It’s All In a Name – Rest Of Western Europe

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Some first names commonly used in English-speaking countries have equivalents in almost all European nations – notably John and George for boys and Mary and Ann for girls. However, each country has its own rich source for first names.

In neighbouring Ireland, naming sources include the Catholic saints, the Celtic legends and Anglicized versions of Gaelic names. There are also many vocabulary names such as Conor (‘strong will’) and Kenneth and Kevin (both meaning’handsome’) for boys and Bridget and Brigid (both meaning ‘strong’) and Erin (‘peace’) for girls. The most common surname in Ireland is Murphy.

In most European countries, over half of the common first names derive from the Christian tradition, usually a reference to a saint or a character in the Bible. In the strongly Catholic Italy, Spain and Portugal, the influence of saints’ names is particularly dominant, with local patron saints sometimes affecting the choice of local names.

Indeed, in France, until quite recently the choice of first names was legally restricted by a law of 1803 to names that have been borne by saints or by figures from ancient history. However, in practice, names occuring in the Bible and in classical mythology have long been freely allowed and, over the last hundred years, a much wider variety of names has become officially permissable. Nevertheless, there have been court battles over more exotic names, such as those favoured by some Breton nationalists. As we have seen earlier, in England sometimes two girls’ names will be hyphenated but never boys’ but, in France, it is common for boys as well as girls to have hyphenated first names – for example, the musician Jean-Michel Jarre.

In Italy (where my mother came from), the influence of the Catholic Church on naming patterns is again very pronounced. However, a particularity of first names in Italy is that they are usually gender-specific. Male names usually end in ‘o’ – for instance, Augusto, Enrico, Rachello, Ruggero (the Italian version of my first name) – but there are common exceptions such as Giuseppe, and Salvatore. Female names usually end in ‘a’ – for instance, Anna, Bianca, Maria. It is quite common for the same name to have masculine and feminine versions – for example, Alessandro (my middle name) for a boy and Alessandra for a girl or Silvio (the first name of the former Italian prime minister Berlusconi) and Silvia (my sister’s name).

In Italy, by law, a child must take the family name of the father, unless the identity of the father is unknown. Single Italian mothers cannot give their last name to their children. Also Italian women cannot create double-barelled surnames on marriage. There are efforts to change this legal position.

Link: Italian first names click here

In Spain and Portugal, both deeply Catholic countries, many names are taken from saints and religious feast days.

In Spain, there is a particular veneration for the Virgin Mary which gives rises to a specialised series of female first names referring to various titles for ‘Our Lady’ which include her attributes or to names that are metaphors for her attributes: Consuelo (consolation), Luz (light), Dolores (sorrowful), Mercedes (merciful), Concepción (immaculate conception), Presentación (presentation), Candelaria (Candlemas relating to candle), Pilar (pillar of the Catholic Church), Rosario (rosary). In the case of each of these names, there are diminutives that are used at different stages of the person’s life – so someone named Dolores would be called Lolin as a baby and child, Lolita as a teenager and young woman, Lola as an adult, and Dolores as an older person (note the permanence of the letters ‘lo’ in all versions of the name). Indeed, such is the veneration for the Virgin Mary in Spain, that many men have Maria as their second name.

Spanish first names are often the subject of many affectionate versions. So the male name Franscisco can become Paco, Paquito, Pancho, Panchito and the male name Jose becomes Pepe, Pepito, Joselito, while the female name Giraciela becomes Gracielita, Chelite, Chela.

The most common surname in Spain is García.

In Spain and Portugal, the basic rule of naming is that on birth a child is given a first name followed by two surnames, the first being the father’s family name (or, more precisely, the surname he gained from his father) followed by the mother’s family name (or, again more precisely, the surname she gained from her father).

Take as an example the Spanish name of Teresa García Ramírez. Teresa is the name given at birth, García is the family name from her father, and Ramírez is the family name from her mother. If Teresa García Ramírez marries Elí Arroyo López, she doesn’t change her name, but it would be extremely common for her to add ‘de Arroyo’ (literally, ‘of Arroyo’), making her name Teresa García Ramírez de Arroyo.

Links: Spanish first names click here and click here

In Greece, names tend to come from persons in history (such as Pericles or Amalia), mythology (such as Theseus or Demetra) and religion (such as Emmanouel or Anna). Many Greek names have both male and female versions: Alexandros/Alexandra, Christophoros/Christina, Georgos/Georgia, Kostantinos/Kostantina, Paulos/Paulena. The most common surname in Greece is Papadopoulos.

