Look up Donna in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Donna is an English language feminine first name meaning lady in Italian. The original meaning is closer to lady of the home and was a title of respect, equivalent to Don for men. It is rare as a surname. The name Anna can be used as a short form of Donna.

People[link]

• Donna Air, British actress
• Donna Brazile, American political activist
• Donna Edwards, U.S. House of Representatives, member
• Donna Leon, American novelist
• Donna Lewis, Welsh singer
• Donna Maguire, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
• Donna Mayhew, American javelin thrower
• Donna Mills, American actress who played Abby Cunningham on "Knots Landing"
• Donna Murphy, American stage and film actress
• Donna Noble, companion in the British sci-fi drama Doctor Who
• Donna Orender (née Geils), American Women's Pro Basketball League All-Star guard & WNBA president
• Donna Summer, American singer, notably of disco music
• Donna Tartt, American writer\

Fictional[link]

• Donna Pinciotti is the name of a character from the TV show That 70s Show

This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.

Donna may refer to:

People[link]

• Donna (given name); includes name origin, and people with the name.

Surname

• Roberto Di Donna

Fictional characters[link]

• Donna Duck, character from the 1937 Disney short Don Donald
• Donna Freedman, character from Neighbours
• Donna Hayward, character from Twin Peaks
• Donna Martin, character from Beverly Hills 90210
• Donna Meagle, character from Parks and Recreation
• Donna Moss, character from The West Wing
• Donna Noble, character from Doctor Who
• Donna Pinciotti, character from That '70s Show
• Donna Troy, character from the Teen Titans aka "Wonder Girl"
• Donna Sheridan, character in Mamma Mia!
• Donna Tubbs, character from The Cleveland Show
• Donna Henshaw, character in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

Places[link]

• Donna, Texas, USA
• Dønna, Norway

Music[link]

• "Donna" (song), song by Ritchie Valens (covered in the United Kingdom by Marty Wilde)
• "Donna" (10cc song), song by "10cc"
• "Donna Donna", song also known as "Dona Dona" or "Dos Kelbl"
• The Donnas, American all-girl rock band
• Donna (radio station), former Flemish music radio station located in Belgium
• "Donna Lee", a bebop jazz standard

Miscellanea[link]

• The Italian word for woman
• Hurricane Donna (1960)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name (surname). A given name is purposefully given, usually by a child's parents at or near birth, in contrast to an inherited one such as a family name.^[1]

In most European (and Europe-derived) cultures, the given name usually comes before the family name (though generally not in lists and catalogs), and so is known as a forename or first name; but the family name traditionally comes first in Hungary, parts of Africa and most of East Asia (e.g. China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam). In East Asia, even part of the given name may be shared among all members of a given generation in a family and the family's extensions, to differentiate those generations from other generations.

Under the common Western naming convention, people generally have one or more forenames (either given or acquired). If more than one, there is usually a main forename (for everyday use) and one or more supplementary forenames; but sometimes two or more carry equal weight. Beyond preceding the surname there is no particular ordering rule for forenames. Often the main forename is at the beginning, resulting in a first name and one or more middle names, but other arrangements are quite common.

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

The western style of having both a family name (surname) and a given name (Christian name or forename) is far from universal. In many countries it is common for ordinary people to have only one name (a mononym).

Legality[link]

A child's given name or names are usually assigned around the time of birth. In most jurisdictions, the name at birth is a matter of public record, inscribed on the birth certificate or equivalent. In some jurisdictions, mainly civil-law jurisdictions such as France, Quebec, the Netherlands or Germany, the functionary whose job it is to record acts of birth may act to prevent parents from giving the child a name that may cause him or her harm (in France, by referring the case to a local judge).^{[citation needed]} Even spell-checking of the name is done.

People born in one country who immigrate to another with different naming conventions may have their names legally changed accordingly.^[2] If the name is not assigned at birth it may be assigned at a naming ceremony with families and friends attending.

