Recently, more and more children with unusual names began to appear . Modern parents call their daughters and sons a variety of exotic names, borrowing them from Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, turn to ancient times, recalling pagan roots. Moreover, a lot depends on fashion trends. However, European names will never go out of fashion, so their diversity is huge. Let's talk about the most popular of them.
Greek names
Many of them have long and firmly entered our lives. Can we imagine the modern world without Pauline, Alexandrov, Kirillov, Tamar, Alekseev, Andreev, Anatoliev, Artemov, Georgiev, Gennadiev, Evgeniev, Nikit, Anastasiy, Tatyan, Elena, Dim, Fedorov, Laris and Irin? But all these are European names of Greek origin. They appeared long before our era. They take their roots from ancient Hellenic culture. Today they are already the soul of the Russian people. But this is not a complete list of names that came to us from this ancient and beautiful country.
Dutch
Any mention of Holland evokes in our imagination pictures of cheese, mills and tulips. However, many European male names came to us from this country. Many of them are not too common with us, but are found in many countries of the world. But after all, we also have friends of men whom parents called Adam, Albert, Alfred, Valentine, David, Max, Rudolph, Philip, Jacob. All of them are named according to the traditions that came to us from the Netherlands.
Spanish
Remember the end of the last century. It is to him that we owe that European names of Spanish origin have poured into our lives in a powerful stream. TV screens showed our mothers, aunts and grandmothers colorful series about beautiful life. And today no one is surprised that babies with “hot and sunny names” appeared in our country: Alberto, Alejandro, Alba, Alonso, Angela, Blanca, Veronica, Gabriela, Garcia, Julian, Isabella, Inessa, Carmelita, Carmen, Lorenzo , Lucia, Ramiro, Juanita and others.
Italian
It is difficult to explain whether Italians themselves love life so much, or whether their names make them so positive. One thing is clear: European male names of Italian origin immediately leave an imprint on a person. However, like women. Meanwhile, the melodic Italian name from the first minutes seems to be disposed to itself, charges positively, gives warmth. Is it possible to be sad next to a man whose name is Adriana, Valentino, Sylvia, Vincent, Laura, Antonio, Isabella, Graziano, Letizia, Leonardo, etc.?
Lithuanian
At all times, Lithuanians considered a person’s name to be the key that determines his personality. Of course, today these are not the most popular European names in other countries, but many years ago each of them had its own unique, unique meaning. If with age a person did not acquire the basic character traits inherent in his given name, then to display his spiritual qualities he was given a suitable nickname. For example, Jaunutis was called “young”, Vilkas - “wolf”, Kupryus - “humpback”, Majulis - “small”, and Juodgalvis - “black-headed”.
German
Every German family choosing a name for a newborn baby must follow a few specific rules. Previously, medieval European names necessarily indicated the gender of the baby and in no case could be fictitious. It is these rules that the inhabitants of Germany adhere to. Moreover, the choice is very large: Maximilian, Lucas, Marie, Sophie, Louise, Laura, Leah, Lina, Max, Michael, Matil, Otto, Julius, Karl, Frida, Susanna and many others.
Polish
Polish names, like other Slavic peoples, take their roots in the pre-Christian era. The very first of them were derived from professions, personal qualities of a person, etc. Male names always had a majestic, tough, slightly aggressive character - Goals, Koval, Wilk. However, today European female names that came from Poland are very popular. In any country in the world you can meet Agnieszka, Anna, Barbara, Magdalena, Jadwiga, Zofia or Teresk.
Finnish names
Finnish ancient names are closely related to the unusual subtle perception of nature that the indigenous people of those lands possessed. Many years ago, local residents gave names to their children, based on natural phenomena, familiar household items and the environment. Popular names were: Suvi (meaning summer), Villa (grain), Kuura (hoarfrost), Ilma (air). Then, for a long time, the Finns borrowed, but after a while they began to return to their roots.
Afterword
All European names are simply impossible to list. And it’s not even that there are many countries in Europe. After all, how many generations have changed, how many traditions have given rise to new names, how many borrowings have happened! One thing unites them all - each of them is popular. One is all over the world, the other is only in one’s country, the third is in a specific area. But not one of them will be forgotten!