When considering given names (the one or more names given to an individual
in addition to the family name) the following three types of culture can
be distinguished:
- traditional cultures in which a name is given to a human being or
person regardless of sex. In these cultures given names are
gender-transcending or 'epicene'. In certain African naming systems, for
instance, a child's name may be based on the circumstances of birth.
Thus, whether a girl or a boy, a child born on a particular day of the
week may be named after that day
- traditional cultures in which a name is given to a human being which
is feminine or masculine. Occasionally the given name may be accepted for
both males and females. Such a name is a unisex name. In countries which
are totalitarian in this respect
the given name must by law be exclusively feminine or
exclusively masculine.
In extreme cases a child is given three, four or even more exclusively
masculine or exclusively feminine names
- a
neutral-inclusive culture in which
a person is always given an epicene name and in which a male human being
may be given a masculine, a female human being a feminine name as well.
This means that an individual will always have an epicene name as a
person, but that such an individual may also have a gender-specific name
to be used in an erotic or sexual context or in the context of
procreation.
English belongs to the type of culture in which given names are either
feminine or masculine as a rule. In the English Late Middle Ages and
Renaissance, however, it was not uncommon for names to be used for people
regardless of sex. (Thus, Basil, Jacob and Nicolas,
for instance, were popular for both men and women.) The few English unisex
names of today are often short forms for longer gender-specific names.
(Examples are: Gene, Gerry, Pat, Ronnie and
Terry.) As a result of this sexualist naming the present language
has 'enough' names for males and 'enough' names for females to choose from,
but by far not as many epicene names for persons. Unfortunately, this also
holds for the current majority of other traditional cultures all over the
world. It should therefore be worth our while to have a closer look at
names used in very different kinds of languages, cultures and countries
which are suitable for persons regardless of gender or sex.
Such names can be used then in a new variant of the present language, while
the old names for men and women may be used in addition to them, may be
used as names of persons at a later stage or may be abandoned
altogether.
It is not possible to discuss all naming conventions here, but we should at
least consider the Chinese system, because the Chinese language is the most
widely spoken language of those which do not belong to the same family of
languages as English and, for example, Icelandic, French, Spanish,
Portuguese, Russian and Hindi.
Incidentally, the Chinese language also differs from a language like
English in that the family name always precedes the one or two given names.
(In an international, interethnic context we should, therefore, not use
terms such as last name for the family name and first name
for a given name.)
The Chinese convention entirely satisfies the general rule that
larger (a set) comes before smaller (one of its subsets),
just like in the standard order of year, month and day numbers.
A Chinese family name usually consists of one, the given name of two
syllables in speaking and characters in writing.
One of these two characters/syllables may be a generation name borne in
common by all
sibs or even cousins of one
family.
Again, such a generation name will come between the family name
and the individual given name.
(Some may reserve the term given name for the individual
character/syllable which constitutes the part of the name which neither
refers to the family nor to the generation within the family.)
For the one or two constituents of a Chinese given name almost any syllable
of the more than four hundred syllables and almost any character of the
thousands of characters can be used.
The number of possible given names (inclusive of generation names) is
therefore practically unlimited.
Traditionally, however, individual names are often genderized in practice,
because the quality a character represents (such as flowers or being
beautiful) is considered feminine and reserved for females or the quality
it represents (such as strength or being martial) is considered masculine
and reserved for males.
Sometimes a Chinese syllable and character are repeated, especially --to stress sexual asymmetry--
in names of women.
Lili is such an example of a traditionally feminine name.
This resembles the English usage of running especially or exclusively
girls' names together, as in Billie-Jo, Ann-Marie and,
without a hyphen, Maryann(e).
There is, of course, no inherent reason why a Chinese double-syllable name
or an English name formed from two simpler names would not be suitable for
men, let alone persons.
As a matter of fact, Yoyo is an existing masculine name in Chinese,
while in French hyphenated names have always been given to both girls and
boys.