In 1991, in protest of Swedish naming laws, two parents attempted to name their child Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116, claiming that it was "a pregnant, expressionistic development that we see as an artistic creation."^{[citation needed]}

Origin of given names[link]

Given names most often derive from the following categories:

• Aspiring personal traits (external and internal). For example, the name Clement means "merciful".^[3][4] English examples include Faith, Prudence and August.
• Occupations, for example George means "farmer".^[5]
• Circumstances of birth, for example Thomas meaning "twin" or the Latin name Quintus, which was traditionally given to the fifth male child.^[6][7]
• Objects, for example Peter means "rock" and Edgar means "rich spear".^[8][9]
• Physical characteristics, for example Calvin means "bald".^[10]
• Variations on another name, especially to change the sex of the name (Pauline, Georgia) or to translate from another language (for instance, the names Francis or Francisco that come from the name Franciscus meaning "Frenchman").^[11][12][13]
• Surnames, for example Winston,^[14] Harrison,^[15] and Ross.^[16] Such names often come from families that are frequently intermarried with the family bearing the individual's surname.
• Places, for example Brittany^[17] and Lorraine.^[18]
• Time of birth, for example day of the week, as in Kofi Annan, whose given name means "born on Friday",^[19] or the holiday on which one was born, for example, the name Natalie meaning "[born on] Christmas day" in Latin.^[20]
• Combination of the above, for example the Armenian name Sirvart means "love rose."^[21]

In many cultures, given names are reused, especially to commemorate ancestors or those who are particularly admired, resulting in a limited repertoire of names that sometimes vary by orthography.

The most familiar example of this, to Western readers, is the use of Biblical and saints' names in most of the Christian countries (with Ethiopia, in which names were often ideals or abstractions—Haile Selassie, "power of the Trinity"; Haile Miriam, "power of Mary"—as the most conspicuous exception). However, the name Jesus is considered taboo or sacrilegious in some parts of the Christian world, though this taboo does not extend to the cognate Joshua or related forms which are common in many languages even among Christians.

Similarly, the name Mary, now popular if not ubiquitous among Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, was considered too holy for secular use until about the 12th century. In countries that particularly venerated Mary, this remained the case much longer; in Poland, until the arrival in the 17th century of French queens named Marie.^[22]

Most common given names in English (and many other European languages) can be grouped into broad categories based on their origin:

