The baby-naming conventions in the United States are perhaps more different than any other English-speaking nation; at least from a modern-day perspective that is. But first, let’s go back to the time of colonization and discuss how the earliest Americans selected names for their babies.

 

Back in the 17th century, there was a European sea race to see who could colonize this newly discovered land. We know from elementary history class that Christopher Columbus purportedly “discovered” America in 1492. This is not altogether true (we know factually that the Vikings led by Lief Erikkson briefly settled in Newfoundland during the 11th century and there is even non-concrete yet suggestive evidence that a band of Irish monks and/or the Chinese may have made their way over here even before that).  While Columbus did indeed initiate European exploration and colonization of the North and South American continents at the end of the 15th century, he never once touched land in present day United States (rather he reached South and Central America). He did however introduce this “New World” to the appetites of the European superpowers in a constant battle for supremacy through land expansion, trade economies, resource control, and military prowess. Our view of American discovery is rather Euro-centric; we must remember that native peoples populated the North and South American continents nearly 20,000 years before the pale-skinned Europeans showed up; there were already tens of millions of these indigenous people (Native American Indians, Aztecs, Incas, etc).

 

After Columbus spotted the Bahamas (the closest he came to setting foot on present day USA), the race was on. Inspired by the Spaniards South and Central American conquests of the 16th century (including present day Florida), England created its first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. From that point on, the English would be the predominant colonizers of what is now the United States. What differentiated the English and Dutch settlers from the Spanish, Portuguese and French (almost predominantly Roman Catholic) was a religious diversity.  English settlers represented Anglicans, Puritans as well as Catholics. They were Dutch Calvinists, Scottish Presbyterians, German and Swedish Lutherans, as well as Quakers, Amish, and Jews of various ethnicities.  In fact, this country was chiefly founded by people seeking to practice their chosen religion free from watchful eyes or persecution. We don’t refer to them as “pilgrims” by accident. The earliest colonies in America were founded during the latter part of the Reformation period which was in full swing back in Great Britain.  As such, our naming practices began primarily with the Puritans or those of other Christian belief systems who came to settle this new land. Therefore, the United States of America started naming their babies with much of the same Judeo-Christian biblical practices still largely compulsory today.

 

In the beginning (outside of Native American Indians of course), American forenames represented the same stylistic practices prevalent throughout Europe at the time, but particularly England. It was all about John, William, Charles and James for boys; or Mary, Elizabeth, Anne and Margaret for girls. Back then, the top ten names bestowed upon children represented about 25% of all names given in any particular year. By comparison, today that number is closer to 8%. In other words, there was much less diversity in terms of name choices 400 years ago.

 

What else differentiates the American naming styles over other English speaking nations (or Europeans for that matter)? They are the following:

 

Open to All. Many of the early American colonists were Puritans fleeing a Protestant-centric (and restrictive) England and looking for a new place to settle. They had already adopted some new naming styles of their own which they brought across the Atlantic Ocean; some which favored lesser-known or less popular names from the Bible (Ethan, Nathaniel, Ezekiel, Elijah, Caleb, Elias and Moses for boys, or Abigail, Hannah, and virtue names like Hope, Faith and Charity for girls). They were also not shy about adopting traditional Hebrew names from the Old Testament and making them their own. We all know Joseph, Mary, John, James and Mark. But the Puritans had no issues with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rachel, Jacob, Rebecca and Leah. The Puritans arguably started the “open-for-all” naming practices so pervasive in America today. According to Americans, nobody “owns” a name – it’s free for all to use. No squatters allowed, thank you.

 

Diversity. America is the ultimate global melting-pot. We are a land of immigrants representing people from almost any conceivable nation on earth. As such, our naming conventions have been somewhat influenced by other ethnicities outside of our Anglo Saxon-centric beginnings.  Mary became Marie (French) or Maria (Spanish). Elizabeth became Isabella (Spanish/Italian) or John became Sean (Irish), Ian (Scottish) or Ivan (Russian). Because of our ethnic diversity, the pronunciations and spellings of names have become influenced by other nationalities and languages and have therefore become much more diverse. 

