"Британские и русские имена собственные" ("British and Russian personal names"

                           Муниципальное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение

                                 «Средняя школа № 15 имени В.Н.Рождественского»

Исследовательская работа

British and Russian

personal names

                                                                                   Метелева София Александровна,

                                                                                   МБОУ «СШ № 15»

                                                                                   имени В.Н.Рождественского,  

                                                                                    научный  руководитель

                                                                                    Ушакова Е.В.,

                                                                                    учитель английского языка

Глазов 2019

Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………...................................................3

British proper names………………………………………………………............................................4

Peculiarities of the British proper names……………………………................................4

Reasons for choosing a name in Great Britain……………………................................5

Popular British male names with translation and meaning…………........................6

Popular British female names with translation and meaning………........................7

Russian proper names…………………………………………………….............................................8

Peculiarities of the Russian proper names………………………...................................9

Reasons for choosing a name in Russia……………………………..................................9

Popular Russian male names and their meaning……………………...........................10

Popular Russian female names and their meaning…………………...........................10

Similarities and Differences between British and Russian personal names...................12

Practical part………………………………………………………………................................................13

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….....................................................15

List of the literature………………………………………………………………...............................................17

Introduction

A name is given to a person when he or she is born. Everybody hears it every day. Does a name have any influence on us? Do people with the same names have the same traits of character? What are the most popular British and Russian names? Is the choice of a name connected with history, fashion, popular actors?

We have a lot of questions and we want to find answers to them. This theme is actual because people are interested in their names and their meanings.

The problem questions: there are more differences than similarities between British and Russian proper names.

The hypothesis: children know English names from textbooks and from books, films, the Internet. The most popular Russian names are connected with the names of the classmates.

The aim: to find out what names are popular in Russia and Great Britain.

Objectives:

to learn peculiarities of Russian and British personal names

to find out similarities and differences between Russian and British personal names

to make a list of the most popular names for men and women in Great Britain and Russia.

to find out if students know the most popular names.

We used the following methods of investigation: learning literature, comparison, analysis, method of statistics.

There is valuable information about names in Great Britain and Russia, so it can be useful for children, parents and teachers.

British proper names

Peculiarities of the British proper names

Nobody can live without a name. Personal names are given to people when they are born and follow them all their life.

Onomastics is the “study of the origin, history and use of proper names» Anthroponomastics is the study of personal names. [4]

A British name consists of three parts: first name, (Christian name, given name), middle name and surname (last name). Even surnames can be used as first and middle names. British people choose surnames of relatives, famous people and historical personalities. There are examples of such names:

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton

“Rodham” is the surname but later it became a middle name.

People in Britain have from two to four middle names:

Charles Phillip Arthur George

Ann Elisabeth Alice Loise [5]

It is usual to use short names in formal speech. For example, James Harold Wilson was one of the prime ministers of England. People knew him as Harold Wilson.

Other examples of such names are:

Eliza, Betsy, Bess – Elizabeth

Becky – Rebecca

Di – Diana

Spike – Michael

Ted – Edward

Kit – Christopher

In Great Britain a woman can get one more name after wedding. She takes her husband’s name: Mrs. John Smith, Mrs. William Brown, Mrs. Soames Forstyle. [3]

So, a British name is made up of first name, middle name and surname. There can be several middle names. A woman can take her husband’s name after wedding.

Reasons for choosing a name in Great Britain

Some names are very popular, others are rarely used. There are several reasons why people choose different names:

Influence of fashion. It is trendy to call boys Jacob, Ethan, Matthew. Popular names for girls are Emily, Emma, Olivia.

Link with a social group: people with names “Alexandra”, “Benjamin” belong to middle class.

Originality of parents: Dodo, Rere Mimi, Fafa, Soso, Lala, Sisi, Octavia

Influence of religion: Jacob, Hanna are Christian names.

Influence of famous people: Rembrandt Peale, Rubens Peale , Titian Peale. These boys from one family are called after a famous artist.

Link with birth of place: for instance, the name Yorick is connected with Western England.

In honour of relatives.

It is very important for parents to think what name to give to their children because the name has influence on a person. Some people give strange names:

Windows Vista Avalon ( in honour of computer system)

Bus № 16

Scout LaRue Tallulah Belle (in honour of horses)

Apple ( in honour of computer system)

Moon Unit (in honour of a planet)

Summer rain ( in honour of the weather) [8,1]

To sum up, a British name is made up of a first name and a middle name. There are different reasons of using a name, but most people do it in honour of relatives or famous people. Due to this fact there are unusual names.

1.3. Popular British names for boys with translation and meaning

The most popular British male names, according to the statistics, are in the following table:

It is evident that there are Christian names among the most popular British names. People get used to giving a name in honour of Biblical characters. Besides, some people pay attention also to the meaning of the name.

1.4. Popular British female names with translation and meaning.

It is interesting that British female names are not so closely connected with Christianity as male names. Parents of girls also pay attention to the meaning of names. [6,7]

In conclusion, the most popular British names for boys are: Jacob, Michael and Joshua. The most popular female names are: Emily, Emma, Madison.

Russian proper names

2.1. Peculiarities of the Russian proper names

Russian proper name is also given to a child when he or she is born. Traditionally Russian people have one proper name, for example, Антон, София.

It is common to have a name, a surname and a father’s name for people.

Метелева София Александровна

When we want to show respect to a person we use his name and father’s name:

София Александровна

Short name is used in informal speech and can’t be used in formal one:

София – Соня - Сонечка – Софа

So, Russian name is made up of a name, a surname and a father’s name. short names cannot be used in formal speech. [7]

2.2. Reasons for choosing a name in Russia

There are the following reasons for choosing a name:

Russian people gave names according to the calendar. These names were included in the calendar: Дарья, Игорь, Валентин, Людмила. Now 95 % of all names are calendar.

