Baby Names Meanings

What's in a name? Choosing your babys name will probably be one of the most important, exciting and fun things you will do during your pregnancy. It may also cause the most friction between you and your partner, this is an indication of how important picking the correct baby name for your baby is.

Why are baby names meanings important

Humans probably first began using names far into prehistory. Although all cultures use names, naming customs vary greatly from people to people. In some cases they are very simple, such as those of many Indonesians who use just a single name. On the other hand, traditional Chinese naming practices were very complex. Chinese males were given different names at various points in their lives, in addition to a surname and sometimes a generation name.

Names serve several purposes. Most importantly they help distinguish us from one another. Imagine how difficult it would be to refer to people if we did not use names. Instead of saying Bob one would have to say something like the short bald-headed man who lives down the street. Some names carry information about our roots, such as family or clan names. They are generally inherited. Names can serve other purposes as well, such as the Chinese generation name which identifies the generation of the bearer, or the names used by some African cultures which describe the order in which siblings were born.

Given names, what westerners call first names, are generally bestowed at some point after the birth of the child. This website looks at the origin and baby name meaning of all types of given names.

Sources of a Baby Name

Muslim Names

Most names in the Muslim world come from the Arabic language, although there is some borrowing from Persian and Turkish (especially in Iran and Turkey). The majority of the names are derived from vocabulary words, equivalent to an English vocabulary name such as Faith or Willow.

Islam is of course a major influence on naming practices. The multiple forms of Muhammad are extremely popular, as are the names of his family and descendents, such as Umar, Ali, Bakr and Fatima. Military leaders are often honored as well; for example Tariq and Amir.

Saints

Saints names are an important source for names, particularly for European and Christian names. The church strongly encouraged giving saintly names to babies. Some popular saints names in the New Testament include John, Simon, Matthew, Mary, Peter, Luke, Stephen, Paul and Mark. From the Old Testament names like Adam, Jacob, Noah, Eve, Sarah, Rebecca, Ruth and David are popular. The are also saints names which do not appear in either - Patrick, Katherine and Anthony.

Mythology & Literature

Mythology and Literature has also contributed several names. Melissa, Daphne, Phoebe, Jason all come from classic Greek mythology. Shakespeare has provided Jessica and Cordelia and other names influenced by literature include Beatrice and Claribel.

Variants

The number of first names is increased by the use of last names as first names, examples include Ryan, Cameron and Bradley. The number of first names is also increased by the use of variants e.g. Jane from John, Nicole from Nicholos, Alicia from Alice etc.