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In our thoughts and in the thought of others that
know us, we are whatever our name is. Nothing can separate the man or the woman from the
name that the person carries. The moment a person's name is mentioned and if you know that
person, immediately you associate that person with certain sentiments that we may have
toward that person.
Sometimes, a few words overheard in a conversation going on nearby, wherein the words
sound as if they are being mumbled and seem meaningless will immediately alert us if in
that conversation we hear a familiar name mentioned. When we hear a name that we know,
immediately the image of that person comes to mind. The image is either that of the
physical appearance, the morals of the character, the person's family, the person's home,
profession, business and all the rest. Sometimes it brings memories of a tragedy that the
person was involved in, or other things about that person: good or bad. Sometimes the mere
mention of a person's name will bring joy or sorrow to mind. If the name is that of an
enemy, it will bring fire in the eyes, as in the case of jealously. The name of a person
not only serves to |
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identify, but also recollect certain attributes concerning
the person named.
As for our family names, some people assume that their family has always existed and for
them, it may have, but not for all of us and not for all times. We should be aware that
perhaps our ancestors very likely did not have the same family name as we know it today.
We, therefore, come to the age-old question of "What's in a name?"
Scholars the world over agree that the use of personal names(given names) arose at a very
early period in human development. The theory has been advanced that the very first words
ever used by early man were names based upon cries by which individuals
"trademarked" one another for the practical purposes of identification. (Note:
the author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, in making up the fictitious character of Tarzan, no
doubt reached out into the history of early man's mode of identification and gave Tarzan
the many different "cries" that he had to call out to his many friends, be they
human of animal.)
Ever since the beginning of time, people have had some kind of name for identification.
Certainly, ever since Adam and |
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Eve, all men and woman had a name given to them, and this
is what we know as the "given name". Those names are of a personal nature
like Peter, Paul and Mary. In general, every human being receives a name shortly after
birth. Sometimes minutes, sometimes days, but certainly within a week or two. The custom
of having only a first name (a given name) for identification continued through the ages,
except for a time during the Roman Empire, when the Romans adopted a system of identity
for individuals and family groups(surnames), but the system disappeared with the fall of
that Roman Empire.
It was much later in history at the time of the middle ages (around 800-900) that family
names came into usage, principally by Kings and Nobles. Those elites began to add
extensions to their "given names" and those extensions are really what are
considered as the source of family names. Those kings and nobles had backgrounds in
education, and although many of them were indeed illiterates, they always had scholars and
persons of the clergy around them in
(cont. on page #2) |
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