Link: Greek first names click here

The German-speaking countries of Europe – Germany, Austria and Switzerland – share many naming influences of other countries but have some first names for which there are no cognates (equivalents) in other countries, such as Helmut and Berthold. Of course, as everywhere, there are local influences: in Germany, the names of former kings, such as Friedrich, Wilhelm, and Ludwig, have a special popularity; in Austria, former royal names like Franz, Josef and Ferdinand are common; and, in Switzerland, several names of local saints (Regula, Reto, Pirmin) are scarely used outside the country. Some influences are even more local. For instance, in the parts of Germany which were formerly under communist control, there was enthusiasm for Western names like Jennifer, Peggy, and Mandy while, in the Friesland part of Germany next to the Dutch border, the boys’ names Onno and Wim are popular. Perhaps the most popular naming trend in Germany today is for girls to be given a name ending in ‘a’, such as Anna, Emma, Johanna, Julia, Lea.

Germany has strict rules governing the naming of children. Parents have to choose from a list of court-approved names to prevent a child from becoming a victim of ridicule or confusion. The names Hitler and Stalin are banned for instance. In 2002, a Turkish couple living in Germany were denied permission to name their child Osama bin Laden. However, in 2006, the Berlin authorities allowed an Islamic couple to name their child Jihad.

Whereas in Britain when someone has more than one given name, the first name is the important one (for example, DavidMichael Smith), in Germany the name nearest the surname is the most important one (for example, Johann WolfgangSchmidt). The most common surname in Germany is Muller.

Belgium has both French (southern half) amd Flemish (northern half) naming traditions. The 10 most common surnames in the country are Peeters, Janssens, Maes, Jacobs, Mertens, Willems, Claes, Goossens, Wouters, en De Smet.

The Netherlands has more or less the same naming traditions as other Northern European countries, especially neighbouring Germany and Belgium, but there is more of a mix of names because The Netherlands is an small country with a trading tradition and several Christian religions which, in fairly recent times, has been occupied by Spain, France and German. Today it has become the home of many immigrants and there is also the effect of global mass-communication introducing English and American first names. The top 10 family names in The Netherlands are De Jong, De Vries, Jansen, van de Berg, Bakker, Van Dijk, Visser, Janssen, Smit, en Meijer/Meyer. Dutch surnames commonly contain the words ‘van’ or ‘de’ which simply means ‘from’ in a geographical sense. So my Dutch friend Oskar van Rijswijk has a surname which means ‘comes from the village of Rijswijk’.

Link: current most popular Dutch children’s names click here

Scandinavia (outside Finland) is a part of Europe where the preponderance of names of Christian origin is rivalled by names deriving from Old Norse. Many of these latter names go back to the characters in Norse legends and sagas (Balder, Sigurd, Gunnar, Thor, Torsten, Gudrun, Frøya or Freya). Generally these Old Norse names are dithematic – that is, comprised of two parts, using such elements are ‘arn’ (eagle), ‘björn’ (bear), ‘úlfr’ (wolf), ‘sigr’ (victory), ‘gunr’ (strife) and ‘rún’ (secret lore).

There are many common names in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, but not all Scandinavian names have cognate forms in all three languages: Birger and Göran are typical names in Sweden; Gro and Terje are found only in Norway; and Abelone and Jytte are particular to Denmark. Common names in Sweden include Bo (‘the domiciled’) for boys and Åsa (‘goddess’) for girls. Common names in Norway include Lars (‘crown’) for boys and Ingrid (‘hero’s daughter’) for girls. In both Sweden and Norway, the authorities have lists of approve names, parents must ontain permission to use a name not on the list, and there are laws prohibiting names that are offensive or might cause the child embarrassment.

Names in Finland differ from those in other Scandinavian countries because the language is so different. Although one does have many names borrowed from Scandinavian, German and even English sources, such as Hannes, Janne, Johan, Juhana, Juhani, Juha, Juho, Jussi (all forms of John), Ole, Claes and Eugen (all Swedish names), other names are uniquely Finnish in nature, such as Paavo (a form of Paul), Pekka, Esko and Risto (a short form of Christopher). To British eyes, Finnish names seem to make a lot of use if the letters ‘k’ and ‘i’ – for instance, Erkki, Heikki, Kerkko, Markku, Mikko, Niilo, Pekka, Pirkka (boys’ names) and Aliisa, Annikki, Liisa, Pirkko, Riitta, Siiri, Sirkka, Sirkku, Viivi (girls’ names) – but this is because in Finnish vowels and consonants are made long by being repeated.

In 2005, the most popular boys names were (respectively): Juhani, Johannes, Matias, Mikael, Oskari, Olavi, Aleksi, Valtteri, Kristian, Elias. The most popular girls names were (respectively): Maria, Emilia, Sofia, Olivia, Aino, Katariina, Julia, Johanna, Aurora, Helmi. Most Finnish childen are given two given names and three is not uncommon. As in Sweden and Norway, Finland has a law prohibiting names judged to be offensive.

When it comes to surnames, it is very common in Finland for them to be double-barrelled as a result of marriage. Unlike in Britain, this is not a trend more associated with the upper classes but a classless characteristic and, again unlike Britain, double-barrleled names very rarely transfer to children who usually take the father’s name.

