Questions tagged [names]

Topics related to given names, surnames, and linguistic aspects of naming in English.

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Proper sorting of groups that begin with a person's name

If I were sorting, for example, audio recordings based upon the performer, then "Vince Guaraldi" and "Bob Seger" would be sorted as "Guaraldi, Vince" and "Seger, Bob&...
Jason's user avatar
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-1 votes
2 answers
71 views

Classical verbiage for "Middle Name"? "Given" -> "First", "Surname" -> "Last/Family"

1 2 3 Mattias John-Mark Fischer Given Name aka. First Name ?? aka. Middle Name Surname aka. Family / Last Name This is what I understand to be the concept of 'Given Name'. But if I'm correct, then ...
deftclaw's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
78 views

Does English prefer abbreviated names more than other IE languages?

Background I have a name that English L1 speakers find hard to pronounce.* One of the first questions I get whenever introducing myself to one, is ‘Can I call you […]?’ After years in the university ...
Canned Man's user avatar
12 votes
9 answers
4k views

How can I best indicate in an obituary that a middle name was the preferred name?

I have seen several suggestions on ways to indicate a person's middle name was preferred over their first name: Firstname "Middlename" Surname Firstname Middlename "Middlename" ...
Susan's user avatar
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19 votes
3 answers
4k views

Why is Reuben spelled with an "eu"?

Reuben is most commonly spelled as such in English and in English only. The digraph "eu" as far as I know never represents /uː/ in English nor in any other language, and surely not in any ...
Enrico Bianchi's user avatar
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78 views

What is the origin and meaning of the female given name "Zorado"?

As far as I can tell this name crops up mid 1800s, and (informal analysis) looks like it peaks circa 1890-1915. In the present day I'd say it is extremely rare, but I can find living Zorado women and ...
Zorado's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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Pronunciation of "Ine", as the name of the Saxon king in modern English

Ine, also rendered Ini or Ina, (Latin: Inus; c. AD 670 – after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726 (Wikipedia). This is a name still used today, apparently, but I do not find it in the Longman ...
LPH's user avatar
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Comma placement for speaker's name in publication

I'm editing a flyer someone else wrote and I have the following sentence: Our storytelling series launches with featured speaker, Aloysius Firefly, professor of arts. I think ought to be "... ...
Douglas's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
150 views

How to write the possessive of a proper noun that ends in a plural noun?

Say we have a hotel named the Springfield Arms. The name itself is singular, since it refers to an individual hotel, but it ends with the pluralized noun “Arms”. What is the correct way to write the ...
Walter's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Do native English speakers tend to take the second part of a compound first name for a middle name?

My first name is "Jean-Baptiste". "Baptiste" is not a second or middle name, however I noticed that it's not unusual for native English speakers to address me just as "Jean&...
Jean-Baptiste's user avatar
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3 answers
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Name from history meaning charismatic?

Much like McGyver meaning "resourceful," Einstein meaning "intelligent," Savant meaning "gifted..." I remember hearing and using a name to refer to someone as a ...
Nihil's user avatar
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4 votes
4 answers
2k views

Origin of prefix "Mc" McDonalds or Monty Python?

The "Mc" prefix in the USA is used in, for "McMansion" to mean, I think, characterless and identical (as in McDonald's restaurants which I think were the first really big chain ...
releseabe's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why did some stigmatized theophoric names survive in English?

The synopsis is: we have the long-standing popularity of the name "Isabelle" and context that much of the English speaking world has been influenced by Christianity for centuries. It appears ...
Arash Howaida's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
65 views

What is the proper handling of Mach number?

My question mainly concerns named numbers like Mach, Reynolds, Weber, etc. Considering the eponymous noun is 'Mach number', is the following grammatically correct? His plane reached Mach 2. ...
A McKelvy's user avatar
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1 answer
52 views

Adjective for the name 'Grothendieck'

Grothendieck was a major mathematician in the 20th century. I would like to know how one can use his name to talk about the content of a study. For example in French we would say Hi all, Études ...
Jonathan's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
141 views

Pronunciation of Emma and Emma's

According to Wiktionary, Emma is pronounced as /ˈɛmə/ but I tend to hear it sounding more like /ˈɛmɑː/. However, when it comes to pronouncing Emma's, I hear it like /ˈɛməz/ and I hear a clear schwa ...
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1 answer
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Handling alternate spellings of a personal name [closed]

Dealing with a text that mentions several times the architectural historian Siegfried Giedion. A number of Giedion's books feature his first name as "Sigfried" and others as "Siegfried.&...
Typothalamus's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
109 views

Why is there an apostrophe in the name Ilya M. Sobol'? [closed]

Is this specific to the Lithuanian language? How come I've never seen an apostrophe at the end of a name like this (other than possessives)? See Ilya M. Sobol' on Wikipedia.
frandude's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
158 views

Is there a term for last name comma first name?