• Hebrew names, most often from the Bible, are very common in—or are elements of names used in—the historically Christian countries. Some have elements meaning "God", especially "Eli". Examples: Michael, Joshua, Daniel, Joseph, David, Adam, Elizabeth, Hannah and Mary. There are also a handful of names in use derived from the Aramaic, particularly the names of prominent figures in the New Testament—such as Thomas, Martha and Bartholomew.
  • All of the Semitic peoples of history and the present day use at least some names constructed like these in Hebrew (and the ancient Hebrews used names not constructed like these—such as Moses, probably an Egyptian name related to the names of Pharaohs like Thutmose and Ahmose). The Muslim world is the best-known example (with names like Saif-al-din, "sword of the faith", or Abd-Allah, "servant of God"), but even the Carthagenians had similar names: cf. Hannibal, "the grace of god" (in this case not the Abrahamic deity God, but the deity—probably Marduk—whose title is normally left untranslated, as Baal).
• Germanic names are characteristically warlike; roots with meanings like "glory", "strength", and "will" are common. The "-bert" element common in many such names comes from beraht, which means "bright". Examples: Robert, Edward, Roger, Richard, Albert, Carl, Alfred, Rosalind, Emma, Eric and Matilda.
• French forms of Germanic names. Since the Norman conquest of England, many English given names of Germanic origin are used in their French forms. Examples: Robert, Charles, Henry, William, Albert.
• Slavic names are often of a peaceful character, the compounds being derived from word roots meaning "to protect", "to love", "peace", "to praise [gods]", "to give". Examples: Milena, Vesna, Bohumil, Dobromir, Svetlana, Vlastimil. The names have also warlike character and are built of words meaning "fighter", "war", "anger". Examples : Casimir, Sambor, Wojciech and Zbigniew. Many of them consist of word "slava" - glory: Bolesław, Miroslav, Vladislav, Radoslav and Stanisław.
• Celtic names are sometimes anglicised versions of Celtic forms, but the original form may also be used. Examples: Alan, Brian, Brigid, Mórag, Logan, Ciarán, Jennifer, and Seán. These names often have origins in Celtic words, as Celtic versions of the names of internationally known Christian saints, as names of Celtic mythological figures, or simply as long-standing names whose ultimate etymology is unclear.
• Greek names can be derived from the Greco-Roman gods, or may have other meanings. Some may be derived from the New Testament and early Christian traditions. Such names are often, but not always, anglicised. Examples: Eleanor, Stephen, Alexander, Andrew, Peter, Gregory, George, Christopher, Melissa, Margaret, Nicholas, Jason, Timothy, Chloe, Zoë, Katherine.
• Latin names can also be adopted unchanged, or modified; in particular, the inflected element can be dropped, as often happens in borrowings from Latin to English. Examples: Laura, Victoria, Marcus, Justin, Paul (from Lat. "Paulus"), Julius, Cecilia, Felix, Julia, Trent, Pascal (not a traditional-type Latin name, but the adjective-turned-name paschalis, "relating to the Pascha"—English "Easter").
• Word names come from English vocabulary words. Feminine names of this sort—in more languages than English, and more cultures than Europe alone—frequently derive from nature, flower, birds, colors, or gemstones. Examples include Jasmine, Lavender, Dawn, Daisy, Rose, Iris, Petunia, Rowan, and Violet. Male names of this sort are less common—sometimes names like Bronco and Wolf associated with strong or dangerous animals. (This is more common in some other languages, such as Northern Germanic and Turkish).
• Trait names most conspicuously include the Christian virtues, mentioned above, and normally used as feminine names (such as the three Christian virtues—Faith, Hope, and Charity).
• Diminutives are sometimes used to distinguish between two or more people with the same given name, and are often used by children. In English, Robert may be changed to "Robby" or Daniel changed to "Danny". In German the names Hänsel and Gretel (as in the famous fairy tale) are the diminutive forms of Johann and Margarete. Examples: Vicky, Danny, Abby, Ali.
• Shortened Names (see nickname) are generally nicknames of a longer name, but they are instead given as a person's entire given name. For example, a man may simply be named "Jim", and it is not short for James. Examples: Beth, Dan, Max, Pete, Steve.
• Feminine variations Many masculine names have feminine variations, often multiple ones. Examples: Charlotte, Stephanie, Victoria, Philippa, Jane, Jacqueline, Josephine, Danielle, Paula, Pauline, Patricia and Francesca.

Frequently, a given name has versions in many different languages. For example, the biblical name Susanna also occurs in its original biblical Hebrew version, Shoshannah, its Spanish and Portuguese version Susana, and its French version, Suzanne, and its Polish version, Zuzanna.

East Asia[link]

Despite the uniformity of Chinese surnames, Chinese given names can be fairly original because Chinese characters can be combined extensively. Unlike European languages with their Biblical and Roman heritage, the Chinese language does not have a particular set of words reserved for given names: any combination of Chinese characters can theoretically be used as a given name.^{[citation needed]} Nonetheless, a number of popular characters commonly recur, including "Strong" (伟, Wěi), "Learned" (文, Wén), "Peaceful" (安, Ān), and "Beautiful" (美, Měi). Despite China's increasing urbanization, a great many names – such as "Pine" (松, Sōng) and "Plum" (梅, Méi) – also still reference nature.

Most Chinese given names are two characters long and – despite the examples above – the two characters together may mean nothing at all. Instead, they may be selected to include particular sounds, tones, or radicals; to balance the Chinese elements of a child's birth chart; or to honor a generation poem handed down through the family for centuries. Traditionally, it is considered an affront and not an honor to have a newborn named after an older relative, so that full names are rarely passed down through a family in the manner of English Seniors, Juniors, III, &c. Similarly, it is considered unhelpful for the child to bear a name already made famous by someone else, although Romanizations might be identical or a common name like Liu Xiang might be borne by tens of thousands.

