Unit1 What's in a Name

Unit 1 What's in a Name?

TEACHER: Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Felipe, Monica, Theo,

…

and I can't remember your

name.

STUDENT 1

：

Patricia.

TEACHER:

Patricia,

right,

Patricia.

Those

are

all

beautiful

names,

and

that's

our

topic

today

—

names.

Names are

a cultural universal(n

通用

, cultural universal

文化普及

)

. This means everyone uses names. A

person's name can tell us a bit about a person's family. Today, we'll begin by looking at first names and how

people choose names for their children. And then we'll talk about family names, and look at the different

categories of family names. Although the

scope

范围

of the lecture today is English-language names, we

can use the same

approach

方法

, you know, to

look at (consider)

看，

< br>朝?看；

看待；

考虑，

研究

names from

any culture. Let's take a brief look at first, or given, names. There are several ways parents choose the first

name for their child. The first way is by family history. Parents may choose a name because it is passed from

generation

to

generation;

for

example,

the

firstborn

son

might

be

named

after

his

father

or

grandfather.

Although family names are also passed to daughters

，

it is usually as a middle name

. Adding

second

—

for example, William Parker the second

—

is only

done with

与?有关

boys'

，

not with girls' names.

The second way parents choose a name is after a family member or friend who has died recently, or after

someone they admire, like a well-known leader or a famous musician

．

Although most English first names

mean something, for example,

“

Richard

p owerful

and

grace

, nowadays meaning is

not

the main reason people select their baby's name.

The

third

way

is

to

provide

a

for

the

child.

Parents

want

to

choose

a

name

that

sounds

very

”

A strong name might help them in the business world, for example. Or they might choose a

name

that

works

for

either

gender

,

like Taylor

or

Terry.

So,

given

these

three

methods,

what

is

the

most

common way parents choose a name? Many parents choose a name simply because they like it, or because

it's

fashionable

or

classic

. Fashions in names change just as they do in clothes. One hundred years ago, many

names came from the Bible-names such as Daniel, and Anna, and Hannah and Matthew. Then, fifty years

ago,

Biblical names went out of fashion

. Nowadays, names from the Bible are becoming popular again.

Similarly, parents often choose classic names, names that were popular in 1900, 1950, and are still popular

now. Classic names for boys include Thomas, David, Robert, and Michael. And for girls: Anna, Elizabeth,

Emily, and Katherine, just to name a few. They're classic. They never go out of style.

Let's look at the origin of

last names, also called family names

or

surnames

姓

. Researchers have studied

thousands

of

last

names,

and

they've

divided

them

into

four

categories.

The

categories

are:

place

names,

patronymics

源于父名的姓

, added names, and occupational

职业的

names.

A recent survey showed that

of the 7,000 most popular names in the United States today, 43 percent were place names

，

32percent were

patronymics, 15 percent were occupational names, and 9 percent were added names.

The

first

category

is

place

names.

Place

names

usually

identified

鉴定

where

a

person

lived

or

worked.

Someone named John Hill lived near a hill

，

for example, and the Rivers family lived near a river. If you hear

the name Emma Bridges,

…

what image do you see? Do you see a family that lives near a bridge? If you do,

you get the idea.

1