I have always thought that it is much easier for American parents to name their children than for Chinese parents to name their children. Think about it, aren’t the names on the last few pages of an English dictionary much less than the entire Chinese dictionary? But it wasn't until I was pregnant in the United States and had to give my child an English name that I realized how complicated it is for American parents to name their children. Parents will name their children after their favorite names, and American parents are no exception. Some simply name their children after their favorite names, some after their favorite politicians, athletes, and entertainment stars, and some name their children after the names of respected elders in their families, either directly or with some variations. But no matter which one it is, most parents will refer to some child naming books or websites to help them give their children a more satisfactory name.
For parents, they first need to understand the origin and meaning of the name. For example, Nicholas (male) comes from Greek and means victory of the masses. Kelvin (male) comes from Ireland and means an island full of ships. Abigail (female) comes from Hebrew and means the source of happiness. Amy (female) comes from Latin and means well-loved.
It is not enough to simply know the meaning of a name; after all, these meanings are no longer commonly used in modern English. Therefore, parents also need to understand how modern people view these names, so there are public opinion polls to tell us what impression these names leave on people. Alex, for example, comes across as a strong, smart, happy, sports-loving boy. Cole, some people think he is a friendly, independent, and individual boy, while others think he is a smart, mysterious and even cunning boy. Jade gives the impression of being a tall, intelligent, and very serious woman. Shannon, comes across as a cute, young, horse-riding, curly-haired blonde. I didn’t expect that a name could give such a specific impression.
Names also have popular trends. Different eras have different trends. This is just like the Chinese popular names in the 1950s were "aiding Korea and resisting the United States", and in the 1970s there were many names such as "Weidong and the Cultural Revolution". "Same. According to statistics, the top ten most popular names for newborns in the United States in 2001 are:
Boys 1 Jacob 2 Michael 3 Joshua 4 Matthew 5 Andrew 6 Joseph 7 Nicholas 8 Anthony 9 Tyler 10 Daniel
Girls 1 Emily 2 Hannah 3 Madison 4 Samantha 5 Ashley 6 Sarah 7 Elizabeth 8 Kayla 9 Alexis 10 Abigail
It is important to be aware of fashion trends because giving your child a name that is too old-fashioned can be misunderstood. He is an 80-year-old man. If he is given a name that is too uncommon, it is difficult to pronounce, so he is easily nicknamed by others. If he is given a name that is too popular, it is easy to repeat him. For example: Samantha is now a very popular name for girls in the United States, ranking first in some states. Some people joke that if you shout "Samantha" on the school playground, a group of girls will agree to it. In fact, more than ten years ago, few parents chose this name because there was a sitcom with high ratings at that time. The heroine in the show was named Samantha, who was a witch. A friend named Samantha told me that she rarely had the same name in school, but she was nicknamed "Witch", which is why the name was not popular back then. It seems that there are disadvantages to choosing a name that is too popular or too unpopular.
When choosing an English name, you should also pay attention to whether the pronunciation or spelling of the name is easy to be nicknamed, or even the first letter of the name. It must not be an unpleasant word or abbreviation, such as "TNT", " WC” and so on, everyone knows the nickname.
Experts also suggest that a surname that is spelled too long should be paired with a name that is spelled shorter, while a surname that is spelled too short should be paired with a name that is spelled longer.
After these in-depth understandings and investigations, my husband and I gave up some of the names we originally liked, such as Ashley, which is too popular and has a high repetition rate; Amy, whose spelling is too short and does not match the surname; Helen, whose spelling is too short and does not match the surname; It was too outdated, and it was said to be the name of an old woman... After much tossing and turning, I finally decided on my daughter's name a few days before she was born: Grace. In the ranking of newborn names in 2001, Grace ranked 16th. According to experts, it is safer to choose a name from 10th to 30th because these names are more popular but will not be repeated too much. , at the same time, popular names are generally less likely to be nicknamed. Grace is derived from Latin and is one of the few English names that is still used in modern English. It means "beauty, elegance, grace, kindness". My husband and I like its meaning very much and hope that our daughter will be named after her in the future.