Everyone has his own unique name, and every word in the name contains the high hopes and efforts given to us by our parents. A name
is composed of a surname and a given name, and is also called a first name. In Chinese names, the surname comes first and the given name comes last; in some countries, the given name comes first and the surname comes last. A name is something that everyone has. It is actually a nickname. Chinese surnames are usually one character (called a single surname) or two characters (called a compound surname), and given names used to be composed of one or two characters, but now names can be up to six characters.
Personal names are specific name symbols given to each individual by humans in order to distinguish individuals. It is a symbol that distinguishes individual differences among groups of people through language and text information. Because of personal names, humans can communicate in a normal and orderly manner, so everyone has a name of their own.
Personal names only appeared after the emergence of language.
Various ethnic groups have many habits in naming people. This habit is restricted by many cultural factors such as history, society, and ethnicity. A person's name usually has a certain meaning.
For example, in the United States, the surname is placed at the end and the first name is used as a common address, while in China, the full name is used.
Article 99 of the "General Principles of the Civil Law" stipulates that citizens enjoy the right of name and have the right to decide, use and change their names in accordance with regulations, and others are prohibited from interfering, misappropriating or counterfeiting. Article 18 of the "Household Registration Regulations" stipulates that when a citizen changes his or her name, the following provisions apply: When a citizen over 18 years of age needs to change his or her name, he or she must apply to the household registration authority for change registration. Citizens whose right to name has been infringed have the right to demand an end to the infringement, restore their reputation, eliminate the impact, and apologize.
Elements of the name: According to the "Name Registration Regulations (First Draft)" citizens can only register one name, and standard Chinese characters and ethnic minority characters should be used for name registration. The name consists of two parts: surname and first name. The surname comes first and the first name comes last. Citizens should take their father's or mother's surname, and are allowed to adopt the surnames of both parents. However, the name must not contain the following content: damaging to the dignity of the country or nation, violating good national customs, or likely to cause adverse reactions or misunderstandings from the public. The following words, letters, numbers, and symbols are also not allowed to be used or contained in the name: simplified traditional Chinese characters; eliminated variant characters, except for variant characters in surnames; self-made characters; foreign characters; Chinese pinyin letters; Arabic letters; symbols, etc. . The name should be two or more Chinese characters and less than six Chinese characters. Citizens are not allowed to change their names without justifiable reasons. However, under any of the following circumstances, you can apply for name change registration: the same name while working in the same unit or studying at the same school; the same name as a well-known person in society; the same name as a notorious person; and the person being wanted for a crime. The suspects have the same name; the name is vulgar or weird; the name is difficult to recognize or write; the name may cause gender confusion or misunderstanding, etc.
The history of names
Names can be divided into broad and narrow senses. The name in the broad sense includes the surname and first name of citizens as well as the names of legal entities and unincorporated groups; the name in the narrow sense only refers to the surname and first name of citizens.
Everyone must have a surname and a given name. The surname and given name are not only the primary information for a person to enter society, but also the main carrier for the transmission of social information. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, people have attached great importance to their surnames and given names. Our country's surnames and given names have gone through a long process of evolution before they developed into the "names" commonly used by people today. But in ancient my country, names were not used from the beginning. Instead, surnames and surnames were used first, followed by given names, characters, and nicknames. Ancient people had many names in their lives, each with its own purpose and different meanings.
The word "surname" has a left-right structure. The left is from "daughter" and the right is from "生", which is born from "daughter". In a matrilineal society, children only know their mother, but not their father. The mother's surname is the only kinship that can be determined for future generations. Just as "Bai Hu Tong San Gang Liu Ji" says: "In the ancient Yuan Dynasty, there were no San Gang and Six Ji Ji. People only knew that they had mothers, but they did not know that they had fathers." "Surname" is a collective noun, an identifier of a family, or a part that is closer to a certain blood relationship of a large family.
The surname only existed independently before the Han Dynasty. It was a branch of the "surname". The "surname" was the family name of the clan. The members of the clan all took this family name as their surname.
"Name" refers to a personal symbol and carries a personal imprint. In our country's traditional customs, the "name" is chosen by the father a hundred days after the baby is born. According to the "Book of Rites Nei Ze", on this day, the mother and nanny hold the baby and come to the hall to meet his father. , the father solemnly held the child's hand and named him. After the name is decided, the mother and nanny take the child back to the inner room, and then notify the relatives of the child's name. The father immediately tells the news to his friends and reports to the local governor for naturalization registration. Therefore, the naming ceremony is very grand and is the first major event in a child's life. Although this custom has disappeared now, the custom of celebrating a child's "100th birthday" still continues to flourish.
The importance of naming
From the perspective of historical customs, names can be divided into nicknames, real names, scientific names, former names, pen names, stage names, etc.
A nickname, also called a nickname, a nickname, or a nickname, is a person’s name in childhood. Such as mistress, mistress, baby, baby... They are generally not used when they grow up, unless the elders occasionally call them to the younger ones.
A pen name is often an alias signed by a literati on his or her works according to his or her own preference.
The stage name is the alias used by the artist when performing. For example, Bai Yushuang, whose original name is Li Huimin and double name is Li Guizhen, is a Pingju opera performing artist whose artistic style is called the "Bai School". Judging from the various unique expressions of the above "names", they not only reflect different titles at different ages, but also symbolize a person's occupation, status and identity...
The emergence of "words", It is out of taboo, that is, the ethical need to respect the elders. When ancient people offered sacrifices to gods and ancestors, in order to show respect, they did not dare to call their ancestors by their names directly, so the word was born. Therefore, "zi" is actually a person's name that expresses respect.
When the ancients chose names, there was a certain connection between names and characters, which set off and complement each other.
For example: Qu Yuan, whose courtesy name is Ping, is originally his name, Ping is his character, and the two characters Ping and Yuan are connected.
Kong Rong, whose courtesy name was Wenju, became his name, which means comprehensive understanding, and Wenju became his character. His articles became famous in one fell swoop, and his literary star shone brightly.
Bai Juyi, whose courtesy name is Letian, and Letian and Juyi complement each other.
In addition to surnames, given names and characters, many ancient people also had nicknames. Numbers are a very interesting phenomenon in our country’s name culture. There are many kinds of nicknames in a broad sense, including nicknames, nicknames, Posthumous titles are divided into posthumous titles. The titles are chosen by oneself or given by others. In the narrow sense, "Hao" is an alias for a person, and it is also an alias. Aliases are more popular among literati. There is generally a certain connection between names and characters, but there are no restrictions on nicknames and names. Aliases began in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, and died in the Qing Dynasty.
After the late Qing Dynasty, with the changes in Chinese culture, few people continued to use the characters and nicknames, and they were gradually replaced by pen names, stage names, nicknames, etc.