Abstract:Human society is made up of individuals. Name, as personal code, is not only a common social phenomenon, but also an unusual cultural phenomenon. As an ancient saying goes “Bestowing the child great riches, is inferior to teaching him a good skill. A good skill is inferior to bestowing the child a good name”. And Bible has a similar saying that “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches”. The importance of names to people has gained comprehensive recognition in both China and the west. Nowadays, there are many studies on names, and present studies are mainly concerned with the composition of names. This article mainly analyzes the problem of names from two aspects——the origins of surname and the naming methods of given names. Chinese surnames come from the countries or dwelling places or emperors, etc. English surnames sometimes from the given names or the characteristics of human beings directly. Similarly, the naming methods of Chinese given names focus on Yin-Yang and Five Elements or Confucianism, while English given names basically come from the Bible or the ancient Greek and Roman fairy tales. This comprehension will help us a lot such as giving a Chinese an English name or giving English a Chinese name.

Key words: personal name; the origins of surname; the naming methods

Table of Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 The significance of personal names-1

1.2 The purpose and meaning of the study-1

1.3 The thinking and methods of the study-1

2. Literary Review-2

2.1 The current study on personal names in Chinese-2

2.2 The current study on personal names in English-2

3. The Origins of Surname-4

3.1 The origins of Chinese surnames-4

3.1.1 From the countries or manors or dwelling places-4

3.1.2 From emperors-4

3.1.3 From occupations and official positions-5

3.1.4 From nature (totem influence)-5

3.2 The origins of English surnames-6

3.2.1 From given names-6

3.2.2 From characteristics of human beings-6

3.2.3 From other sources-7

4. The Naming Methods of Given Names-8

4.1 The naming methods of Chinese given names-8

4.1.1 From Yin-Yang and Five Elements-8

4.1.2 From Confucianism-9

4.1.3 From personality and ideal-9

4.2 The naming methods of England given names-10

4.2.1 From the Bible-10

4.2.2 From ancient Greek and Roman fairy tales-10

4.2.3 From the media-11

5. Suggestions for Using Names-12

6. Conclusions-13

Bibliography-14

Acknowledgements-15