In Iceland, there is a most distinctive system for last names. Very few Icelanders have surnames as understood in the remainder of Europe. Instead here most people follow the ancient tradition of deriving their last name from the first name of their father (the patronymic system). If a man is called Leifur Eiriksson, his proper or given name is Leifur, and his patronymic is Eiriksson (the son of a man named Eirikur). A woman called Margret Jonsdóttir has the proper name Margret and her patronymic is Jonsdóttir, that is, the daughter of Jon. Women do not change their name after marriage. In a family of four, a couple with a boy and a girl, all four will therefore usually have different last names. Icelanders address each other by their first name. The last name (patronymic) is never used alone. Indeed Icelanders are listed by their first name in the telephone book (so it is good thing that the population is only around 300,000).

Although all European nations have strong Christian naming traditions, as we have seen many languages have some non-Christian and even pre-Christian names which are specific to that country. Whereas Ancient Roman names have not survived (because they were surpressed by the Catholic church), some Ancient Greek names have remained in use in modern dayGreece – names like Aristotle, Socrates, Sophocles and Thucydides. In Greece, there is a tradition that the first-born son is named after the father’s father.

CZECH NAMES

I have a special interest in names in the Czech Republic because my wife is half Czech and it is the country that I have visited the most often. Here the majority of first names are either saints’ names (such as Antonín or Ondřej) or dithematic Slavonic names, that is made up of two vocabulary words (such as Bohumíl or Dobroslav). Two names of special importance to Czechs are Ludmila, the name of a 10th century Bohemian saint, and Václav, the name borne by five rulers of Bohemia including the man known to the English as ‘Good King Wencelas’ (who was in fact not a king but a prince).

A whole category of Czech names of Slavic origin honour celebration, love and peace. The Czech verb ‘slavit’ means ‘to celebrate’ and this gives rise to male names like Jaroslav (the celebration of spring), Vladislav (the celebration of power) and Vítězslav (the celebration of power) and the female name Květoslava (the celebration of flowers). The suffix ‘-mil’ refers to ‘love’ and this gives rise to male names like Bohumil (love of God) , Jaromil (love of spring) and Vlastimil (love of country). The suffix ‘-mir’ refers to ‘peace’ and gives rise to male names like Bohumir (peace with God), Jaromir (peace with spring) and Vladimir (peace with country)

The most popular names for Czech children born in 2005 were as follows:

In fact, first names in the Czech Republic – like those in other Slavonic countries – are almost invariably turned into affectionate diminutives, often ending in ‘-ek’ or ‘-ík’ for boys and ‘-ka’ and ‘-enka’ for girls. So Miroslav becomes Mirek, Svatopluck becomes Svatek and Václav becomes Vašek, while Pavel becomes Pavlík, and Věra (my wife’s name) becomes Veruška, Petra becomes Petruška, Kateřina becomes Kačenka (or Káča or Katya). Sometimes the diminutive looks rather different from the original name – for example, Josef becomes Pepík and Dagmar (an unusual case of a female name not ending in ‘a’) becomes Daša. In fact, most Czech first names have several dimunitives, so Jan can become Jeník, Jenda, Honza or Honzík and Josef can become Jozífek, Jožka, Pepea, Pepíček, or Pepánek.

Czech surnames are among the oldest, most numerous, and most peculiar in Europe. Most of the approximately 40,000 surnames currently in use originated in the period between the 14th and 18th centuries. In 1780, the Hapsburg Emperor Josef II issued a decree demanding that all his subjects have a family name.

The largest group of surnames used by Czechs today have their origins in different occupations and crafts – for instance, Bubeník (drummer), Havíř (miner), Kovář (smith), Kramář (shopkeeper), Krejčář (tailor), Malíř (painter), Mizikant (musician), Mlynář (miller), Řezník (butcher), Soustužník (turner), Truhlář (carpenter), Žumpa (sewer). However, in the 19th century, so many people moved to the cities that these names became too commonplace and therefore, to distinguish between people, names were introduced refering to the product they made or the tools they used in their crafts – for instance, bakers became Chlebíček (sandwich) or Rohlík (croissant), blacksmiths became Palice (sledgehammer), carpenters became Kladivo (hammer) or Sekyra (axe), innkeepers became Vomáčka (sauce), Kaše (gruel), Voda (water) or Pivko (beer), tailors became Jehla (needle) or Náprstek (thimble).

Many everyday objects have become surnames: examples include Kabát (coat), Kaftan (kaftan), Kalhoty (trousers). Lots of animals have inspired surnames: examples include Ježek (hedgehog), Zajíc (hare), Žába (frog). Other vocabulary words have led to surnames: examples include Válka (war), Láska (love), Svatba (wedding). Some of the most distinctive Czech names are those derived from verbs: examples include Dupal (stamped his feet), Skočdopole (jump in the field), Stejskal (he who grumbled), Stojespal (he who slept standing on his feet).

As in other Slavonic countries, all women in the Czech Republic have surnames ending in ‘-ova’.