The Origin of English Given Names and Surnames(英语姓名的起源)专用课件.ppt

The Origin of English Given Names and Surnames Group seven The origin and the development of English names is a component part of English culture. Given Name Given names mostly originate from: 1.Holy Bible Many of the most popular names are derived from the names of?saints(圣徒)or martyrs(训教/殉道者), such as Adam, David, John, Mary, Solomon. 2.God and religion For English-speaking nations, god is a brave and strong man, so many male given names are related to god, such as Abram(圣祖) , Christian(基督信徒) , Obadiah(上帝的仆人) .However, there are also some similar names for female, such as Angela(天使) , Janet(上帝的恩赐) . Given Name 3.Greek and Roman mythology In middle ages, most European literature are from Greek and Roman mythology, Consequently, many English given names originate from Greek and Roman mythology, such as Helen, Irene, Diana, Hercules. 4.Nature For example, Shirley (the name of a place in the middle part of England), Silvia (means forest and trees), Linda (snake in Germanic language(日耳曼语)), Roosevelt (means rose field). Given name 5. Knowledge, authority, etc. English-speaking nations often name boys with words related to knowledge, authority, wisdom, temperament(气质), power, such as Alfred(好顾问) , Flobert (智慧的) , Honorous(荣誉的) , Justus(公正的) , Konrad (大胆进言的) , Reginald(威力) , Vivian(活泼的), but there are aslo similar names for female, such as Audrey(显赫的权力) , Keren(纯洁的) , Sandra(男人的助手). Given Name 6.Famous people in history or in literary masterpiece They sometimes use the surnames of historical celebritis or famous characters in literary masterpiece as their given names, such as Lincoln (the sixteenth president of USA), Byron (a famous British poet), Lorna (the heroine in the novel written by British writer R.D Blackmore) Surname Surnames appeared much later than given names, but there are much more surnames than given names in English. They mainly originate from: 1.the names of places Many English-speaking nations use the names of the