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��Origin and Meaning of Prefer Names.
��imposed in infancy determine the pur- zen, Polycletes the sculptor, Diogenes suits of the adult? or, Were the par- the cynic, and Nero the tyrant. These ents so confident of the powers of their are very convenient epithets to indi-
��sons as to anticipate their history, and name them by way of prolepsis? The word -iVf-ziiMq., war, derived by some from -dknz. much, and 'a;,".'/, blood, appears in many a warrior's name, as Tlepolemus and Archepolemus. The words /M/'^i, battle, and v"^?, mind, and other words indicating strength, speed, glory, and counsel, often con- stituted elements in the names of illus- trious men. When tliese names, sig- nificant of future renown, were given.
��cate the person referred to. The Greeks used patronymics ending in ides and ades to designate sons, as Prianides the son of Priam, Atlauti- ades, the son or descendant of Atlas. The termination "ing" in Anglo- Saxon is equivalent to '•'•tdrj^" in Greek, Ea,dgaring=:the son of Ed- gar ; Eadbehrt Eadgaring^Edbert Edgarson. Possibly Bering, Brown- ing, and Whiting may be equivalent to dear, brown, and white darling ;
��the parents were wont to pray that and darling is from deor — dear and
ling — condition. The Russians affix witz," the Poles "sky," to the fa- ther's name to indicate what we mean by son, as Paulowitzz^Paul's son ; Pe- trowskv=Petersou. From the Welch
��those that bore them might deserve the title. When Grunthram, king of France, named Clotharius at the fort, he said, " Crescat puer et punjus sit nominis executor." So the Roman
��emperors Severus, Probus, and Aure- prefix "Ap," meaning sou, as Ap- lius are called "sui nominis impera- tores." They were rightly named. They fulfilled their destiny as it was foreshadowed at their christening.
Those names which denoted per- sonal defects or deformities, as //">- -oc, eagle-nose, or "Flaccus," flap- eared, must have been given as sobri- quets ; but such names as IiaXAt/j-oxoc, renowned for victory, or 'E'/spylrrj-:, a benefactor, seem to have been given to infants.
As men multiplied, there was need of more names to distinguish one from another. The most obvious dis- tinction would be the use of the fa- ther's name with the son's ; next, the place of residence, office, or employ- ment. Patronymics in the most sim- ple form are written in full, as Ixapoq Tiiu Aai(h/jiu, or Solomon the son of David. We also read of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Gregory, Nazian-
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��Richard, Ap-Rice, we have Pritchard and Price. A still stranger corrup- tion is that of Peter Gower, from Pythagoras (French — Pythagore), or Benjamin P2aton, from the Spanish "Benito," Latin Benedictus.
The Romans were more prodigal of names than the Greeks. They fre- quently used three names, and some- times four, to describe a single per- son. Cicero's gentile name was Tul- lius, his whole name Marcus Tullius Gicero. The last was called the cog- nomen : the first distinguished the in- dividual who bore it from other mem- bers of his gens or house. The whole republic was divided into gentes or houses, and these were subdivided into familite or families. According- ly several distinguished families might belong to the same gens. This term may have denoted consanguinity at its origin, but in process of time it be
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