The qualities associated in the traditional Chinese naming system with
girls and women will be little different from those considered feminine in
many non-Chinese systems; and the same applies to the so-called 'masculine'
qualities of boys and men. Sometimes these associations may be based on
real differences between averages for men as a group and for women as a
group; other times they may be based on nothing or, even worse, stereotypes
in which the one sex is believed to be inferior to the other, at least with
regard to the quality in question. Nonetheless, in many other
naming systems beauty is frequently assigned to boys and men too, as in the
Gaelic Kevin (or Kenneth), the Arabic Jamil, the
Indian Lalitmohan and the Rwanda Nyillingondo, which are all
masculine names meaning beautiful, attractive or
handsome. At the same time a girl or woman may be called "Abhaya",
an Indian name meaning fearless, or "Jasira", an Arabic and Swahili
name meaning bold or courageous.
For girls and women there are also the Gaelic name Bridget (or
Brigid) and the Swahili name Etana meaning nothing less than
strong (one).
In a neutral-inclusive naming system we must obviously dissociate ourselves
from sexual stereotypes and differences between averages which are
irrelevant or emphasized for sexist reasons, and therefore many given names
with such associations will not be suitable for an exclusive use as
masculine or as feminine names. In the end, the only acceptable traditional
names of men are names for which being a boy or man or having a necessarily
male property are part of their meanings. Examples of such acceptable
essentially male names are:
Traditional Names for Males
|
| ANDREW |
English: from the Greek for manly |
| ASHKII |
Navaho: boy |
| FERRY or FARRY |
Irish: from fear meaning man |
| FITZ |
Norman-French: from filz (now fils)
meaning son |
| HASTIIN |
Navaho: man |
| KIBWANA |
Swahili: young gentleman
(pron. |KEEbwahnah|) |
| MANFRED |
English: from the Germanic for peace among
men |
| ULEDI |
Swahili: young man
(pron. |OOledee|) |
|
Similarly, the only acceptable traditional names of women are in the first
place names for which being a girl or woman or having a necessarily female
property are part of their meanings. Moreover, the feminine form should be
a form in its own right and not be a mere appendage to the male one
(created, for example, by adding a diminutive or other such affix to it).
Examples of essentially female names, which are as far as known acceptable,
are:
Traditional Names for Females
|
| ASDZA |
Navaho: woman |
| COLLEEN |
English: from the Irish Gaelic for girl |
| FAMKE or FEM(KE) |
Dutch: (little) woman or
girl (pron. |FAHMka|/|FEM(ka)|) |
| FRAUK(JE) or VROUKJE |
Frisian: from German frouwa meaning lady (pron. |FRAUkja|) |
| KIKE |
Swahili: feminine, femininity
(pron. |kee-KE|) |
| KISHORI |
Indian: young girl |
| MWANA |
Swahili: lady (pron.
|MWAHnah|) |
| NIU |
Chinese: little girl (pron. as one-syllable
|NEE-U| with high level tone) |
| UMAYMA |
Arabic: little mother |
| VANIDA |
Thai: of Indian origin meaning girl |
| WUTI |
Hopi: woman |
|
Ultimately all names of men which do not represent manhood or boyhood in
themselves and all names of women which do not represent womanhood or
girlhood in themselves will be suitable for use as epicene names for
persons. But in a time of transition or in an area where the
neutral-inclusive culture and a sexist or sexually irrelevantist culture
exist side by side the gender-transcending use of names which are
traditionally feminine or masculine exclusively may not always be
practical. Therefore this possibility will not yet be considered in the
present document. For traditional gender-transcending names we will
confine ourselves here to those given names which are neither exclusively
masculine nor exclusively feminine in one particular language. (Some names
are masculine in one language and feminine in another, but as we are
looking for personal names which can be used all over the world as personal
names, they will not be listed here either.)
Note that an epicene or unisex name in the spoken language need not be an
epicene or unisex name in the written language, and vice versa.
Thus, the name |FRAEN(T)sas| is gender-transcending in spoken English, but
not in written English, where it is spelled "Francis" as a man's name and
"Frances" as a woman's name.
In Chinese this difference
between the spoken and written language is very common when characters are
used, as a syllable can be represented by different characters dependent on
the meaning attached to it. The name Li with a falling tone, for
instance, is written in traditional usage with the character for
strong when given to a boy, whereas the same name is written with
the character for beautiful when given to a girl.