 

Short forms. More so than any other English-speaking nation, Americans are quick to use pet forms and nicknames as independently given names in their own right. People in the United States are more apt to name their child simply Andy instead of Andrew or Kate instead of Katherine. Tom instead of Thomas or Larry instead of Laurence. Jack instead of John or Molly instead of Mary/Margaret. We are a “get-to-the-point” nation, and our naming practices reflect this no-nonsense approach.

 

Last Name First, please. Americans are also most responsible for the surname trend. Think: Franklin, Harrison, Jefferson, Jackson, Schuyler and Lincoln for instance. This is a trend that dates back to our Founding Fathers, Revolutionary War heroes and Presidents, and it has carried through to modern day. Toward the end of the 20th century, almost any conceivable surname became a trendy choice and bestowed upon boys and girls alike: Mason, Addison, Connor, Logan, etc. No other English-speaking nation uses surnames as forenames to the extent that Americans do.  Even conventional-sounding first names like Paige and Brooke are derived from surnames.

 

The Spelling Bee. Respellings are an integral part of American naming practices. This is something not necessarily new. By all means, languages have mutated and matured over time. Names like Elisabeth became Elizabeth (swapping the s for a z) or names like Rebekah became Rebecca. Once Modern English became well established, most other English-speaking nations stick to the traditional name spellings cemented in our language long ago.  By the latter half of the 20th century, many American parents said “pshaw” to that rule. This trend is arguably one of the more controversial in our stylistic approach to names, mostly because it has really gotten out of hand since the 1980s. For example, the name Hailey is Ï‹ber-popular today but really started to gain steam after the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1986. Today, there are a slew of spelling mutations of this once original name: Haley, Hallie, Hayley, Haylie, Haleigh, and more. Americans took the German name Michaela (female form of Michael) and put their own stamp on it in the form of Makayla, Mikayla, Mikaela and even McKayla. The classic English Madeline or French Madeleine have become Madalyn, Madalynn, Madelyn(n) and Madilyn(n). There are hundreds of similar examples to this and while respellings are more common among female names, they are by no means restricted to this gender. Male names like Jayden have been repurposed as Jaden, Jaydin, Jaydon, and even Jaeden. The classic Irish Aidan has been altered to Aiden, Aaden, Aden, Aidyn, Aydan, Ayden and Aydin.  Sheer craziness.

 

The African-American experience.  African-Americans have lent their creativity and inventive naming practices to the nation at large. Following the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and into the Black Pride era of the 1970s, we saw a fundamental shift in the naming styles within this community. For more information on the history of African-American names, click here. The diversity of names (particularly female names) bestowed upon babies within this community brings new definition to the word inventive. For boys, names like Shawn became Deshawn, Keshawn or Tyshawn; or Anton might mutate into Antwan. For girls, celebratory names like Ebony, Precious, Tiara or Diamond might be used; Blacks also often add the “La-“ or “Sha-“ prefix to female names. A trend that began with the Black population in the United States eventually spilled over into the general population as Whites, Latinos and Asians now embrace creative and inventive naming traditions. 

 

In summary, baby names in America are in a lot of ways similar to the Western World at large particularly in terms of the Judeo-Christian naming traditions. But in more modern times, the United States has deviated from its fellow English-speaking nations with far more diversity and invention.

Gaelic is an adjective which means “pertaining to the Gaels (or Goidels)”. The Gaels were a Celtic tribe who developed the Goidelic languages which today you recognize as Irish, Scottish-Gaelic and Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea). The Gaelic language originated in Ireland and eventually spread to the nearby Isle of Man and Scotland – it is one of the two surviving branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Brythonic (Breton, Cornish and Welsh). The Celtic languages that developed on continental Europe in ancient times are now extinct. This is what makes the Insular Celtic languages, such as Gaelic, so remarkable. The persistence of this culture into modern times is nothing short of miraculous, but is testament to the strength and endurance of the Gaelic people.

