Names First


A very informal list of first names, with some history, trivia, comments, opinions, etc., along with the obligatory origins and meanings. Comments, suggestions, and above all, corrections, are encouraged.


Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Amber

Amber is simply the name of the gemstone amber used as a given name. Amber began to be used some in the late 19th century, when using gem names as given names was in fashion, but it wasn't as popular as some other gem names, such as Pearl and Ruby. The book Forever Amber, by Kathleen Winsor, and subsequent movie brought the name into the public consciousness, and in the 1970's and 1980's, when new parents were looking for feminine, yet less "girly" names for their daughters, Amber became hugely popular. Although currently not quite as popular as it once was in the U.S., Amber is still a top 100 name for girls, and has also become popular in other English-speaking countries. This late-starting gem name is likely to become a naming standard that will come into fashion again and again.

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Jaiden

Jaiden is an interesting name that seems to have simply been invented sometime in the 1980's or 1990's. It may ultimately derive from the Hebrew name Jadon ("thankful,") but it's more likely that it is inspired by the popularity of the name Jade, with spelling possibly inspired by the Japanese word gaiden.

Jaiden is being used in the U.S. to name both boys and girls, but seems to most often be used as a masculine name. In both cases it appeared on the U.S. top 1000 lists in 1999, and has risen steadily in popularity for both boys and girls since then.

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Joyce

According to the authoritative sources, Joyce became a name this way: First there was the Breton name Iodoc, which meant "lord." The Latinized form of that name was Jodocus. From Jodocus came the Norman name Josce and the Middle English Josse. These were all male names, apparently, as well. None of the forms survived the Middle Ages as given names, but they did survive as surnames, including Joyce.

Joyce began to gain some popularity for girls in the U.S. in the late 19th century, and became truly popular in the early decades of the 20th century. It remained in the top 100 names for girls in the U.S. from 1924 until 1966. Joyce also appeared as a name for boys during the first half of the 20th century, possibly often as a transferred use of the surname.

Joyce is currently still a top 1000 name in the U.S., and may eventually regain at least some of its former popularity, once it is no longer perceived as being outdated.

The original meaning of the name that Joyce is derived from is mostly irrelevant to the name as it is used these days, but it is worth noting that part of the popularity of the name is due to the fact that it contains the word "joy," also used as a name in its own right. For this reason, I think it's fair to consider "joy" as an implied meaning of the name Joyce when it's used as a given name.

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