Cool names and surnames in English for men. American common surnames

Established at the end of the 18th century the American nation is very heterogeneous and at the moment combines not only the descendants of immigrants from all parts of the world, but also the indigenous population - the Indians. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the surnames and names of the inhabitants of the United States, one can trace various national roots: European, African, South American, Asian. These features often make American surnames and names so interesting and exotic.

How are they formed?

Nicknames, including Native American ones, became the basis for many modern surnames. Also, quite often, surnames were formed from the names of professions (Smith, Miller, Taylor), geographical places (England, Lancaster) and objects (Bush, Rock, Moore), father's name (Johnson, Stevenson) and just names (Stuart, Williams, Henry) , as well as animals, flowers and various objects (Fish, White, Rose, Young).

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a tendency to change hard-to-pronounce national surnames: reductions, translations, transformations in order to make them look like English-speaking ones. But in recent decades, the opposite process has been observed: the desire for one's national and cultural identity, which is manifested in the rejection of the Americanization of names and surnames. This is especially true for people from African countries, Spain and Latin America. Modern American surnames and names increasingly emphasize the origin of a person.

Also a very common phenomenon is the invention of pseudonyms. Most often they are taken by creative personalities: musicians, actors, artists.

American names, male and female, are often abbreviated in everyday communication. Examples: Adam - Ed; Gilbert - Gil; Michael - Mike; Robert - Rob, Bob, Bobby, Robbie; Richard - Dick, Richie; Arnold - Arnie; Eleanor - Ellie, Nora; Elizabeth - Lizzy, Liz, Elsa, Betty, Bet; Katherine - Kathy, Kat. Young guys (and even mature men) are often referred to by their initials. For example, a man named T.J. Morris most of the acquaintances will probably call TJ.

As in English, American male and female surnames sound exactly the same. In official communication, addresses are accepted by last name with the prefixes "Mr" or "Sir" to men, and to women "Miss" or "Mrs."

Women's names

The top ten names of girls most beloved by American parents include Isabella, Sophia, Emma, ​​Olivia, Ava, Emily, Abigail, Madison, Chloe, Mia.

Women's names are often formed from the names of beautiful plants or precious stones. Examples: Rose, Daisy, Olive, Evie (Ivy), Lilly, Violet, Ruby, Beryl, Jade, etc.

Male names

According to statistics, most often American parents call boys the names Jacob, Ethan, Michael, Jayden, William, Alexander, Noah, Daniel, Aiden, Anthony.

There is a strong tradition to name in honor of the father or grandfather. In this case, the word "junior" (junior) or the serial name is added to the name: second, third, etc. For example: Anthony White Junior, Christian Bell II.

American male names are often consonant with surnames (White, Johnson, Davis, Alexander, Carter, Neil, Lewis, etc.). And all because once both of them were formed from nicknames.

Most Popular American Surnames

More than two million people in the United States have the surnames Smith and Johnson. With slightly more modest results (over a million people), the owners of the surnames Williams, Jones, Brown, Davis and Miller follow. Rounding out the top ten are Wilson, Moore and Taylor.

The most beautiful American surnames and names

Of course, they don’t argue about tastes, but you can still select a list of the most euphonious and even poetic names. Some of them were specially formed from suitable English words: Summer - "summer", Joy - "joy", May - "May", Love - "love", Hart - "heart", etc.

• Alisha.
• Bonnie.
• Vanessa.
• Gladys.
• Jade.
• Imogen.
• Cassandra.
• Lillian.
• Miriam.
• Nancy.
• Olivia.
• Pamela.
• Sabrina.
• Tess.
• Heidi.
• Angie.

• Alex.
• Brandon.
• Darren.
• Kyle.
• Mitchell.
• Nicholas.
• Peter.
• Ronald.
• Stephen.
• Walter.
• Fraser.
• Hunter.
• Charlie.
• Sheldon.
• Adrian.

There are not only beautiful American names, but also surnames.

For example:

• Beverly.
• Washington.
• Green.
• Crawford.
• Aldridge.
• Robinson.
• Stone.
• Florence.
• Wallace.
• Harris.
• Evans.

In general, names and surnames in the USA have different origins: Smith, Will - English; Miller, Brunner, Martha - German; Gonzalez, Federico, Dolores - Spanish; Magnus, Sven - Swedish; Peterson, Jensen - Danish; Patrick, Donovan, O'Brien, McGill - Irish; Mario, Ruth - Portuguese; Isabella, Antonio, de Vito - Italian; Paul, Vivien - French; Li is Chinese, etc. Combinations are not uncommon when the name is purely American, and the surname has a national flavor. Or vice versa. For example: Martha Roberts, Brandon Lee, etc.