 

The Celt settlements in Ireland date back to at least the 6th century B.C., and the Gaels specifically succeeded in suppressing and dominating all other previous habitants at some point in the first few centuries B.C. About the time of Christ, the Gaels divided the island into several tribal kingdoms, the rulers of which would often form allies to fend off invasions from Britain and continental Europe.  The Roman Empire conquered and occupied England in the first to early fifth centuries A.D. but was unable to incorporate Ireland. The Romans understood very little about these people except that they were fierce and efficient, managing to flourish despite the cold climate and insular geography. Because the Romans never moved into Ireland, the Gaelic culture was preserved while Celtic people of mainland Europe became systematically Latinized bu the Roman Empire. 

 

The Gaels believed themselves to be descendents of Míl Espáine (Míl of Spain), an adventurous war leader and eponym of the legendary Milesians. Míl’s sons believed Ireland to be their ancestral home and made their way over to the green isle from the Iberian Peninsula after their father’s death. These so-called Milesians successfully invaded and colonized Ireland. Although the story is largely considered mythic, there remains some potential historic accuracy. We know that Celtic people located in the northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula are genetically related to the Gaels.  In any case, it’s not enntirely certain exactly when the Gaels came to dominate Ireland or when the Gaelic language developed into shape. 

 

The ancient Gaelic people lived in multi-generational families. Most were fierce warriors who didn’t shy away from battle; they also fought for their tribes rather than their country. Their religion was polytheistic and their heroes, gods and goddesses were nature oriented. Ancient Celts (and Gaels) had politically religious leaders known as Druids who held a lot of power within their communities. The Gaelic people had rich, colorful traditions of poems, songs and legends which were passed down orally (it wouldn’t be until the 4th century A.D. that they began to read and write). They were also deeply superstitious and had all sorts of tokens for luck.

 

Sometime in the mid-5th century A.D., the Gaels expanded east from Ireland over to the Isle of Man and western Scotland where they settled in the region of present day Argyll. In Scotland, the Gaels were met by another Celtic tribe known as the Picts (related to the Brythonic branch).  The Pictish people fiercely opposed (and at times dominated) the Gaels until the 9th century when the two tribes merged under the Scottish-Gaelic leader Kenneth Mac Alpin. The Gaelic society and culture ultimately won out in Scotland and spread throughout the country north of the Forth and Clyde (the skinny part of Scotland along the line where Edinburgh and Glasgow are located).  The Picts ultimately became extinct. In medieval times, Scottish-Gaelic became the language of the royal nobility and most of the commoners.  The Scottish King James IV (1473-1513) was the last monarch to speak Gaelic.  Two centuries later, Scotland adopted English as its official language. Highland culture where most of the Gaels resided was systematically attacked by the more dominant and populous Lowlands which bordered England, and the Gaelic traditions, customs and language greatly diminished.

 

Fortunately, in the past 75 years there has been a Renaissance of sorts, as Gaelic national pride in both Ireland and Scotland has soared, also influencing Irish and Scottish descendents in other English-speaking nations. The Manx language is also enjoying resurgence as it’s taught in schools on the Isle of Man as a second (and sometimes primary) language. Most Gaelic speakers reside in the Republic of Ireland where nearly 40% of the population claims the ability to speak some Irish (about 5% speak it daily).  Most Gaelic speakers in Scotland reside in the Hebrides and west coast of Scotland. About half the Highlanders have some Gaelic language knowledge and close to 25% claim to be Gaelic speakers.  There are currently about 25,000 Irish-Gaelic speakers in the United States (most residing is cities where the Irish-American communities are concentrated – Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and NYC).

 

In terms of Gaelic names, one just needs to look at the present day naming statistics in both Ireland and Scotland. Both countries have been influenced by the same naming trends present in other English-speaking counties (i.e., a growing diversity of names, the Anglicization of names, the influence of fashion and pop-culture, etc.), yet we still see clear traces of the Gaelic language in Irish and Scottish names.

