Given names in 1538: Parish forenames · 457
Given names shows why a name survives in 1538 under “Parish forenames.” The figure beside that is 1538. Do not write a baby-name score as if it were a statute. Separate the name you register from the name you call. Is a “unique” given name unfair to the child?
The name you are given — saints, generation syllables, fashion files and the gap between a legal forename and what people actually shout. A given name is the personal slice of a naming system: the part that usually distinguishes siblings, not the inheritable family tag. It is “given” by parents, godparents, elders or a ritual — and then given again every time a teacher, clerk or algorithm decides how to say it.
This page stays with forenames: how they are chosen, counted and constrained. Surnames, nicknames and usernames have their own chapters. Is a given name always the first name? No. In much of East Asia the family name is written first. “Given” means bestowed, not left-to-right order.
Where can I see how common a given name is? SSA (U.S. from 1880), ONS (England and Wales) and Statistics Korea publish counts. Always keep the year on the citation. They can be used as signals. Bertrand and Mullainathan showed U.S. employers treating forenames as racial cues on otherwise identical résumés.
Say Given names with 1538, “Parish forenames,” and 1538. Luck-stars are not those three.1538
Figures to keep
- Year of the rule
- 1538
- Figure on the name
- 1538
- Topic
- Given names
- Line in the record
- Parish forenames
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