NAMAYCUSH (8aTmo namayeuelt), a fish nearly allied to the ,salmon and trout, a native of the great lakes and interior rivers of North America. It is often taken of a size varying from 20 to 40 lbs., and is said sometimes to reach 60 lbs. It is much esteemed for the table. It is caught at the same fisheries with the still more prized whi wild' (q.v.).
NAME (Sax. nama, Ger. name, Lat. nomen, Gr. onoma), the word by which a parti cular person or thing is signfied in distinction from other persons or things, A name attached to a person is called a proper name. Names distinguishing one individual from another have been in use from the earliest ages of human society. Among the Jews, the name given to a child either originated in some circumstance of birth, or was an expression of religious sentiment, Old Testament names are almost all original—i.e., given in the first instance to the person bearing them; but the Jews, like other nations, after accumlating a considerable stock of names, began to repeat them, and we find few names in the New Testament which had not been used before. In Old Testament times, it was an occasional practice to adopt a change of name on the occasion of an 101mortant event in one's life.
The Greeks bore only one name, given on the tenth day after birth, which it was the rigitt of the father to choose, and alter if he pleased. The earliest Greek names are gmtherdlly expressive of some quality in high estimation, as valor, skill, wisdom, or gateefulness (Callimachus, excellent fighter; Pherecrates, strength bringer; Sophron, Melanthus, black flower). In later times, when the faith in the gods was on the w mne, names derived from Apollo and Athene, or indicative of the favor of Olympus (Aimollodorns, gift of Apollo), came more into fashion. The eldest son generally bore tae name of his paternal grandfather, and the confusion arising from time repetition of the same name was attempted to be obviated by appending the father's name (either simply, or turned into a patronymic), the occupation, the place of birth, or a nick name.
The Romans at a very early period bore two names, and afterward every Roman citizen had three. The prtenomen, like our Christian name, was personal to the indi vidnal—Caius, Marcus, Cneius; in writing, generally abbreviated to an initial- or two letters, C., M., or Cu. It was given in early times on the attainment of puberty. and afterward on the ninth day after birth. There were about thirty recognized prxnomina. Women had no prmnornia till marriage, when they took the feminine form of that borne by their husband. Every Roman citizen belonged both to a gens and to a familia included in that gens. The second name was the nomen gentilicium. generally ending in -eius, or -aius. The third, name was the hereditary cognomen belongine. to the
familia. Cognomina were often derived from some bodily peculiarity, or event in the life of the founder of the family. A second cognomen, or agnomen, as it was called, was sometimes added by way of honorary distinction. In common intercourse, the prreno men and cognomen were used without the nomen gentilicium, as C. Caesar for C. Julius Caesar, M. Cicero for M. Tullius Cicero. The Roman names were in their origin less dignified and aspiring than the Greek; some were derived from ordinary employments. as Porcius (swinehead), Cicero (vetch grower); some from personal peculiarities,'Crassus (fat), Naso (long-nosed); a few from numerals, Sextus, Septimus.
The Celtic and Teutonic names, like the Jewish and Greek, had been originally very significant; but at an early period their exuberance became checked; people contented themselves with repeating the old stock. While the speech of Europe was undergoing a transformation, the names in use remained the same; belonging to an obsolete tongue, their signification by and by became unintelligible to the people using them. Many are derived from "God," as Gottfried, Godwin; some from an inferior class of gods known by the title as or ans. whence Anselm, Oscar, Esmond; others from elves or genii, Alfred, Alboin, Elfric (Elf King). Bertha is the name of a favorite feminine goddess and source of light, from the same root' as the word "bright:" the same word occurs as a compound in Albrecht, Bertram. To a large class of names indicating such qualities as personal prowess, wisdom, and nobility of birth, belong Hildebrand (war brand), Konrad (bold in counsel), Modwig (glorious warrior); called by and the original of Ludwig and Louis. The wolf, the bear, the eagle, the boar, and the lion entered into the composition of many proper names of men. as Adolf (noble wolf), Arnold (valiant eagle), Osborn (God bea•). Respect for feminine prowess also appeared in such names as Ma thilde (mighty amazon), Wolfhilde (wolf heroine). The spread of Christianity threw a number of the old names into comparative oblivion, and introduced new OM'S The name selected at baptism was more frequently taken from the history of the Ilible or the church than from the old traditional repertory, which, however, was never altogether disused. Many names, supposed to be local and very ancient, parti cularly in the Scottish highlands, Wales, and Cornwall, are in reality but corruptions of names of Christian origin which are in use elsewhere. Owen, Evan. and Eoghan (the latter often anglicized into hector) seem all to lie forms of Johann or John. A change of name was sometimes made at confirmation.