 

Some popular Gaelic girl and boy names in Ireland today:

 

 

 

                                                                         

Girl Names	Pronunciation	Meaning
Isla	EYE-la	The name of an island “Islay” off the western coast of Scotland
Eilidh	Uncertain	Diminutive for the Scottish-Gaelic form of Eleanor
Niamh	NEEV	From the Gaelic word meaning “bright”
Maisie	MAY-zee	Diminutive for the Scottish-Gaelic form of Margaret
Orla	OR-la	From the Gaelic name Órfhlaith meaning  "golden princess"
Skye	SKIE	Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland
Iona	ie-ON-a	Another island in Scotland

 

As you can see from the above examples, the Irish (like Americans) tend to be more traditional when naming their little boys and more fashionable when naming their daughters. This is why we see more examples of masculine Gaelic names on their charts for the males than for females. Otherwise, the charts are full of similar names we see in America such as Sophie, Ava and Emma for girls and Jack, Daniel and James for boys.

 

Here are some Gaelic-flavored popular names currently in Scotland:

 

 

 

Boy’s Names	Pronunciation	Meaning
Logan	LO-gen	Scottish-Gaelic for “little hollow”
Ryan	RIE-en	From the Gaelic Rían meaning “little king”
Liam	LEE-em	Irish short form of William
Finlay	FIN-lay	Anglicized of an old Gaelic name Fionnlagh meaning “white warrior"
Kyle	IEL	Scottish derived from the Gaelic “caol” meaning "channel, strait"
Callum	KAL-um	Scottish form of Latin Columba (“dove”); important early Scottish saint
Connor	KAHN-er	Anglicized form of the Gaelic “Conchobhar” meaning "dog/wolf lover"
Rory	RAWR-ee	From the Gaelic elements “ruadh” and “rí” meaning “red king”
Euan	YOU-en	Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Eoghan meaning "born from the yew tree"

Humans set up agricultural and seafaring societies in the Netherlands dating back over six millennial. Like other tribal people of Northern Europe before the Common Era, farmers made tools first from stone, then bronze and finally iron marking the progression of the ages. In the first century B.C. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul which included present day Belgium and southern Netherlands and these lands became part of the Roman Empire. The Romans served to civilize these ancient Germanic tribes and from them were borne two primary Germanic peoples: the Franks and the Frisians (Frisian is a West Germanic dialect of modern Dutch).  The Romans stuck around for another four hundred years but were eventually forced to withdrawal as they saw their own Empire begin to crumble and collapse (Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410). After the Romans left, the Netherlands and Belgium were populated with three Germanic tribes: the Franks (precursor to the French); the Saxons (precursor to the English) and the Frisians (Dutch).  The Franks eventually triumphed as the master tribe and reigned over the region with domination. The modern Dutch language is derived from the Franks and so (like English) is a Germanic language.  The French language would later evolve as an Italic or Latin-based language.

 

Christianity was introduced to the region in the 8th century by Irish and Scottish monks and Anglo-Saxon missionaries. Saint Boniface is the English missionary most famous for spreading Christian beliefs throughout the Frankish Empire; in fact, he was killed (and thus martyred) by some local Frisians in what is now called the Netherlands in 754. A few decades later Charlemagne (aka Charles the Great) became King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans. The Frankish Empire would greatly expand under the ambitious Charlemagne, adding northwestern Germany (modern day Netherlands and Belgium) under his control.  The Netherlands were cut up into administrative divisions ruled by counts. After Charlemagne’s death in the early 9th century, his huge empire was split into three parts: France, Germany and everything in the middle. At first, the Netherlands was part of the Middle Empire, but by the early 10th century it became part of the German Empire.  During this period, as with the British Isles, the Netherlands became susceptible to Viking raids. As the Middle Ages were in full swing, the various provinces of modern day Belgium and the Netherlands were often at odds, but they managed to work together and build towns which flourished in trade relations.

