What’s behind a name

November 10th, 2007

behindthename.com

Names. Everyone has one, most people have a vague idea what their own means, but few give them much more thought. The study of names is called onomastics, a field which touches on linguistics, history, anthropology, pyschology, sociology, philology and much more.

When people refer to the “meaning of a name”, they are most likely referring to the etymology, which is the original literal meaning. This website looks at the etymology and history or all types of given names.