I'm designing a table in which names are stored. How to best call the columns that store full names in different order? The term "Full Name" seems ambiguous to me. First Name Last Name ...
basin's user avatar
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1 answer
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What do you call a person who is used by a manager/boss in order to keep their employment?

A person on probation was told to lie by his manager. If they did not comply with the mangers demands, they would have failed their probation, thus, would be unable to remain employed. Are there any ...
topak's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
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How does one pronounce Pompey?

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, a general during the last years of the Republic: Some folks are under the impression that the standard English version of his name, Pompey, is pronounced "POM-pee," ...
Ricky's user avatar
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“Jane and Lucas’ Wedding or Lucas’s” Where should the apostrophe go? [duplicate]

If you have a name ending in S letter, where should the apostrophe go? Jane and Lucas’ wedding or Jane and Lucas’s wedding?
Mie's user avatar
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-2 votes
2 answers
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Is it polite to refer to someone by the surname in an article?

While I see it a lot in articles in the modern time, I remember being taught at school that it is more polite and formal to refer to someone by title and surname in an article, not surname alone. Is ...
XComhghall's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
78 views

Pluralizing a first name

In a social media post, a movie streaming site referred to multiple actresses with the same first name of “Jennifer” without repeating the name each time. Instead, they pluralized Jennifer and the ...
Mallury's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
128 views

What is the term or word used to describe a name such as 'N.S Ennis' where the initials 'N.S' sound the same as the surname 'Ennis'?

My name, 'N.S Ennis', was called out in a waiting room some years ago and I was told there was an actual term for this occurrence where the initials 'NS' sound the same as the surname 'Ennis'. I am ...
Nick Ennis's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
163 views

What is the difference between old english words 'ric' and 'wald'

Ric and Wald are both name elements that are quite common in Old English names — for example, Eadric and Eadwald — and both seem to mean ruler or power or authority or might. Are there however more ...
asker2011's user avatar
  • 139
3 votes
1 answer
254 views

Is Evelyn pronounced variously based on gender?

When I first read Evelyn Waugh's books decades ago, I assumed the author was female. I subsequently found out Evelyn can also be a man's name in England. But today I found out that Evelyn Waugh's ...
B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

Origin of the surname "Hooker"?

Wiktionary claims that the surname Hooker is occupational: an occupation for a maker of hooks This seems unlikely to me for several reasons. Were it true, one would expect there to be a ...
Mark Dominus's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
128 views

Why are some Russian names Anglicised but not others?

For example, we speak of "Peter" the Great, "Nicholas" II, and "Joseph" Stalin, but no one ever spoke of "George" Gagarin, "Theodore" Dostoevsky, or &...
JAF's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
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The name of the end part of a film that contains contacts information [closed]

What is usually called the part of a film that comes at the end which contains contacts information ?
user464993's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
61 views

Citizenship name order

If I'm a dual citizenship holder, which one comes first? Is there an ordering to it? For example, if I receive a Canadian citizenship and I hold an Italian citizenship, am I Italian-Canadian or ...
dualCitizen's user avatar
-1 votes
3 answers
132 views

How to properly and equally introduce two people?

In the movie The Big Short, there is a scene where two people. Bruce Miller and Mark Baum are doing a "debate" of sorts. The host introduces them as ... give a generous welcome to mr. Bruce ...
SIMEL's user avatar
  • 1,329
0 votes
1 answer
35 views

Word to group some interrelated computer programs [closed]

I am looking for a word to group some interrelated computer programs, to name my github repository The group includes (or github repo) these programs: dwm — a window manager for unix like operating ...
Devansh's user avatar
  • 11
-1 votes
1 answer
4k views

Is it proper to write a full first name followed by an initial of the last name? [closed]

For example, if my name was John Smith, can I write it as “John S.”? Also, if I want to start with the initial of the last name, how would I write it? Is it “S. John”? I’m asking because I’m having my ...
Wit's user avatar
  • 1
-2 votes
1 answer
150 views

2-letter abbreviation for the name Montgomery

Background: I'm implementing elliptic curve cryptography in a hobbyist project of mine. And two kinds of the curves I'm about implement are Edwards curve and Montgomery curve (this and this). For the ...
DannyNiu's user avatar
  • 141
48 votes
6 answers
7k views

How should I spell Zelensky?