However, Pinyin is a standard written language in itself, and spelled in
Pinyin Li remains a unisex name.
The following table contains an (incomplete) list of gender-neutral and
-transcending traditional given names whose origins are not
(known to be) necessarily
supernaturalistic or
theodemonistic.
They are epicene or unisex names for persons which are also
gender-transcending in the original language or which happen to be both a
male and a female name in that language.
A Chinese syllable in this list is usually the first or second part of a
two-syllable name and may be a suggested, rather than a traditionally
frequently used, syllable.
Sometimes a name may not be suitable for yourself or for your child,
because of its (original) meaning.
Such a name is listed nevertheless, as it may fit another real person or a
fictional character in literature.
Traditional Names for Persons
|
| AKASMA |
Turkish: white climbing rose |
| AKILI |
Swahili: intelligent
(pron. |ah-KEElee|) |
| ALVA |
English: masculine from Hebrew and feminine from
Spanish for white, from Latin |
| AMRIT |
Indian: immortal, from Sanskrit a
meaning not and mrta meaning dead |
| AMULYA |
Indian: priceless |
| ĀN |
Chinese: peaceful, quiet, still,
pacify, rest, calm, tranquil
(one-syll. given name, pron. |AHN| with high level tone; also
family name) |
| ANBAR |
Arabic: as a feminine name it means perfume,
ambergris | |
| ANWA(A)R |
Arabic: multiple light, luster |
| AYO |
Yoruba: happiness, (great) joy
(pron. |AHjo[h]|) |
| AYODELE |
Yoruba: joy come home / enters the house
(pron. |ah-JO[H]dele|) |
| AZHAR |
Arabic: as a masculine name it means shining,
bright; as a feminine name flower, blossom |
| BALA |
Indian: young |
| BĀO |
Chinese: cover, wrap, hold,
include, embrace, bundle, take charge of,
package, wrapper, container
(bāokuò means to include) |
| BILLIE |
English: diminutive of William, from Germanic
for desired helmet |
| BO |
English: from French beau meaning
beautiful, from Latin |
| CARMEN |
Spanish: song, from Latin |
| CHANDA |
Indian: bright, fierce |
| CHANDANA |
Indian: variant and feminine form of Chandan,
from Sanskrit candana meaning sandalwood |
| CHÀNG |
Chinese: free (from worry), unimpeded,
uninhibited
(pron. |TSHAHNG| with falling tone) |
| CHAPA |
Sioux: beaver |
| CHARLIE |
English: from Germanic for man of the common
people |
| CLAUDE |
French: from Latin masculine Claudius and
feminine Claudia meaning crippled, lame,
limping (pron. |KLOHD|) |
| COBY |
Dutch: short for both the masculine Jacobus
and the feminine Jacoba, from Latin for supplanter |
| CŌNG |
Chinese: intelligent, clever
(one-syll. name, pron. |TSONG| with high level
tone) |
| DADA |
Yoruba: child with curly hair,
(pron. |DAHdah|) |
| DALE |
English: masculine from a family name and feminine meaning
valley |
| DANA |
English: from a family name |
| DÀO |
Chinese: direction, way, road,
path, method, principle, truth,
reason, skill, say, speak, talk |
| DAYA |
Indian: grace, kindness, pity,
mercy |
| FADHILI |
Swahili: kindness, goodwill,
virtuous (pron. |FAHdeelee|) |
| FATIN |
Arabic: as a masculine name it means clever; as
a feminine name captivating, enchanting, charming |
| FǓ |
Chinese: comfort, console, touch
gently with hand, to stroke, to caress,
pacify (pron. with third-tone |U|) |
| FURAHA |
Swahili: happiness
(pron. |FOOrahhah|) |
| GENE |
English: short for both the masculine Eugene