The more you study American surnames and names, the more interesting discoveries you can make. In addition, the American nation is still being formed, so it is possible that soon new unusual and beautiful names of various origins will appear in the everyday life of the inhabitants of this country.

Hello dear readers! As I said, any methods and forms are suitable for learning a language. Today, American names and surnames have come into our field of vision. After all, from the point of view of linguistics, these are also just words. And you can replenish your vocabulary, including remembering English surnames and names. And so you will train pronunciation, and learn to listen to English. names and surnames in English It is better to start with the most popular American names. For example, on the basis of the most common or the names of popular actors and actresses. At the same time, learning these words is much easier than regular vocabulary, for several reasons:

• Easy to find in text as they are capitalized
• In oral speech, they are pronounced with a different intonation than other words.
• Don't need to translate
• Pronunciation is not so difficult, especially if these are the initials of famous personalities, then they are always heard

But sometimes the pronunciation is different from the spelling. As a rule, in such rare words, the pronunciation depends on the genesis.

Origin of American given names and surnames

American surnames (given name) and first names (name) today can have many sources of origin.

Names, for example, are most often borrowed from other languages:

• Celtic - Airic, Dylan, Ryan
• Arabic - Omar, Sarah, Jamal
• Germanic - Arnold, Ebrina, Herwin
• Aramaic - Joseph, Bethany, Simon
• Jewish - Adam, Rose, Samuel
• Greek - Andrew, Selina, Christopher
• Indian - Dilip, Alicia, Beryl
• Italian - Alonzo, Mia, Gabriel
• Slavic - Ivan, Anna, Boris
• Latin - Patrick, Veronika, Cordelia
• Turkish - Akay, Ayla, Nourhan
• Old English - Loyd, Lindsay, Jason
• Phoenician - Al, Esther, Hannibal
• Scandinavian - Eric, Helga, Sveinbjorn
• Persian - Jaspen, Roxy, Xerxes
• Spanish - Federico, Dolores, Elvis

These are the beautiful words they call children in the USA.

But the genesis of surnames depends on several other factors:

• Occupation or Profession: Cheeseman, Proper, Smith
• Personal names: Atkins, Williamson, Hughes
• Location: Green, Garden, Wood
• Nicknames: Cruikshank, Makepeace, King

You should also know that in English, unlike Russians, the first name and patronymic are always written first, and then the surname: Elvis Aaron Presley. By the way, the patronymic may either not be called at all or denoted by one letter.

The easiest way to learn the name of your favorite actresses or actors. Therefore, memorize the male and female initials of famous people.

List of popular female names

Monica Bellucci You can start with a list of the most beautiful Hollywood actresses. To date, the most beautiful and sexy girls have been recognized:

• Angelina Jolie Voight
  
• Charlize Theron
• Jessica Alba
• Megan Denise Fox
• Salma Valgarma Hayek
• Keira Christina Knightley
• Katherine Marie Heigl
• Nina Dobrev
• Monica Anna Maria Bellucci
• Penelope Cruz

Fashion names change over time. But there are those who for decades have not lost their relevance when naming girls:

• Isabella
• Emily
• Sophia
• Olivia
• Abigail
• Hannah
• Samantha
• Madison

The data is constantly changing, the first place alternately moves from one name to another, but in general the situation does not change much.

List of famous male names

Jensen Ackles Here, too, it is worth learning the list of the most attractive Hollywood actors to begin with.
Famous male names:

• Armand Douglas Hammer
• Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill
• Jensen Ross Ackles
• Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas
• John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II
• William Bradley Pitt
• Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom
• Robert Thomas Pattinson
• George Timothy Clooney
• David Patrick Boreanaz

Well, ordinary male names are less changeable. But for many years now, it has been in the first place precisely:

• Jacob
• Jason
• Michael
• Christopher
• Ethan
• Daniel
• Matthew
• Andrew
• William
• Joshua

But the world is changing and, perhaps, very soon this list will change dramatically.

List of common American surnames

You already know that English given names can come from a variety of options. Since there are a lot of migrants in the USA, the surnames are very diverse, respectively.

I have prepared a list of the 10 most common ones:

1. Smith - about 3 million people in the United States have this surname
2. Johnson - just over 2 million speakers
3. Williams - almost 2 million people
4. Brown - 1 million and 700 thousand
5. Jones - about the same
6. Davis - about 1.3 million
7. Taylor - approximately 1 million
8. Wilson - 900 thousand population
9. Robinson - a little over 800 thousand inhabitants
10. Wright - 800,000 speakers

What English surnames do you like?