Recently, Volodymyr Zelensky (for this question, I will use the shorter version of his name), the president of Ukraine, has been in the news frequently due to the war in his country. However, news ...
Joe Kerr's user avatar
  • 791
1 vote
0 answers
32 views

Author - Title vs Title - Author when referring to a work [closed]

Is there a convention on whether to place the title of a work or the author of a work first when referring to the work? I'm thinking mostly for titling notes/files on the work, or for categorizing ...
Jack Maloney's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
29 views

2 Letter Initials and nobiliary particles — how to form? [duplicate]

Given names with nobiliary particles or other particles in a last name like Bobby von Ahnen Bobby d'Estaing Bobby de Zichy Bobby del Alcázar Bobby Le Pen How would you make a two letter set of ...
superNES64's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
509 views

What is the equivalent of a demonym, but for organizations?

For example, the demonym of 'Mexico' is 'Mexican'. What do you call the equivalent for people who are part of an organization? And do any rules apply in the formation of the name? E.g. Reddit -> ...
Tutti_Broeckoff's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
85 views

When do companies named "(The) X Company" take the definite article?

I work for a company called "x company" where x is a noun that represents our key product- something like book, computer or hamburger. I've been advised to refer to it as the "x company&...
Abijah's user avatar
  • 131
1 vote
0 answers
112 views

What is the etymology of the name of the River Cherwell in England? [closed]

The River Cherwell is the second largest tributary of the Thames after the River Kennet. What is the etymology of its name? I could not find any etymology after checking several websites.
Galactic's user avatar
  • 133
6 votes
2 answers
207 views

Current Usage of Fanny

We are thinking about giving our daughter the name Fanny. We are Germans, based in Germany but we're really curious about the current usage of this word in Great Britain. We are familiar with the ...
Friederike's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
140 views

What does "Stan" in "PHPStan" refer to/mean?

I found this the other day and have started using it: https://phpstan.org/ It's nice. But it really annoys me that nowhere does it explain/mention what "Stan" refers to. It's not the name ...
Cree M's user avatar
  • 3
1 vote
0 answers
461 views

What do you call the enclosed outdoor area inside an apt?

It's an outside area about 1.5m square that can be entered from inside the apartment through a window-like entetance. It's filled with garbage from apartments in the higher floors. I want to say ...
aptq's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Correct transliteration of foreign Names with umlauts and other diacritics [duplicate]

I would like to know how names from other languages with umlauts and other diacritics are correctly written in English through transliteration and not translated. The last name Bühler is often written ...
Thomas's user avatar
  • 113
0 votes
0 answers
97 views

Where do you put a prefix and suffix when listing last names first? [duplicate]

I'm listing names last name first, but it is important to have all name parts included. Let's say I had a Dr. Leonard B. McCoy Jr.. Should I list him as McCoy, Dr. Leonard B. Jr.? I read another ...
Steven Brown's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
86 views

Why using -son instead of -daughter? [closed]

I am learning English and my teacher taught me a lesson where there was a person named Bill Robertson and his sister's name was Dyna Robertson. So why was her name Dyna Robertson when she is a ...
jaun al khalib's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
35 views

What is this naming convention called? [duplicate]

Many historical figures (of antiquity) have names of the form "X the Y". Some real, historical examples are: Wayland the Smith William the Conquerer Attila the Hun This concept has also ...
jmcph4's user avatar
  • 121
5 votes
1 answer
673 views

How common are hypocorisms ending with "s" in female names? (Babs, Bess, Becks...)

My question can be split in two parts: Is this a pattern, how common is it, and how natural does it sound? Is it more specific to feminine names? Here are examples: Barbara - Babs [1] Elizabeth - ...
paperskilltrees's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
151 views

For places like "St Louis", "Mt Pleasant", and "Ft Myers", what type of words are "St", "Mt", and "Ft"? [closed]

I've noticed, while working on code to handle addresses, that many parts of street names have common abbreviations, such as "St" for "Saint", "Mt" for "Mount" ...
Chris G's user avatar
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