Tradition. It is common to give such names as Александр, Максим, Иван, София, Виктория, Полина.

Personal interest.

Relatives

Unusual names.

Илина was born on board of a plane.

Февралин, Мартий, Дмитрий – Аметист, Архип – Урал, Люцифер, БОЧ рВФ 260602(Биологический Объект Человек рода Ворониных-Фроловых, родившийся 26.06.2002 года)

Now it is forbidden to name names, using numbers and symbols in Russia.

The most popular reasons are according to the calendar, personal interest and in honour of relatives. [7,9]

2.3. Popular Russian male names and their meaning

The most popular names are Александр, Сергей, Андрей. These are traditional male names.

2.4. Popular Russian female names and their meaning

Елена, Юлия, Татьяна are popular among girls. These names are also traditional. [7]

To sum up, Russian popular male and female names haven’t been chosen for thirty years. Such names as Александр, Алексей, Дмитрий, Сергей, Анастасия, Анна, Екатерина, Наталья, Ольга are popular nowadays too.

Similarities and Differences between British and Russian personal names

After reading books and articles about names in Great Britain and in Russia it is clear that there are similarities and differences between personal names.

Similarities of British and Russian personal names

Many names in Russia and Great Britain are connected with Christianity. Parents had to give Christian names to their children many years ago. This tradition is also popular now. That is why there are relationships between names of two cultures:

John – Иван, James – Яков, Joseph – Иосиф, George - Георгий, Thomas – Фома, Mary - Мария, Anna/Ann(e) – Анна, Elizabeth/Elizabeth – Елизавета, Catharine/Catherine/Katharine/Katherine – Екатерина. [1,7]

Differences of British and Russian personal names

There are first name, middle name and surname in Great Britain. Russian people have only one personal name.

It is possible to use short names in formal speech in Great Britain.

In Great Britain name can consist of two, three, four or even more names.

In Russia there is a patronymic name.

In Great Britain a woman can get a one more name after wedding. She takes her husband’s name: Mrs. John Smith, Mrs. William Brown, Mrs. Soames Forstyle [2,9]

In conclusion, there are more differences than similarities between Russian and British names because they are different countries and cultures.

Practical part

In our practical part we have made a survey among students of the third and the fourth forms of school number 15. We asked 130 pupils to answer six questions:

What are the most popular British male names?

What are the most popular British female names?

What are the most popular Russian names for men?

What are the most popular Russian names for women?

Does a name have influence on a person and his character?

What does your name mean?

We can make a conclusion that for pupils the most popular British names are Michael, John and Tom. There are these names in English textbooks, that is why students know them. However, the name “Michael” is also in the list of popular British male names. Maybe, students learnt this name from cartoons and films.

Helen, Ann and Mary are the most popular British women’s names for students. The name “Helen” is also in the English textbook. “Ann” and “Mary” are often used in English lessons. There aren’t these names in the list of the most popular British female names.

Саша, Дима, Максим are popular names for boys in Russia. The first two names are in the list, too.

Маша, Настя, Даша are popular among students. Only the name « Настя» is in the list of Russian popular names.

Probably, students wrote popular names in the form or friend’s names.

43 students, it is 56 %, think that a name has influence on the person.

15 students, it is 15 %, know the meaning of their name.

To sum up, almost all students think that a name has influence on the person.

Only 15 % know the meaning of their name.

Conclusion

A name is given to a person when he or she is born. A name has influence on him or her.

A British name consists of first name, middle name and surname. There can be several middle names. A woman can take her husband’s name after wedding.

A Russian name is made up of a name, a surname and a father’s name. We cannot use short names in formal speech. There is a patronymic name in Russia.

There are some reasons for choosing a name in Great Britain and Russia. Giving a name in honour of relatives, giving traditional names and fashion on certain names are the most popular reasons. Russian and British parents sometimes give strange names to their children when they want to be them unusual. However most of children change their strange names when they are grown - ups.

In conclusion, the most popular British names for boys are: Jacob, Michael and Joshua. The most popular female names are: Emily, Emma, Madison. Children named only “Michael” among popular names. The most popular female names don’t coincide statistics.

Александр, Сергей, Андрей are in the Russian statistics of popular names. Children were right about the name Александр.

Елена, Юлия, Татьяна are popular among girls. These names weren’t in the list of pupil’s popular names.

Almost all students think that a name has influence on the person.

Only 15 % know the meaning of their name.

The aim of the work is achieved. We learnt what names are popular in Russia and Great Britain.

The hypothesis is proved. Russian children know British names from the Internet, books, lessons. The most popular Russian names are connected with the names of the classmates.

The work is very valuable for me because I learnt many British names and their meanings. Also I learnt that Russian names are traditional in most cases.

List of the literature

Английские имена. Генератор английских имен и фамилий.[Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http:// London-life.ru

Английские имена. 30 самых популярных мужских и женских английских имен. [Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http://weekenglish.ru/english-names

Леонович О.А. В мире английских имен: учебное пособие по лексикологии. – М.: астрель, 2002. – 160с. .[Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http://toefl.su

Личное имя.[Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http://ru.wikipedia.org

Популярные английские имена и фамилии и как они устроены.[Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http://langformula.ru

Рыбакин А.И. Словарь английских личных имен. – М.: русский язык, 1989. – 224с.[Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http://bwbooks.net

Самые популярные мужские и женские английские имена. Список английских имен. [Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http://www.homeenglish.ru

Список английских женских имен по алфавиту и их значение на русском с переводом.[Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа//http://eng911.ru

Суперанская А.В. О русских именах. – Л.: Лениздат, 1991. – 220с. [Электронный ресурс] – Режим доступа// http://bookfi.net