and the feminine Eugenia, from Greek for wellborn |
| GERRY |
English: short for both the masculine Gerald
and the feminine Geraldine, from Germanic for spear
dominion |
| GUĀN |
Chinese: concern, involve, close,
shut, turn off, mountain pass
(one of the meanings of guānxi is relevance) |
| GULZAR |
Parsi: rose garden |
| HǍO |
Chinese: good, well
(pron. |GHAU| with dipping tone and |GH| as in Scottish
loch or German ich, but closer to |H|) |
| HARSHA |
Indian: delight, joy, happiness |
| HELKI |
Miwok: to touch |
| HIKMAT |
Arabic: from hikma meaning wisdom |
| HILARY |
English: from the Roman name Hilarius, from
Latin hilaris meaning cheerful |
| HONOVI |
Hopi: strong (deer) |
| HUĀN |
Chinese: joyous, happy,
pleased (one-syll. name, pron. |GHWAHN| with high level
tone and |GH| as in Scottish loch or German ich, but
closer to |H|) |
| HUÌ |
Chinese: intelligent, smart, wise,
bright
(pron. |GHWEI| with falling tone and |GH| as in Scottish
loch or German ich, but closer to |H|) |
| HURIT |
Algonquin: beautiful, handsome
(masculine form spelled with double t, but this
Romanization is not reliable) |
| IHAB |
Arabic: gift |
| IHSAN |
Arabic: beneficence, charity |
| INNES |
Gaelic: Aonghus (Angus), from aon,
meaning one/choice; also a family name from a Gaelic word for
island |
| ISHA |
Indian: protector, from Sanskrit |
| ISRA |
Turkish: freedom |
| ITUHA |
Native-American: sturdy oak |
| IZUMI |
Japanese: fountain, spring
(pron. |EEZOOMEE| without stress difference, or |EEzoomee|
with stress difference) |
| JAHA |
Swahili: dignity, dignified
(pron. |DZHAHhah|) |
| JAMA(A)L |
Arabic: beauty |
| JÍ |
Chinese: friendly, harmonious
(pron. |DZJEE| with rising tone) |
| JĪN |
Chinese: (1) gold, metal, money;
(2) ferry (one-syll. name, pron. |DZJEEN| with high
level tone) |
| JINAN |
Arabic: garden, paradise |
| JO |
Dutch: short for both the masculine Jozef and
the feminine Josefine, from Hebrew for he shall add
(pron. |JOH|) |
| KALAMA |
Hawaiian: (the) torch |
| KAMAL |
Indian: lotus flower |
| KANAN |
Indian: forest |
| KARAMA |
Swahili: generosity, respect,
esteem (pron. |KAHrahmah|) |
| KELLY |
English: derived from place-names in Great Britain and
Ireland and from an Irish family name |
| KHURSHID |
Parsi: sun |
| KIELE |
Hawaiian: gardenia |
| KIRAN |
Indian: ray of light |
| KIRTI |
Indian: fame |
| KONA |
Hawaiian: South |
| KONANE |
Hawaiian: bright |
| KWESIDA |
Akan-Twi: born on Sunday
(pron. with stress on 2nd syll.) |
| LANI |
Hawaiian: heaven, sky |
| LEBOHANG |
Sesotho: give thanks |
| LESLIE |
English: from a family name (also spelled "Lesley",
but then usually considered feminine only) |
| LÌ |
Chinese: (1) power, force,
strength; (2) beautiful (one-syll. name) |
| LIEVE |
Dutch: dear friend, from Lieven,
variant of Lievin, from Germanic Liafwin
(pron. |LEEfa|) |
| MAARIFA |
Swahili: knowledge, skill(ed)
(pron. |MAHreefah|) |
| MADHU |
Indian: honey, nectar |
| MAKANI |
Hawaiian: (the) wind |
| MAMO |
Hawaiian: yellow bird |
| MARIJN |
Dutch: short for both the masculine Marinus
and the feminine Marina, from Latin for of the sea
(pron. |mah-RAIN|) |
| MARION |
English: masculine from a family name and feminine
diminutive of Mary, from Greek, from Hebrew |
| MEREDITH |
Welsh: battle ruler |
| MERLE |
French: blackbird |
| MGENI |
Swahili: visitor
(pron. |m-GEnee|) |
| MIKA |
Sioux: (intelligent) racoon |
| MILILANI |
Hawaiian: heavenly caress |
| MÍNG |
Chinese: clear, bright (one-syll.
