Learning and remembering names of people you meet when you travel

 "What is your good name?" was the charming question from an Asian friend-to-be.

My good name is Angela, which is Greek for messenger.

Biblical And Religious Names

Many names are from the original bible (which Christians called the Old Testament, after they added the New Testament. Abraham, David, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Paul, Saul, Solomon. For females, Rachel, Rebbekah, Sarah (which means princess - Hebrew version nowadays is Shoshana). Diminutives include Bekky, Rae, Ray, Sally 

Jewish, Hebrew and Yiddish

The Yiddish and Hebrew versions include Abram, Avram, Baruch, Moishe, Yitzak. Diminutives (short abbreviations) include Abe, Jo, Izzie, Mo, Solly.  The twelve tribes of Israel supply surnames such as Hart (a hart or deer). 

Cohen means priest. Anglicization results in variations such as Cahn, Kahn, Cohan and Cohn.

El and Ya (or Yahweh) are the two terms for God. Joel combines both. Eliza, Elizabeth. Daniel (God is my judge). Ezekiel. Michael (Micha-el). Jo-seph. Jo-anne.

From the New Testament, Mathew, Mark, Luke, John. 

Jesus (pronounced Hay Zeus in Venezuela) and Christus are Spanish. 

French

Marie (Mary in English) is given to many girls in France. Therefore a different name is added, such as Marie-Antoinette. Blanc means white, so LeBlanc is the white one, or white-haired, or pale skinned.

Greek

Peter is rock (English) and Petur.

Moslem

Mohammed is frequent amongst Moslems. David becomes Dawood, as a surname or family name. You can sometimes see that the names in Arabic are derived from Aramaic, similar to Hebrew. Amin is Arabic and means trustworthy, often used as part of a compound word.

Latin

Latin names include Caesar, Julius (from which we get the month of July), Marcus,

Danes & Scandinavian

Danes and Scandinavians might call themselves Christian as a first or middle name, such as Hans Christian Andersen.

Italian names

Male names end with o such as Mario, whilst the girls' names often end with a, such as Maria.

Iago is equivalent to John.

English Family Names

English names often end with son which means son of. For example, Johnson, Peterson, Robinson, Stevens, Williams.

Scandinavian Family Names

Scandinavian names often end with sen which means son of.

Scottish Family Names

The Scottish Fitz means son of. Fitzwilliam is son of William. The Irish O' means of. O'Connor means of Connor. Anderson means son of Anders.

Dutch Names

Dutch names might include von which means from.

German Names

German first names include Fritz, Hans, Herman, Wolf.

The family names include: Cassell, castle; Mann, meaning Mann, Kaufman meaning shopkeeper or seller, Klein meaning small, Muller meaning Miller.

Indian/Hindu/Sanskrit

Anand from Sanskrit means joy. Balakrishnan means child of Krishna. Kaur is a woman's name among Sikhs and others, used as a last name or the last part of a first name or personal name. Mohan means

Patel is Gujurati and means the head man of the village. Reddy is a caste from Southern India, and members of this cast are known for both farming and administration.

Shah, which I thought was King, is described as Emperor in Persian but a mere merchant in other groups. Of course, a merchant could be very rich and powerful (a bit like company director).

Sharma means joy or shelter.

Names from Gods include

Names of tribes include

Russian

Russian names include of or ov for a man, son of (place or person), whilst ova is daughter/female of a place or person. So Ivanov is son of Ivan.

Spanish Names

Spanish names, like French, are often taken from the Saint's Day, which is the birthday of the child being names.  Popular names include Teresa. José is the name Joseph in English (or vice-versa) and if your surname is Fidel that means faithful.

Rude Names

Some foreign names sound rude in English. It would be rude to draw attention to it. However, I must, in case you wonder why others are laughing, from embarrassment, when you are not. Cock means a part of the male anatomy in English. It is a popular surname in The Netherlands, because it means Cook in Dutch. 

The Chinese surname Kok is frequently seen or heard.

Some other customs you might come across which could confuse you. You may need to ask questions to clarify. In the UK in previous generations it was standard for a woman to take the man's family name upon marriage. Amongst the upper classes, when both families were prominent and well-known, a name could be hyphenated. Later with the advent of TV and media celebrities, women who took their husband's name might retain their own name by which they were already well known. For example, tennis player Billy Jean-King. 

In Spain the woman's family name is often retained as a middle name. No hyphen.

Chinese Names

Shan meaning mountain is a common girl's name. Shan Shan is a plural. Mountains.

Mei means beautiful.

Japanese

Ko means a female, a girl, a daughter. Hence names such Akiko, Yoko, Yumiko. 

Travel Tip

To learn somebody else's name, or impress yours on their mind so they don't forget you, repeat the name three times.

Useful Websites

https://www.momjunction.com/articles/popular-indian-last-names-for-your-baby_00334734/