A Sociolinguistic Study of Naming in American English

Abstract

Nothing on this earth exists without a name. Naming is a universal human activity. The first and most important right for human being is definitely the name that should carry an esthetical characteristic and have an acceptable meaning in society. So everyone should have a good name. This study presents a sociolinguistic analysis of naming and names in American English. It tackles the problem that personal names and naming practices are a human universal, but systems of naming vary across cultures. It aims at investigating the practice of naming and sources or categories of names used in American English society. To carry out the aims and verify the validity of these hypotheses, a methodological procedure is applied which is mainly analytic. In this study, two models adopted which are Tesone's (2011): In the Traces of our Name: the Influence of Given Names in Life, and Al-Barany et al (2011): Kurdish Personal Names in Kurdistan of Iraq: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Selecting the data from the names recorded in the registration offices in South Alabama University, and depends on authentic materials of naming of American English. Furthermore, a statistical analysis of the sources and categories of names is made.