name, pron. |MEENG| with rising tone) |
| MODUPE |
Yoruba: thank you, i am grateful
(pron. |mo[h]-DOOpe|) |
| MONTSHO |
Tswana: black
(pron. |MO[H]N-sho[h]|) |
| MOSWEN |
Tswana: white, light color
(pron. |MO[H]swen|) |
| MPHO |
Sesotho: gift |
| NÀI |
Chinese: endure, bear, resist,
patient |
| NEELAM |
Indian: sapphire, from Sanskrit |
| NÍNG |
Chinese: peace(ful), rest,
serenity (one-syll. name, pron. |NEENG| with rising
tone) |
| NǓ |
Chinese: exert, strive, make
effort (pron. with third-tone |U|) |
| NUKPANA |
Hopi: evil |
| NUR |
Arabic: light, from nawara meaning
illuminate |
| ODE |
Benin: (one) born along the road
(pron. |o[h]-DE|) |
| OLUBAYO |
Yoruba: greatest joy
(pron. |o[h]loo-BAHjo[h]|) |
| PADMA |
Indian: lotus, from Sanskrit |
| PAT |
English: short for both the masculine Patrick
and the feminine Patricia, from Latin for patrician |
| PÍNG |
Chinese: (1) flat, level, equal,
tie, draw, calm, peace(ful);
(2) duckweed (one-syll. name, pron. |PEENG| with rising
tone) |
| QUÁN |
Chinese: complete(ly), fully,
wholly, entire (pron. |TSJWEN| with rising
tone; also family name) |
| QUANAH |
Comanche: fragrant |
| RÉN |
Chinese: human being, person,
people (pron. |ZHAN| with rising tone) |
| RETHABILE |
Sesotho: we are happy |
| ROBIN |
English: masculine diminutive of Robert, from
Germanic Ruprecht meaning bright in fame, and feminine
meaning robin (also spelled "Robyn", but then feminine
only) |
| RONNIE |
English: short for both the masculine Ronald,
variant of Germanic Reginald meaning wise dominion, and
the feminine Veronica, from Latin |
| ROSHAN |
Parsi: light |
| RUJUL |
Indian: simple, honest, soft
spoken |
| SALAAM |
Swahili: peace, tranquillity
(pron. |SAHlahm|) |
| SCHUYLER, SKYLER |
English, from a Dutch family name: hider, one who seeks
protection
(pron. |SKAIlar|) |
| SEVILEN |
Turkish: loved |
| SHARON |
Hebrew: plain |
| SHUǍNG |
Chinese: invigorating, straightforward,
frank, open(hearted),
bright, clear (pron. with third-tone |AH|) |
| SONDAHA |
Ovambo: (born on) Sunday
(pron. with stress on 2nd syll.) |
| SUMATI |
Indian: wise, from Sanskrit su meaning
good and mati meaning advice |
| TAIMA |
Native-American: thunder |
| TAIWO |
Yoruba: first born of twins
(pron. |TAH-eewo[h]|) |
| TALE |
Tswana: green
(pron. |TAHle|) |
| TERRY |
English: short for both the masculine Terrence,
from a Roman family name, and the feminine Theresa, from
Spanish and Portuguese Teresa (of uncertain meaning) |
| TUMAINI |
Swahili: hope
(pron. |too-MAH-eenee|) |
| TUMELO |
Sesotho: faith |
| VIVIAN |
English: from Latin meaning alive,
lively |
| WÀNG |
Chinese: hope, expect, visit,
(look) towards (pron. |WAHNG| with falling tone) |
| WÉN |
Chinese: language, culture,
writing, formal, literary
(pron. |WAN| with rising tone) |
| WĚN |
Chinese: stable, firm, solid,
steady, settled
(pron. |WAN| with dipping tone) |
| XIǍO |
Chinese: dawn, daybreak, know,
tell
(pron. |SJAU| with dipping tone) |
| XUÉ |
Chinese: scholar, science, learn,
study, studious (one-syll. name, pron. |SJWE|
with rising tone) |
| YǍ |
Chinese: (1) elegant; (2) dumb,
mute (pron. with third-tone |AH|) |
| YÍ |
Chinese: cheerful, happy,
pleased, harmony |
| YĪN |
Chinese: peaceful, solemn
(pron. |EEN| with high level tone) |
| YĪNG |
Chinese: brave, heroic (pron.