Korean names and Vietnamese names are often simply conventions derived from Classical Chinese counterparts.^{[citation needed]}

Many female Japanese names end in -ko (子), meaning "child". This can make them seem decidedly unfeminine to Europeans accustomed to Indo-European tendencies to end masculine names in o.

In many Westernized Asian locations, many Asians also have a unofficial or even registered Western (typically English) given name, in addition to their Asian given name. This is also true for Asian students at colleges in countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia as well as among international businessmen.

Gender[link]

Most names in English are specifically masculine or feminine, but there are many unisex names as well, such as Jordan, Jamie, Jesse, Alex, Ashley, Chris, Hilary/Hillary, Kim, Leslie/Lesley, Joe/Jo, Jackie, Pat, Dana, Sam or Ryan/Ryann. Often, one gender is predominant; often a particular spelling is more common for each of the two genders, even when the pronunciation is the same.

Many culture groups, past and present, did not or do not gender names strongly, so that many or all of their names are unisex. On the other hand, in many languages including most Indo-European languages (but not English), gender is inherent in the grammar.

Christian name[link]

The term Christian name is often used as a general synonym for given name. Strictly speaking, the term applies to a name formally given to a child at an infant baptism or "christening".^[23]

Popularity distribution of given names[link]

The popularity (frequency) distribution of given names typically follows a power law distribution.

Since about 1800 in England and Wales and in the U.S., the popularity distribution of given names has been shifting so that the most popular names are losing popularity. For example, in England and Wales, the most popular female and male names given to babies born in 1800 were Mary and John, with 24% of female babies and 22% of male babies receiving those names, respectively.^[24] In contrast, the corresponding statistics for in England and Wales in 1994 were Emily and James, with 3% and 4% of names, respectively. Not only have Mary and John gone out of favor in the English speaking world, also the overall distribution of names has changed significantly over the last 100 years for females, but not for males. This has led to an increasing amount of diversity for female names.^[25]

Influence of pop culture[link]

Popular culture appears to have an influence on naming trends, at least in the United States and United Kingdom. Newly famous celebrities and public figures may influence the popularity of names. For example, in 2004, the names "Keira" and "Kiera" respectively became the 51st and 92nd most popular girls' names in the UK, following the rise in popularity of British actress Keira Knightley.^[26] In 2001, the use of Colby as a boys' name for babies in the United States jumped from 233rd place to 99th, just after Colby Donaldson was the runner-up on Survivor: The Australian Outback. Also, the female name "Miley" which before was not in the top 1000 was 278th most popular in 2007, following the rise to fame of singer-actress Miley Cyrus (who was named Destiny at birth).^[27]

Characters from fiction also seem to influence naming. After the name Kayla was used for a character on the American soap opera Days of our Lives, the name's popularity increased greatly. The name Tammy, and the related Tamara became popular after the movie Tammy and the Bachelor came out in 1957. Some names were established or spread by being used in literature. Notable examples include Jessica, a name created by William Shakespeare in his play "The Merchant of Venice," Vanessa, created by Jonathan Swift; Fiona, a character from James Macpherson's spurious cycle of Ossian poems; and Wendy, an obscure name popularised by J. M. Barrie in his play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up; and Madison, a character from the movie Splash. Lara and Larissa were rare in America before the appearance of Doctor Zhivago, and have become fairly common since.

Songs can influence the naming of children. Jude jumped from 814th most popular male name in 1968 to 668th in 1969, following the release of The Beatles' "Hey Jude." Similarly, Layla charted as 969th most popular in 1972 after the Eric Clapton song. It had not been in the top 1,000 before.^[27]

Kayleigh became a particularly popular name in the United Kingdom following the release of a song by the British rock group Marillion. Government statistics in 2005 revealed that 96% of Kayleighs were born after 1985, the year in which Marillion released "Kayleigh."

Popular culture figures need not be admirable in order to influence naming trends. For example, Peyton came in to the top 1000 as a female given name for babies in the United States for the first time in 1992 (at #583), immediately after it was featured as the name of an evil nanny in the film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.^[27] On the other hand, for example, Adolf has fallen out of use since the Second World War.

