples who believe in reincarnation, he may be named after some dead relative supposed to be reborn in him. Very of ten, at puberty, or on undergoing some ceremony of initiation, he is given a new name, which may be kept secret. Various cere monies often attend the giving even of the childhood-name.

(b). Civilized.--Modern surnames include : those derived from a place-name, as Johnston (the ton or steading of John) ; these often occur among noble families, as Dumaresque (de 21Iariscis, "of the marshes"; a plebeian equivalent is Marsh); from an occupation, as Smith, Miller; nicknames, as Longfellow, Campbell ("crooked-lip") ; and patronymics, as Dickenson (son of Dicken). The familiar Celtic names of the types Ap Rhys, Bowen (Ap Owain), O'Brian, MacFarlane, are of this kind, the surname proper being of later development among Celts than among Teutonic peoples.

Roman Names.

The earliest Italian and Roman names, con sisted of a personal name (praenomen), as Marcus, followed by an adjective signifying the clan to which the person belonged (nom,en), as Caecilius, "of the gens Caecilia." All the praenomina had originally a meaning, as Gaius, "joyful." It is stated by the author of the little work de praenominibus that boys were never given a praenomen till they came of age, girls until they married. The latter statement is certainly wrong, since a woman never officially had a praenomen at all; the former is contradicted by most of the available evidence. It is possible, however, that a boy's name was not officially given him until he took the toga virilis or garb of manhood. Later, a third name was added, originally a personal name or nick-name, as Pulcher, "handsome." This was called a cognomen, and often became a family name, i.e., one common to all the direct descendants of its original bearer, who formed a section of the clan or gens. A man might have any number of these cognomina, as Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, where Scipio is the cognomen of the family into which the bearer had been adopted, Aemilianus an adjective formed from the name of his original clan, the gens Aemilia—this was a common, although not invariable, method of indicating adoption—and Africanus an officially bestowed title. (See also PLACE-NAMES.) Law.—The Christian name, i.e., the name given to a person on admission to baptism into the Christian Church, dates back to the early history of the Church. In England individuals were for long distinguished by Christian names only, and the surname (see below) or family name is still totally ignored by the Church. In process of time the use of surnames became universal, the only exceptions in England being the members of the royal family, who sign by their baptismal names only.