Introduction

Do you know what your name means? Many names do have a definite historical or linguistic meaning. Jeffrey, for example, means "peaceful." Helga means "holy." Vivian means "full of life." Carl means "strong" or "manly." Michael means "one who is like God." You would be surprised at how many names have religious or biblical background. All the various forms of the name John go back to the biblical, Hebrew name Jo-nathan - the Jo refers to God (Jehovah or Yahweh) and Nathan means gift. Thus Joan, Joanne, John and other related names all mean "gift from God." Most dictionaries have a place in the back where you can look up the meaning and background of your name.

The popularity of various names seems to go in cycles. For a while there are a lot of Bills and Johns and then during ano…