Name etymology theme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Name etymology theme - Essay Example Neither of these names is rare or unusual for my country, yet there are some interesting points to concentrate upon while researching their etymology. First of all, I would like to mention that my first name, Mai, actually exists in several different cultures and languages. For instance, Mai is as popular Japanese name meaning "brightness" (www.babynames.com). In some languages of the Native Americans, Mai meant "coyote" (www.babynameworld.com). Mai can be regarded as a pet name from Margaret (from Latin "pearl") or Mary (from Hebrew "bitter" or Latin "the star of the ocean"). The name Mai exits in the Swedish and Chinese languages as well. In Vietnam, the names given to the girls normally have literal meanings associated with beauty or art - very often the etymology of the names is connected with the names of flowers, plants or birds. So, my name Mai in Vietnamese means "cherry blossom". (Female Vietnamese names) In Vietnamese, Mai is a very popular name for girls, and as far as my family's history is concerned, the reason why I was given this name was that my Dad obviously wanted me to be very much like my Mum whose middle name is Mai as well, and therefore he insisted that I should be named this way. Thi is, according to the research, the most popular female middle name, and it means "ancestry", "clan".