You can independently make a list of your favorite actors or actresses, and memorize it. I hope that this material will be not only informative for your general development, but also useful for learning English.

All peoples have surnames and names that are characteristic of them. Each of them has its own roots, pointing to famous ancestors, character traits or occupations.

People get their names according to a certain principle. For example, on the territory of some states, cities where a woman or a man lived were taken for this purpose. Sometimes a European surname was formed by the name of the father, that is, it testified to the person's belonging to some eminent family or noble origin. The full names of Americans also have some cultural features that are becoming increasingly difficult to trace, since America is inhabited by peoples from all over the world.

Therefore, many American surnames are descended from European, Latin, Greek or Italian. Over time, their sound changed, the second names were subject to adjustments. Many of them have a direct meaning, for example, Smith means "blacksmith" in translation. Others are simply very sonorous, while others were formed from nicknames. In fact, the origin of any middle name, even Canadian, even English, even African American, can be attributed to one of the following groups:

• indicating a profession or type of activity;
• obtained due to certain character traits;
• variants of the religious plan, borrowed from the Bible;
• associated with flowers, natural phenomena, animals and trees.

The choice of a name for the unborn child is also extremely important. At the same time, Americans can adhere to the following principles: a combination of full name, roots from which the name comes, and a hidden meaning. In order to express respect for their family, parents often name their children after their great-grandfather, grandfather or father. If the family already has a person whose name is also, then the prefixes “younger” or “senior” are used.

This tradition continues to this day in many American families.

Men's options

If you happen to hear names somewhere and the names of American men, then in almost all cases you will be able to guess the national identity of a person. Opens American surnames list of the most common options:

• Wilson;
• Jones;
• Smith;
• Williams.

They are comparable to "our" Petrov, Ivanov, Popov and Kuznetsov. According to statistics, families with such American data are registered more than one million for each. There are a number of common male middle names. These include:

Women's options

It is definitely impossible to say that maiden American surnames have any differences from male ones. Americans do not change gender and the form of middle names, if we talk about girls. Because the list will be the same here. But the inhabitants of America themselves distinguish a short list of the most suitable female options, these are:

• moore;
• Williams.

Beautiful surnames

Citizens of both America and Russia have every right to change their first and last names. Many resort to this opportunity, picking up cool American surnames. Often famous actors and representatives of the music industry do this in order to make their double pseudonym as memorable and interesting as possible. In America, there are generally recognized beautiful middle names that can come from animals, professions, or from other cultures. These, according to Americans, include:

In any fairly developed country, there is a census, because American experts were able to identify the most common surnames. The first position was rightfully won by the second name Smith, which was mentioned above. There are about three million blacksmiths in America. In second place is Johnson. Next in the ranking are Brown, Davis, Jones and Miller.

Rare American Surnames

This variety includes variations of middle names that unambiguously indicate a particular nationality. They are not exactly rare, however they are much rarer among Americans. In general, any person has the right to come up with a word that he will use to designate himself. . According to foreign statistics, in the United States the least registered:

• Bryant;
• Diaz;
• Griffin;
• Butler;
• Foster;
• Russell.

Americans incredibly love the history of their country and the heritage of their ancestors. They value family ties very much, therefore they value their surname, because it will have to be passed on to their children and grandchildren. This is one of the great many factors that make Americans a very strong and united people.

Attention, only TODAY!

When meeting, the very first and most important aspect in the knowledge of the interlocutor is his name and surname. Often people give this not a secondary, but a major significance. Always a beautiful surname draws attention to a person, and in some cases even draws attention to him. Each surname carries the history of more than one century. Consider American surnames.

Surname as "hello" from ancestors

First you need to go back a few centuries and find out where the surnames came from. They didn't always exist. It's hard to believe, but once the dictionary of American surnames did not exist at all, earlier people were called strictly by name. So, in the 7th century, the most polar names in America were: William and Robert, already at the end of the 14th century, 30% of the population of all America was named Robert. After a while, it became difficult to designate a person with only one name, and then nicknames came to the rescue, characterizing the personal qualities of a person, profession, appearance or other differences.

Modern Americans have the nicknames of their ancestors as surnames.

America is a country where immigrants from all over the world are gathered, so it is not strange that American surnames are so colorful, they have their own characteristics that distinguish them from the surnames of other peoples. We can say that modern Americans are 60% of old England, that is, Scots, Irish and English. Over time, they mixed with representatives of the African people, Europeans, and of course, with the indigenous people of America - the Indians.