Twin names[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In some cultures, twins may be given distinctive pairs of names. Twin names are sometimes similar in sound, for example boy/girl twins named Christian and Christina, or twin girls named Sudha and Subha in India, or Ojor and Omon in Nigeria. The names may have a thematic similarity such as Jesse (or Jessica) and James (after the American outlaw Jesse James), or Matthew and Mark (the first two books of the New Testament in the Bible), or Castor and Pollux (semi-divine twins in Greek mythology), or Romulus and Remus (the mythical founders of Rome).

The oldest ever female twins, who died in 2000 and 2001, respectively, were named Kin Narita and Gin Kanie, gold and silver, respectively, in Japanese.

For more possible origins, see the article List of twins.

See also[link]

• List of most popular given names (in many different countries and cultures)
• List of most popular given names by state in the United States
• List of U.S. counties named after personal first names
• Name days
• Names of God
• Personal name

By type[link]

• Calling name
• Middle name
• Nickname
• Pseudonym
• Saint's name
  • Calendar of saints
• Slave name
• Surname
• Theophoric names
  • Theophory in the Bible
• Unisex name

By language[link]

Indo-European

• Baltic
  • Lithuanian name

• Celtic
  • Irish name (list)
  • Scottish Gaelic name (list)

• Germanic names
  • Dutch name
  • German names
  • Scandinavian given names

• Greek
  • Greek name

• Indian
  • Indian names

• Persian
  • Persian name

• French
  • French names

• Italian
  • Italian name

• Portuguese
  • Portuguese name

• Roman
  • Roman naming conventions

• Slavic names
  • Bulgarian names
  • Croatian name
  • Czech names
  • Name days in Slovakia
  • Polish names
  • Russian name
  • Serbian name
  • Slovak name

• Spanish
  • Spanish name

Central Asia, Altaic, Finno-Ugric

• Finnish name
• Hungarian name
• Mongolian name
• Names in Russian Empire, Soviet Union and CIS countries
• Tatar name
• Turkish name

Middle East

• Arabic name
• Hebrew name

East Asia

• Chinese name
• Indonesian name
  • Balinese name
  • Javanese name
• Japanese name
• Korean name
• Malaysian name
• Philippine name
• Thai name
• Tibetan name
• Vietnamese name

Africa

• Akan name

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up Appendix:Names in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up given name or Appendix:Most popular given names by country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

•  "Christian Names". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• Given Name Frequency Project – Analysis of long-term trends in given names in England and Wales. Includes downloadable datasets of names for people interested in studying given name trends.
• NameVoyager – Java applet listing the frequency of the Top 1000 American baby names throughout history.
• U.S. Census Bureau: Distribution of Names Files Large ranked list of male and female given names in addition to last names.
• Popular Baby Names – The Social Security Administration page for Popular U.S. Baby Names
• Muslim Names Islamic names with Audio Voice for pronunciation of arabic names.
• FolkName – Meaning of Names, Encyclopedia of Given Names

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Ceremonies, such as baptism, can be used to give names.

A name is a word or term used for identification. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. A personal name identifies a specific unique and identifiable individual person, and may or may not include a middle name. The name of a specific entity is sometimes called a proper name (although that term has a philosophical meaning also) and is a proper noun. Other nouns are sometimes, more loosely, called names; an older term for them, now obsolete, is "general names".

The use of personal names is not unique to humans. Dolphins also use symbolic names, as has been shown by recent research.^[1] Individual dolphins have distinctive whistles, to which they will respond even when there is no other information to clarify which dolphin is being referred to.

Caution must be exercised when translating, for there are ways that one language may prefer one type of name over another. A feudal naming habit is used sometimes in other languages: the French sometimes refer to Aristotle as "le Stagirite" from one spelling of his place of birth, and English speakers often refer to Shakespeare as "The Bard", recognizing him as a paragon writer of the language. Finally, claims to preference or authority can be refuted: the British did not refer to Louis-Napoleon as Napoleon III during his rule.