|EENG| with high level tone; also family name) |
| YŌNG |
Chinese: harmonious (pron.
|JONG| with high level tone; also family name) |
| YORDAN |
Hebrew: flowing down, descend |
| ZÉ |
Chinese: standard, norm,
principle, rule, imitate, follow,
then (pron. |DZA| with rising tone) |
| ZHĒN |
Chinese: true, real,
genuine (pron. |DZHAN| with high level tone) |
| ZHÈNG |
Chinese: just, (up)right,
straight, main, correct principle
(gōngzhèng means just,
fair(-minded), impartial, equitable)
(pron. |DZHANG| with falling tone) |
| ZHÌ |
Chinese: (1) wisdom, knowledge; (2)
will, intention, emotions
(pron. |DZHX| in which X stands for a buzzed continuation of
the consonant, with falling tone) |
| ZHŌNG |
Chinese: (with)in, among, middle,
center, while, during
(zhōngxìng means neutral)
(pron. |DZHONG| with high level tone) |
| ZURI |
Swahili: good-looking, beautiful,
gorgeous (pron. |ZOOree|) |
|
If the pronunciation of a non-English name or Pinyin syllable is very
different from what one might expect in English, it is indicated how the
name or syllable sounds approximately with the phonemic transcription
system used in
the Vocabulary of Alliteration.
(Sometimes the pronunciation of only the vowel is given because not all
browsers know how to render the third-tone A, that is, Ǎ, and the
third-tone U, that is, Ǔ.)
When it is not known whether the correct vowel is |O| or |OH|, this sound
is provisionally transcribed as |O[H]| (and similarly for
|o[h]|).
Keep in mind that B, D and G in the Pinyin transcription sound (almost)
like unaspirated P, T and K, while P, T and K in Pinyin sound like ejective P',
T' and K', that is, like consonants formed at the same time as glottal
stops. Pinyin C, CH and Q share this property with P, T and K.
There are languages in which the naming system is not gender-transcending
at all, but in which it may be gender-neutral in that males and females
have their own, independent affix (as far as known, a suffix). The
affix is added, then, to a common stem of the name. A clear example is the
Italian language, where masculine names always end in o and feminine
names in a. Thus, Silvi followed by o is a man's name;
followed by a it is a woman's name. The same applies to the stem
Alessandr. Many Greek names, too, have such a masculine and a
feminine version,
altho the suffix for
males is os in the Greek language: Konstantin followed by
os is a man's name, followed by a it is a woman's name.
Similarly, Georgios and Alexandros are names for men and
Georgia and Alexandra names for women.
In the Chinese language, with its enormous freedom to form
given names, the same effect can be reached by using either nan or
nü as one of the two syllables to choose from. (Nan means
male. It is pronounced |NAHN| with rising tone. Nü means
female. It is pronounced |NV| with dipping tone and |V| like short
German ü.)
When looking at the genderization of names from a language-independent
point of view, a choice such as a suffix a for females and a suffix
o for males is not suitable for universal adoption. Regardless of
language vowels belong to a series with the vowel a (|A|) (almost)
in the middle, the front vowels i (|EE|) and e (|E|) to the
left of it and the back vowels o (|O|) and u (|U|) to the
right of it. (Of course, the actual pronunciation of these vowels may vary
considerably but not their place to the left or to the right of the |A| as
in but.)
Should sexes and vowels be treated as opposites, then the male sex and |O|
or |OH| are opposed to the female sex and |E| or |EI|, not |A| or |AH|. The
a is a (near-)central vowel which lends itself very well for
association with personhood rather than womanhood or manhood. Strictly
logically speaking, male and female belong to contingent
categories and are not opposites by any manner of means. Yet, since there
are only two sexes on Earth, there is little against associating names for
the one sex with front vowels and names for the other with back vowels on
this planet.
