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HelpRe: American Names
in reply to a message by namebug
I'm from Australia and I'd say not really. But some kind of stick out... I don't personally know a Gabriel (although obviously it's a Biblical name and not "American"), Chase, Addison, Neveah, Avery, Aubrey, Brooklyn (that's a possibility since it's your Country), Mackenzie (I think of that as pretty American), Aaliyah (more Arabic than American I suppose), Autumn (seeing as for us it's a season and weirder to name your child that) and Payton. And I just pulled those from the US top 100. It also doesn't mean that they're not popular in other parts of Australia or the world though.
And definatley not John, Mary and Bob. They're just common names, that's all.
And definatley not John, Mary and Bob. They're just common names, that's all.
This message was edited 7/29/2009, 12:29 AM
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Although most Americans use the word "fall" to denote the season, most Americans are also aware that another name for it is autumn. I'm just making the point that when Americans hear the name Autumn, they ARE aware that it's a season and that that is the meaning of the name. It's not a meaningless word to them. It's the same to us as naming a child Spring or Summer.
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Oh yeah I realize Americans know what it means. I just think it's prettier for them because it's more of a word-word than a season-word. It's a novelty word in a way, I think kids would think of it as a special word for Fall. It's just a little less used in America than it is here. I can't seem to put this whole "Autumn" line of thought into words very well but I hope you get what I mean. =)
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I can see what you're saying, but Summer is a fairly well-established name too. I don't think how common the word is has anything to do with the reason. Maybe the word does sound nicer to Americans in countrast with the infformal "Fall." When people are talking about the essense of the season itself, they're more apt to use Autumn, as in "Autumn is my favorite season," which could easily be followed by "I'm going back to school in the Fall." So you could be onto something in that Americans will have more nature-related connotations with Autumn rather than as a strictly practical word like Fall. It's still very much a word name though and is in our minds on the same level as Winter and Summer.
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Yes. Americans use both Fall and Autumn. They're just synonyms to us.
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Gabriel is a throw back to the American Revolutionary period, a rennaisance for uniquely American culture including naming, so that makes sense. Original naming practices that erupted during and before this time period could be considered all-American. I think Americans have always traditionally used biblical names more than any other English-speaking country, and many virtue names originated in America. Even the simple popular virtue names of today -- Faith, Hope, and Joy gained their popularity in America. These practices started with the Puritan settlers who took a more literal minimalist approach to life and regected British fashion, which was reflected in their naming philosophies.
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All that you've said is true for other English speaking countries, but not if other countries are taken into account. For example most Slavic languages have Faith and Hope in their language (Nada, Vera, Nadezda, etc) and most Catholic countries are big on Bible names like Gabriel, so they're not what I'd call 'American names'.
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Yes, but Nadezda is not the same as hope. One is in English and one is in Russian and they obviously sound very different. And your right that many other cultures use lots of biblical names, but few of them are spelled and pronounced the same way. Gabriel is one of the few that is. But it's not like we borrowed Gabriel from Mexico or something. Americans started using it from biblical inspiration on their own. It's rightfully American, just like a name like Nicephore is considered uniquely French, even though equivalents in other languages (like Nikifor) exist for this name and it was borrowed from the Ancient Greek Nikephoros. All languages are related. So you can argue this for any name. But I'm referring to actual names that occur more commonly in America than anywhere else, disregarding lingual differences. Nathaniel may be used in Mexico as Nataniel, but that's not the exact same name to me because they are pronounced differently. Nathaniel, spelled this way, is pretty trademark American in the grand scheme of things.
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Wasn't the original question 'what is a uniquely American name?'? In which case names like Gabriel or Nathaniel can hardly be seen unique when they're used all over the world and are quite popular in some other countries. That's all I meant with my post. Just because a name is popular in the US that doesn't make it 'trademark American' which is what the OP was asking for I believe.
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I am also from Australia and I would have to agree with most of your American names. I do know a Gabriel but his parents are Spanish so that may have something to do with it. Some of the others, Mackenzie, Aaliyah and Brooklyn are becoming popular in areas where I live and I know an Aubrey who is about 17 now.
Chase, Skip, Cassidy are names that come to mind when I think of purely American names
Chase, Skip, Cassidy are names that come to mind when I think of purely American names
This message was edited 7/29/2009, 1:35 AM
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