 

A small civil war broke out in Holland in the 15th century as the capitalistic bourgeois class struggled against the ruling nobility. The last Countess of Holland was defeated and the Dutch-speaking territories were assumed by the Duke of Burgundy. The “Low Countries” (so named for the low lying region of several river deltas covering Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany) became one of the many possessions of the powerful Hapsburg Empire ruled by the Spanish branch of this vast monarchy.   During the Reformation of the 16th century, a revolt against Spain was orchestrated by the Calvinist-convert William of Orange who set off the Eighty Years’ War against Spanish rule and religious persecution. William the Silent (as he was also known) became a champion of the Dutch people and a defender of freedom. The Eighty Years’ War ensued with bloody consequences. Even though the Dutch people courageously united in rebellion, the Spanish were a formidable enemy. Eventually they would assassinate William of Orange in 1584.  Protestant England intervened with assistance much to the chagrin of Catholic Spain. The War was finally ended by Spain’s recognition of the Netherlands as an independent republic in 1648. But before becoming an independent nation, the Netherlands had already formed the prosperous trading companies Dutch East India and Dutch West India. They also established the colony New Amsterdam (i.e., New York) in North America (1625) and another colony in South Africa. The budding Dutch navy (which had already once defeated the fearsome Spanish Armada) was voyaging far and wide. The Dutchmen William Jansz and Abel Tasman were the first to discover Australia (1606) and Tasmania (1642), respectively.  Amsterdam was probably the single most important trade city in northern Europe, and the Dutch were unusually tolerant of all religions (of course partial to Protestantism and all of its sects). For such a teeny-tiny country by today’s standards, the Dutch certainly were able to accomplish a lot in the seventeenth century!

 

Trade rivalries reached boiling points with England, and so the two countries often found themselves at war several times in the 17th century. A peaceful union was formed when another William of Orange (ruler of the Netherlands) married the English Princess Mary Stuart. William and Mary would eventually become co-monarchs of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1688. Imagine that. A Dutch ruler of England. Well, he really obtained the British monarchy through the succession of his wife who happened to be the daughter of pro-Catholic and pro-French King James II of England. William III was safely Protestant and Parliament-friendly, so we was welcome by the elite. Back in the Netherlands, the arts and sciences were thriving. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) were painting; Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) was philosophizing; and Olivier van Noort was circumnavigating the world (1598).  Not to mention scientists, mathematicians, inventors and astronomers. As we all know, freedom paves the way for innovation.

 

The Netherlands would lose much of their economic and global power starting in the 18th century. They were substantially weakened by the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) after which England and France would emerge as the primary European trading powers. At the end of the century, the French Revolution pretty much threw all of Europe into a tailspin.  Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and absorbed it into the French Empire. After Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo (present day Belgium) in 1813, the Netherlands were joined with Belgium to form one country under King William I. The Belgians weren’t too happy with this outcome, and so they rebelled until they received their independence.  King William’s successor, his son William II, instituted a new liberal constitution and the rest of the 1800s were marked by stability and economic prosperity as the Netherlands transformed into a modern industrialized society. The 19th century also produced the great Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.

 

In the 20th century, the Dutch maintained a policy of neutrality with Germany in both the World Wars. In both cases, this would backfire. In WWI stress on their resources caused food shortages and riots. They also suffered from the worldwide Great Depression after the Great War more so than other European countries.  They again remained neutral when the Second World War broke out; this time the Germans rewarded them by invading their country and bombing the city of Rotterdam. Thousands were involuntarily deported to work the war effort in Germany; those who resisted were systematically killed. The Germans also stole all their food and left the Dutch people to starve for themselves. More than 80% of the 140,000 Jews living in the Netherlands were murdered.  The Dutch people still seem to harbor much resentment toward the Germans for the horrible suffering inflicted upon them more than 60 years ago.

 

The latter half of the 20th century saw slow but steady recovery.  In 1949 the Dutch colony of Indonesia became independent, followed by Suriname in 1975. In 1957 the Netherlands was a founding member of the EU and adopted the euro in 1999. Today the population of the Netherlands is around 16 million and flower-growing remains a prosperous industry. You might say their flowers still stand proud and tall.  