American surnames were formed in several ways. In the first group, all surnames originated from geographical residence, today this is the largest group, examples of the most obvious surnames associated with the area: Germain, Spain, Norman. There are surnames that come from the names of English counties, for example: Cornish, Cheshire. Some originated from the names of cities and villages: Fife, Westley. The same group includes surnames formed from the type of locality: Moore, Fields.

The second group collected surnames formed from the names of professions and positions. Most of the surnames of this group are associated with agriculture: Hurd Gozzard, Shepherd (from herd - shepherd), etc. The most common American surname, Smith, comes from the blacksmith profession. Here are some more popular examples of the surnames of this group: Brownsmith, Blacksmith, Painter, Fielder, Appleyard.

The third group is no less interesting, she collected surnames based on the nicknames that were given to the owner for some biological feature, for example: Bigg, Strong, High, Gentle, Sweet, Doughty, Black, Red.

The fourth group concentrated surnames derived from the name of the father - Piterson, Jons. And in the fifth group, surnames based on the mapping of the area: Rok, Pus.

Surnames such as: Bush, Fish and others of the kind originated from common nouns.

It was difficult for visitors, whose names were changed in an English way. First of all, surnames with non-English origin were changed to easier ones in pronunciation and spelling. Thus, complex foreign surnames turned into native ones for America. For example: the complex surname Wienersky turned into Vinar, and Belo acquired the popular pronunciation today - Bellows.

Native Americans - Indians, at first did not have a family nickname at all, but when it came time to take it, they took any European ones they liked without remorse, so in most cases, their surnames do not carry any meaning or historical origin. Modern black Americans have completely lost their individual and unique names, and all because the ancestors considered American names more beautiful. The matter did not end with the names, the surnames were also borrowed.

Representatives of the Spanish race acted exactly the opposite, they just slightly corrected their surnames in a convenient American way, without fundamentally changing the root of the surname. The Spaniards were almost the only ones who retained their national surnames. To date, people from Africa are also working on this.

Gift from ancestors

What seems beautiful to foreign people may have an absolutely not beautiful meaning in English, for example: Smith is a blacksmith, Price is the price, Fell is a fall, Fats is a fat man, they sound interesting, and the translation is not very refined. Here is a list of the really most beautiful American surnames:

• Appelgold - golden apple;
• Goldenrose - golden rose;
• Floretsen - flower;
• Redpetas - red petal;
• Kingsman - male king;
• King - king.

The right to female surnames

Americans have been working for a long time to ensure that female surnames have the right to exist, such surnames include: Williams, Johnson, Davis, Brown, Smith, Miller, Taylor, Moore.

But for the most part, all beautiful female surnames completely and completely coincide in form with male ones, so it is not possible to single out separate “second names” for beautiful ladies.

Surname with a masculine character

In America, surnames are passed only through the male line. This means that the resettled emigrants are able to preserve national distinctions, but after a while, the female branch disappears, washing away the trace of the surname.

American surnames are considered masculine, since many immigrants from former countries did not have a division into female and male.

Today, Americans can form a surname from their first name and a family name, they can also make a surname from two names. Sometimes Americans just use their initials without using full names at all.

Speaking surnames

In America, unlike European countries, if a person has a funny or strange surname, he may never hear a single humorous statement addressed to him in his life, and all because many people have such surnames and no one pays attention to this. Below are not all common American surnames, you can look at the dictionary of American surnames, which has the entire list.

• Bunnysman - hare;
• Bierdes - a bird;
• Kitten - kitten;
• Little - small;
• Peaches - peach;
• Gosling - gosling;
• Hitchcock - hitch - limp, cock - rooster;
• Stone - stone;
• Blunt - blunt - dull, stupid;
• Potter - potter - potter;
• Riddle - riddle - riddle;
• Miller - miller;
• Catchpole - a person who collects taxes;
• Sailor - sailor;
• Fisher is a fisherman.

In addition, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the most popular American surnames in alphabetical order. Information taken from the Dictionary of American Surnames:

