English Forenames

This article discusses the forenames (also called Christian names or given names) in use in English-speaking countries.

As is the case in western Europe generally, the sources of English names are eclectic. Indeed most of these names are common to all western European languages due to historical events such as the rise of Christianity and the incursions of Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire, and only vary in local spelling and pronunciation. Etymologically, most English forenames fall into five categories based on their language of origin.

*Hebrew names are of biblical derivation, from the Old and New Testaments (John, Mary). Also in use are a few names of Aramaic (Thomas, Martha) and ancient Egyptian derivation (Moses, Aaron).
*Greek names are taken either from the New Testament (Peter, Lydia) or from non-scriptural saints (Agnes, Nicholas or Christoforos Christopher).
*Latin names are usually the names of saints (Diana, Julian), some of which are from the New Testament (Cornelius, Felix).
*Germanic names derive from Germanic languages. There are two main sub-groups of these names, those of Anglo-Saxon derivation (Edward, Edith), which form a small minority of those currently in use, and those of Scandinavian derivation, introduced by the Norman conquest, which are far more popular (Richard, Robert, William). Other Germanic languages have contributed a few names, such as Derek, from Gothic.
*Celtic names (Kevin, Malcolm, Bridget). These come from such languages as Irish and Welsh.

Some names which have entered English usage from popular literature were the inventions of writers, such as Wendy (from J M Barrie's "Peter Pan") and Lorna (from R D Blackmore's "Lorna Doone"). Some names imported from literature were modifications of existing names, some of which were not used in English until that time, such as Shakespeare's Jessica, Imogen, Cressida and Olivia.

Names that contain echoes of Greek or Roman mythology have generally entered English by way of the names of Christian saints, such as Denis (Greek "Dionysius", pertaining to Dionysus, the god of wine), or Helen (Menelaus' wife, abducted by the Trojan prince Paris). Some have simply been adopted because of their occurrence in Classical literature, such as Camilla and Lavinia from Virgil's "Aeneid".

Abstract nouns are sometimes used as feminine names and were more common in the recent past, such as Joy, Constance, or Prudence.