Ami or Amy could very well be a woman's name (which it is in
English, if pronounced as |EImee| or |EImi|), Amu or Amoo
(|EImu| or |EImoo|) a man's name and Ama(h) (|EIma| or
|EImah|) a person's name. A person could be named "Ama" and also use the
name Ama, except in an erotic or sexual context, where
'he' (the third-male pronoun) might call himself "Amu", if a male, or where
'she' (the third-female pronoun) might call herself "Ami", if a female.
(Especially in erotic contexts it will be nice to remember that the stem
Am derives from the Latin for beloved.)
Stems of names like Am in English, Silvi in Italian and
Georgi in Greek still have noncentral vowels, unlike the stem and
name
Ananda, which has
nothing but central or near-central vowels: |a-NA(H)Nda|.
In
neutral-inclusivism this name has a great
symbolic significance and is the name of a person regardless of gender
or sex.
(To refer to
'im a third-person
singular pronoun must be used.)
There is no objection against deriving both genderized and other
nongenderized variants from it.
This can be done by treating the consonants as
constituting a fixed frame, while varying the vowels. Nongenderized
variants must have two noncentral vowels then in such a way that they
counterbalance each other. The following scheme shows how:
| .. | NAND | .. |
|
U
O
A
E
I |
|
I
E
A
O
U |
This yields four new personal names in addition to Ananda:
Unandi, Onande, Enando and Inandu.
In languages which distinguish stressed from unstressed syllables, the
stress in these names must be either on the second syllable or on both
the first and the third syllables.
Exclusively feminine and exclusively masculine names (but not necessarily
in this order) can be formed on the basis of
the following two schemes:
| .. | NIND/
NEND/
NAND | .. |
|
I/E
I/E |
|
I
E |
|
|
| .. | NAND/
NOND/
NUND | .. |
|
O/U
O/U |
|
O
U |
|
On this construction examples of genderized variants of Ananda are:
Inindi, Enende, Inande, Onandu, Onondo
and Unundu.
If stress is used in these names, it may be on any syllable.
The use of the distinction between front and back vowels to distinguish
feminine from masculine words or names can also be found in a natural
language like Manchu, where eme means mother and ama
means father.
But note that it depends on the language, and that it may even depend on
the morpheme (its spelling or transcription), whether 'a' is
a (noncentral) back vowel or a (near-)central vowel as in the
English word father, which is close to the pronunciation of the
o (the neutral caret) in mother.
For those who want to there should be no problem whatsoever to find a
personal name for themselves or for their child or children. Even if they
confine their choice to traditional given names, the long list supplied
in this document proves that there are enough epicene or unisex
names to choose from. When they are also willing to consider the above and,
perhaps, other universal schemes with which new personal names can be
formed, whether or not in addition to masculine and feminine ones, the
number of names to choose from becomes practically unlimited. This takes
away the last reason anyone might still have had for not giving a
person or person-to-be a personal name.
INTERACTIVE CROSSWORDS USING PERSONAL NAMES
ONLY
WEBSITES AND INTERNET PAGES
CONSULTED
- 20,000+ Names from Around the World:
http://www.20000-names.com
- Baby Name Guide: http://www.babynameguide.com
- Babynology: http://www.babynology.com
- Behind the Name, the Etymology and History of First Names:
http://www.behindthename.com
- Chinese Syllable Chart:
http://www.elgin.free-online.co.uk/chin_chart.htm
- Ethnic African, Afrocentric and African American Names:
http://www.namesite.com
- The History of Anglo-Saxon Names by Percival de la Rocque:
http://www.ealdormere.sca.org/vestyorvik/names.html
- On-line Chinese Tools: http://www.mandarintools.com
- What's in a Name -- The varying use of first and
family names in different countries and cultures:
http://www.rogerdarlington.co.uk/useofnames.html
- Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia:
Chinese name: http://wikipedia.startplane.com/Chinese_name
Given name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name
Manchu language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu_language
Unisex name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgynous_name
|
