Originally Posted by
Maciamo
Quiz. Do you know many countries where parents do not search for a meaningful name for their children ? Western names might be less obvious as they are no hanzi with one clear meaning, but most parents do check "babies' names books", where they explain the origin and meaning of each given name. What's interesting with Western names is that they come from different cultures and different eras (Ancient Greek, Roman, Biblical, Norse, German, Celtic...). A few examples :
- 'Sophia' means "wisdom" in Greek.
- 'Rachel' comes from Hebrew and means "Ewe," or also "innocence and gentility of a rose" and may mean "lovely".
- 'Jennifer' is a Celtic name that means "white waves".
- 'Richard' comes from the Germanic elements 'ric' (meaning power, rule, leader) and 'hard' (meaning brave, hardy, strong).
- 'John' means merciful in Hebrew.
- 'Mark' comes from Latin "Marcus", derived from "Mars", the god of war, and is said to mean "martial" or "great warrior".
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