What's in a Name?

recognize the component of names; distinguish between full and short forms of given

names; know the origin of Chinese and English names; associate certain personal names with their national

background; apply English names, titles and kin terms in an

appropriate way; display familiarity with the names of a number of

different nationalities

Give students some name list in English and ask them to identify whether they are family names, female or male names and fill in the following table

  

Family names Male names Female names

STEP 2STEP 2

Naming NamesNaming Names

Compare the components of a Chinese name and an English name.

Chinese names English names

Components

Examples

Read the passage on “Naming names” and answer the questions that follow to the whether you have understood the main points.

Questions and ansers: 1. How many names do most English people have? 2. Do the terms last name, surname and family name

refer to the same name of a person ? What does each term show?

3. Do the terms first names, given names and Christian names refer to the same names?

4. Why do parents have to be careful about the names for their children?

5 Which given name is usually used by English people?

6. Why do some people use their middle name? 7. What form of name is commonly used among

friends and colleagues?

1.According to the text on “Naming names”, what are the short forms of the following names?

ShortShort

forms forms

ShortShort

FormsForms

Short Short

FormsForms

AlexanderAlexander MichaelMichael RobertRobert

AnthonyAnthony WilliamWilliam ElizabethElizabeth

2.Complete the table according to the information given in the passage“Naming names”.

Name of given Name of given namesnames

CommonCommon TwoTwo

lessless One or severalOne or several

ShortShort

forms forms

ShortShort

FormsForms

Short Short

FormsForms

AlexanderAlexander AlecAlec MichaelMichael MikeMike RobertRobert BobBob

AnthonyAnthony TonyTony WilliamWilliam BillBill ElizabethElizabeth BessBess

Look at the English names given below. Tick the combination of names you think parents should avoid giving their children.

1. Nichola Ann Green 2. William Patrick Wills 3. Fiona Alice Tanner 4. John Peter Hill 5. Michael Adam Davies 6. Holly Rowan Hillman 7. Peter Ewan Steven Thompson 8. Graham Adam Yiend 9. Alan Richard James

Roots Several hundred years ago in England there were only

first names. Surnames were gradually introduced as a way of distinguishing between people who had he. same given name. They were drawn from a number of sources. Some indicated where the person came from, e.g., Norman, Moor, Hall, Chesterfield and Wood?' Others came from occupations, such as Cook, Forester, Chandler Taylor, Clark, Smith, Turner, Butler, Thatcher, and Cooper. Surnames were also, corned from first names to indicate family relationships, as with Robertson for the son of Robert. In Scotland instead of adding '-son'. to the end Mac-' or 'Mc- was placed at the beginning with the same meaning, e.g., Donald’s son became Donaldson in England, but MacDonald in Scotland. The Irish version of this device was to add-' before the name, so that .the son of Patrick became known as O'Patrick. Other ways in which family relationships came to be woven into family names can be seen in Watkins (the kin of Watt) and Thomas (Tom's). Finally many surnames had their- origin in nicknames expressing some personal characteristics such as Long, Little, Moody, Fox, Brown, Young, Rich, and Newman (a newcomer to the area).

Sources of NamesSources of Names NamesNames

place identityplace identity 11

22 33

Family relationship Family relationship identityidentity

44

ethnic identity ethnic identity (showing family (showing family relationship)relationship)

5. English names:5. English names:

6. Scottish names:6. Scottish names:

7. Irish names:7. Irish names:

88 99

Having done Task 1, you will have already got some idea about the various origins of English names. Here are some more names for you to try to identify the origin.

Make a guess and put the names in the category you think they belong to according to the origin. Don't worry about their meanings yet; we'll come to that in the next task.

Hill Carter Wisdom Hopwood Fowler Mason Archer Greenfield Chamberlain Sharpe Barber Glover Cohen Broadspan Farmer Cooper Freeman Short Baker Fisher