Adams - Adams
Allen - Allen
Alexander - Alexander

Brown - Brown
Baker - Baker
Black - Black
Brooks - Brooks
Bush - Bush

Carroll - Carroll
Charleson - Charleson
Crossman - Crossman

Duncan - Duncan
Davidson - Davidson
Dickinson Dickinson
Day - Day

Enderson - Anderson
Edwards - Edwards
Evans - Evans

Fane - Fane
Forster - Forster

Garrison - Garison
Gilbert - Gilberd
Goldman - Goldman
Goodman - Goodman

Hancock - Hankon

Johnson - Johnson

Kelly - Kelly

L
Lamberts - Lamberts
lawman - broken

Marlow - Melrow
Miller - Miller
Miers - Myers
Mercer - Mercer

Nelson - Nelson
Nicholson - Nicholson
Nyman - Nyman
Nash - Our

Oldman - Oldman
Oliver - Oliver
Owen - Owen
Ogden - ogden

Page - Page
Parson - Parson
Peacock - Peacock
Philips - Philips
Porter - Porter

Ramacey- Ramzin
Richards - Richards
Roger - Roger
Russell - Russell

Salomon - Salamon
Shackley
Simpson - Simpson
Sykes

Taylor
Thomson - Thomson
Tracey - Tracey

Walkman - Walkman
Walter Walter
White

Youmans - Youmans
Young

The variety of English female names and surnames will not leave anyone indifferent. They fascinate with their national flavor and arouse genuine interest in a long list.

Let's try to figure out how correct they sound, what the construction is based on and what is laid in the semantic context at the birth of a child.

English names for girls

The English name of a girl given at birth consists of three semantic parts:

• Celebrity or famous ancestor.
• Pedigree surname or owned by a celebrity.
• Carrying a specific value or pointing to a parent.

To understand how the English name was created, let's plunge into history.

Before the conquest of England by the Normans, it was customary to name girls after the biblical characters of the same name, rewritten in the English manner.

For example:

• Mary - comes from Mary (serenity).
• Anna is the mother of Samuel, the famous biblical prophet (blessed).
• Marianne - connects two previous names together.
• Sarah - this was the name of the wife of Abraham (the mistress) and others.

But with the advent of the Normans, a corresponding component appeared in English names, which subsequently replaced the original roots.

In the modern world, it carries a semantic meaning that is not the same as before: the child is not called in someone's honor, but with a word designed to determine the future life.

The middle name is most often given in honor of jewelry, favorite flowers, and simply liked items:

• Esmerelda - emerald (translated from Spanish).
• Essi - denotes one of the celestial bodies (stars).
• Ellen - given in honor of the moon.
• Angie means angel.
• Elin is a bird.
• Floretta is a tiny flower.
• Elanor is the light of the stars.
• April - April.
• Sky is the sky.

Beautiful female surnames in English

If you pay attention to the meaning of an English surname, you can understand that it is given on someone's behalf or belonging to a profession.

Here are some examples:

• Smith is translated as blacksmith.
• Jones - on behalf of John (daughter of John).
• Williams is William's daughter.
• Brown is brown.
• Taylor is a tailor.

Initially, until about the eleventh century, the English did not have surnames.

A person had only a name, to which was added a nickname that determined the type of activity or individual characteristics of the owner.

During this period, the first census was conducted in England, during which nicknames acquired official status, turning into surnames.

They were divided according to four criteria:

• Othroponymic - changing the name by means of a suffix.
• Place of residence.
• Type of activity.
• descriptive.

In modern Britain, the following aristocratic surnames are especially popular:

• Stuart.
• York.
• Tudor.
• Lancaster.
• Hamilton.
• Norfolk.
• Marlborough.
• Manchester.
• Jackson and others.

Note! The full name of an Englishwoman (including the surname) carries a huge semantic load.

It is able to one degree or another to predetermine the future fate of its owner.

The trend in this way to give girls surnames has also passed to the American continent. Residents of the United States are often given English names, since most of the settlers came to this country from England.

However, there is much more diversity here, since America is a multinational state, and the names of other nations were added to the English, in turn introducing an element of national color.

Rare English surnames

For every nation, the British are no exception, there are rare, unpopular surnames.

They can be very short, carrying abusive meaning, or vice versa - impossibly long, completely unpronounceable. Many people try to get rid of them as soon as possible.

The longest surnames include up to one hundred and twenty letters. They contain from seven to ten or more names, which are often repeated.

Here are some examples:

• Tollmash-Tollmash de Orellana-Plantagenet-Tollmash-Tollmash.
• Francis-Santa Lucia-Mantegu-Stuart-Mackenzie-Wortley-Smith.
• Carolina-Louise-Mary-Jemima-Temple-Chandos-Nugent-Bringes-Grenville.

Such surnames cannot be pronounced in full, therefore, most often only part of it is called - the first or last.

The one-part surname Featherstanehaugh is pronounced differently, sometimes shortened to a short Fengshaw.

The owners of such complex surnames have a hard time: everyone tries to address her in their own way, often distorting the correct pronunciation.

In the current age of universal acceleration, they are completely reduced to one syllable.

English names and surnames are now popular in Russia, but you should definitely think about their meaning.

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