Given name

A given name (also known as a personal name, first name, forename, or Christian name) is a part of a person's full nomenclature. It identifies a specific person, and differentiates that person from other members of a group, such as a family or clan, with whom that person shares a common surname. The term given name refers to the fact that the name is bestowed upon, or given to a child, usually by its parents, at or near the time of birth. This contrasts with a surname (also known as a family name, last name, or gentile name), which is normally inherited, and shared with other members of the child's immediate family.

Given names are often used in a familiar and friendly manner in informal situations. In more formal situations the surname is more commonly used, unless it is necessary to distinguish between people with the same surname. The idioms "on a first-name basis" and "being on first-name terms" allude to the familiarity of addressing another by a given name.

Relationship to other names

Jean

Jean may refer to:

In human names

In media and entertainment

In other uses

See also

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer and actress. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, she performed acting roles in stage productions and television shows as a child before signing with Jive Records in 1997. Spears's first and second studio albums, ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), became international successes, with the former becoming the best-selling album by a teenage solo artist. Title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" broke international sales records. In 2001, Spears released her self-titled third studio album, Britney, and played the starring role in the film Crossroads (2002). She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003), which yielded the worldwide success of the "Toxic" single.

In 2007, Spears's much-publicized personal issues sent her career into hiatus. Her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released later that year, and spawned hits such as "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me". Her erratic behavior and hospitalizations continued through the following year, at which point she was placed under a still ongoing conservatorship. Spears's sixth studio album, Circus (2008), included global chart-topping lead single "Womanizer". Its supporting tour The Circus Starring Britney Spears was one of the highest-grossing global concert tours in 2009.