The American nation was finally formed by the end of the eighteenth century. The bulk of it came from immigrants from England, Scotland, and Ireland. However, quite a few were Germans, Dutch, Swedes and French. Each settler contributed a part of his culture, his worldview. The result is such a chaotic cocktail, called American culture. Today, the descendants of different nations continue to shape it. They have many differences in lifestyle and preferences, but this is what makes the USA special.
American names today are very different in origin and pronunciation. Quite common three-membered initials - US residents have a surname and two personal names. Such a tradition came into use around the nineteenth century, when the newborn was given an additional name in honor of important events or personalities. Both names are rarely written completely in writing, abbreviations in any form are practiced.
American names are borrowed from ancient Latin, Slavic, Jewish, Germanic, Celtic. The first colonists often called themselves in a biblical manner, but now such names are very rare. Catholic families tend to choose a patron saint for their children.
Choosing a child’s name, many Americans consider the beauty of sound and its combination with a surname, as well as hidden meaning. This is why interpretation dictionaries are so popular. American names are often derivative: suffixes, endings are added to the main traditional word, abbreviations are allowed. This notion is used not only in everyday life, but also in official circulation. So Robert has a dozen derivative forms, and Elizabeth has as many as 34.
Besides traditional, American girl names are often associated with gems and plant names. Some states of the country chose a certain flower with their symbols: North Carolina - a daisy, Georgia and Iowa - a rose, South Carolina - jasmine. Therefore, residents of these regions often receive floral names. The prefixes "senior" and "junior" are also popular, which are used in families where two people have the same first and last names.
Rare American names are obtained by abbreviation of the name of a famous person (for example, Franklin), the merger of two names or from the names of significant historical places. Sometimes girls are called a masculine name, and a boy a woman.
In different ethnic groups and regions, different American names predominate. Federico, Dolores are used in the villages of the descendants of the Spanish-speaking colonists, Antonio and Paolo - Italian, Marta and Rudolph - German, Patrick - Irish. The most popular female names in the USA are Dorothy, Mary, Barbara, and Elizabeth, and the male ones are George, John, William, and Charles.
Migrants arrived in the United States from all over the globe. Their names and surnames were written in English letters and pronounced differently. Therefore, such a variety has arisen. Some ethnic groups, such as Indians, opposed the Americanization of their initials, so their complex surnames and names practically did not change.