Ethnic Ethnic GroupsGroups

EnglishEnglish ScottishScottish IrishIrish

part of name part of name showingshowing

relationship relationship betweenbetween

father and father and sonson

Ethnic Groups Ethnic Groups English English Scottish Scottish Irish Irish

part of name part of name showingshowing

relationship relationship betweenbetween

father and son father and son

-son/-s -son/-s Mao-/ Mc- Mao-/ Mc- O'- O'-

names names JohnsonJohnson

WilliamsWilliams

RichardsRichards

Edwards Edwards

MacEwen MacEwen McAdam McAdam

O'Neil O'Neil O'Brien O'Brien

names names

Surnames 1. Cook 2. Forester 3. Chandler 4. Taylor 5. Clark 6. Smith 7. Turner 8. Butler 9. Thatcher 10. Cooper 11. Carter 12. Fowler 13. Mason 14. Archer 15. Chamberlain 16. Barber 17. Glover 18. Farmer 19. Baker 20. Fisher

Descriptions of Occupations

同志 (comrade) usually between any usually between any unknown

male or female adults still widely used diminishing in the recent year

师傅 (master) traditionally a title for a skilled worker, now often still

quite commonly used to any unknown ordinary person of both sexes, usually middle-aged or older persons, especially those who provide services

Still quite commonly used

小姐 (miss) to some young ladies, married or not,

especially those who work in service business, such as a popular waitress, shop assistant, air hostess, etc.

Becoming more and more popular

先生 (mister/sir) a respectful term of address to known or

unknown learned persons, usually males common in written Chinese , increasingly

heard

老师 (teacher)

a respectful term of address to a learned or commonly used professional person, who is not necessarily a teacher, used to either male or female, if to a known person, often used with the surname

commonly used

How good are you at identifying the names of different countries and their people? See how well you can complete the following table.

Task1. Read the text on P116 about the “Kin Terms” and try to finish the exercises on P117 as follows

What is the easy way for son-in-laws to address their mother-in-law and father-in-law when they themselves have children?

Do all children follow the traditional way of addressing their uncles and aunts? If not, how do children of some families address their uncles and aunts? Could this be applied in Chinese families? Why?

How do British children address their parents’ brothers and sisters in a traditional way? Give examples. How do Chinese children address their parents’ brothers and sisters? Give examples

Step 6. Compare difference in Male and Female names in China and abroad

赵钢 秦雅芳 韩大力 郑彩云 周为民 吴静秋 王海山 李淑贤

Male names:

Female names:

What about the differences in English male and female names? What are the characteristics that distinguish them? Are they the same as ours? The following text will give the answer. First, read the text and note the differences between English male and female names, then complete the table that follows the text.

Below are the 20 most popular first names given to children in Britain in the mid-1980s. However, they are not classified into male and female names Could you use the information you have learned so far about English names and the characteristics of their male and female names to categorize the following names into male and female groups? Have a try!

Sarah Christopher Claire Matthew Emma David

Laura James Rebecca Daniel Gemma Andrew

Rachel Steven Kelly Victoria Mark Katharine Paul Michael

Male: Female: Male: Christopher, Matthew, David, James, Daniel, Andrew, Steven,

Mark, Paul, Michael Female: Sarah, Claire, Emma, Laura, Rebecca, Gemma, Rachel, Kelly,

Victoria, Katharine.

Cases study Please analyze the case on Page 112 ： Case One: The use of names and titles can be confusing. As you know in a

Chinese name, the surname comes first while in an English name, the surname comes last. When an American meets a Chinese whose name is Liu Xin, he would call him Mr Xin.

Case Two: When an American meets a Chinese woman whose name is Cai Hong, he might make another mistake in calling her. As he know she is married, he says "Mrs. Cai". He thinks that Cai Hong's surname is her husband's surname, since he is not aware of the fact that in China women still use their own surname after marriage.

1.Case analysis:1.Case analysis: A British tourist got lost in a small town in A British tourist got lost in a small town in

China. A Chinese couple volunteered to China. A Chinese couple volunteered to offer their help . And now they are offer their help . And now they are introducing themselves. introducing themselves.

British tourist: It was so nice to meet you British tourist: It was so nice to meet you both here. I'm Susan Williams. Thank you both here. I'm Susan Williams. Thank you very much. very much.

Chinese couple: It's a pleasure. I'm Li Fang, Chinese couple: It's a pleasure. I'm Li Fang, and this is my husband. Welcome to China, and this is my husband. Welcome to China, Miss Susan.Miss Susan.Thank you. Thank you.

Chinese couple: Mrs. Li. Would both of you Chinese couple: Mrs. Li. Would both of you like a cup of coffee? like a cup of coffee? British tourist: No, thanks.British tourist: No, thanks.

2. The rest of exeercise that hasn’t been completed in the text.