 

Now that you know a little bit about their history, let’s discuss Dutch personal naming habits. Given the region’s early beginnings, it’s probably no surprise that Germanic names dominated from antiquity up through the early Middle Ages. Germanic names are generally comprised of two elements. Take William for instance, or Wilhelm in German (Dutch: Willem). The Germanic “wil” means “desire” and “helm” means “helmet, protection”.  Adalheidis (Adelaide) comes from the Germanic elements “adal” meaning “noble” and “heid” meaning “kind, sort, type”.  The components of Adalbert (Albert) mean “nobel” and “bright, shining” and for Gertrud it’s “spear” and “strength”.  Germanic names dating back to antiquity refected the values important to the various pagan tribal people: battles, warriors, strength, valor, nobility, etc.

 

Things changed with the introduction of Christianity in the early Middle Ages. At this point in time, names became primarily influenced by the Catholic calendar of saints (most of which were Latin-based names or foreign in some way to the Dutch mother tongue). Christian names rapidly became more popular than Germanic names and by the 1100s, naming children after saints became the de facto custom. Once de facto, it became the prevailing trend. It wasn’t that Germanic names disappeared; they just became the small minority. We cannot underscore the direct influence the Church had on all of Western Europe when it came to naming children. Veneration of saints was more than widespread in precarious medieval times – it was a form of spiritual protection one was placing one one’s child. Saints were admired and loved for their religious fortitude, miraculous legends and for their patronages.  Parents didn’t just want to protect their children; they also wanted to assist them in their futures. If a child was born into a family of carpenters, he might be called Jozef (Joseph) the patron saint of carpenters, Joris (George) for a family of butchers, or Luuk (Lucas) for physicians.

 

Like many other cultures, the Dutch also developed naming traditions around rules of birth order and using relatives as namesakes (e.g., the first son would be named after his paternal grandfather and the first daughter after her maternal grandmother). The Dutch had some superstitious beliefs tied up in this practice that distinguishes them from their other European brethren.  Apparently it helped an older relative with their reincarnation prospects.

 

What’s interesting about the Dutch today is that they are one of the more secular and non-religious of nations. Most believe in God or some sort of spiritual force, but they aren’t big on church-going or affiliating themselves with a particular institutionalized religious doctrine. Catholicism is still the largest religion (28% of the population) followed by Protestantism (the Dutch Reformed Church or Calvinism) with 16% followers. As you can imagine, names based in the Christian tradition don’t hold the same value but they are still widely used since they’ve been around so long! The Dutch are just a little bit more open to playing around with names, adopting foreign names, or sounding out names they simply like. Dutch children are often given more than one name (Catholics for instance still include a baptismal name and often use Latin names; Protestants opt for simpler Dutch names).

 

Another distinguishing feature of the Dutch naming traditions is the plethora of pet forms which developed from all Germanic and Christian names. Considering the small size of this country, they have a remarkable assortment of localized variations of personal names.  Some interesting examples include variations of William (Willem, Jelle, Pim, Wil, Willy, Wim) or Elizabeth (Betje, Elsje, Isa, Lies, Liesbeth, Liese, Liesje, Lijsbeth, Lisa). Lieke is used for Angelique; Stijn for Constantine; and Daan for Daniel.

 

The five most popular male names in the Netherlands in 2011 were: Daan, Sem, Milan, Levi and Luuk. Also on their Top 10 list is Jayden, which they borrowed from Americans. For little Dutch baby girls in 2011, the five most popular names were Emma, Julia, Sophie, Lotte and Isa. Notice the first three names are Ï‹ber-popular in America as well.

 

P.S. We should also mention that many people refer to the Netherlands as Holland, when in fact Holland (north and south) are provinces of the Netherlands. Holland is where you’d go to visit Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Dutch people from the other regions of the Dutch Republic would probably appreciate you not referring to the whole of their country as simply Holland.