Etymology[link]

The word "name" comes from Old English nama; akin to Old High German (OHG) and Sanskrit नामस् (naamas), Latin nomen, and Greek ὄνομα (onoma),^[2] possbly from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *nomn-.^[3]

In mythology[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

In Arthurian mythology, part of the code of honor and chivalry practiced by knights was that a knight who lost a duel must reveal his name to the victor. It was considered a breach of honor or decorum to reveal one's name before combat. A frequent topos in the legends is that a defeated knight would, after revealing his name, ask the victor what his name was: if the victor turned out to be a much stronger and more famous knight (e.g. one of Arthur's knights) the loser actually saved face, because he was beaten by a knight already held to be stronger than him, and thus there was no shame in defeat. However, if a strong and powerful knight was defeated, and the victor turned out to be a relatively unknown and not particularly strong knight, it was a grave humiliation.

As a result of this pattern, it was considered extremely odd within the rules of Arthurian society when a knight refused to take off his helmet or reveal his identity, even after he had won a duel. Sometimes this happened because the victorious knight simply did not know his own name, as was the case with Lancelot and Percival during their early careers. This inability to reveal their own names even in victory led many to assume incorrectly that they were trying to insult the vanquished.

A major exception to the rule was Sir Gawain: Gawain considered himself to be the greatest of his uncle Arthur's knights; he felt that his honor was so great that he did not need to hide his name before a duel. Thus at the opening of any duel Gawain would openly announce "I am Gawain", as he expected never to be defeated and so it would not diminish his honor to reveal his name.

In religious thought[link]

In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names were thought to be extremely powerful and to act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity.^[4] This viewpoint is responsible both for the reluctance to use the proper name of God in Hebrew writing or speech, as well as the common understanding in ancient magic that magical rituals had to be carried out "in [someone's] name". By invoking a god or spirit by name, one was thought to be able to summon that spirit's power for some kind of miracle or magic (see Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of Jesus.) This understanding passed into later religious tradition, for example the stipulation in Catholic exorcism that the demon cannot be expelled until the exorcist has forced it to give up its name, at which point the name may be used in a stern command which will drive the demon away.

Biblical names[link]

In the Old Testament, the names of individuals are meaningful; for example, Adam is named after the "earth" (Adamah) from which he was created. (Genesis 2)

A change of name indicates a change of status. For example, the patriarch Abram and his wife Sarai are renamed "Abraham" and "Sarah" when they are told they will be the father and mother of many nations (Genesis 17:4, 17:15). Simon was renamed Peter when he was given the Keys of Heaven. (Gospel of Matthew 16).

Throughout the Bible, characters are given names at birth that reflect something of significance or describe the course of their lives. For example: Solomon meant peace, and the king with that name was the first whose reign was without warfare. Likewise, Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew: "causing to forget") as a gesture of forgiveness to his brothers for selling him into slavery.

Biblical Jewish people did not have surnames which were passed from generation to generation. However, they were typically known as the child of their father. For example: דוד בן ישי (David ben Yishay) meaning, David, son of Jesse. In a sense, they used their fathers' first names as their own last names, a practice done by most Muslims today. Similar to Jewish names, the "ben" is in place by "bin" or "ibn" for males, "binte", "binti" or "ibnu" for females to Muslims. Sometimes, names include "Al-", "Ali-", "-allah", "-lah/-llah" or "-ullah" as it means "a servant to God" or "God's servant". They would sometimes indicate the place they or their child live in.

Talmudic attitudes[link]

The Babylonian Talmud maintains that names exert a mystical influence over their bearers, and a change of name is one of four actions that can avert an evil heavenly decree, that would lead to punishment after one's death. Rabbinical commentators differ as to whether the name's influence is metaphysical, connecting a person to their soul, or bio-socio-psychological, where the connection affects his personality, appearance and social capacities. The Talmud also states that all those who descend to Gehenna will rise in the time of Messiah. However, there are three exceptions, one of which is he who calls another by a derisive nickname.

Technical names for names[link]

Naming convention[link]

For Wikipedia's own naming conventions see Wikipedia:Article titles

A naming convention is an attempt to systematize names in a field so they unambiguously convey similar information in a similar manner.

Several major naming conventions include:

• In astronomy, planetary nomenclature
• In classics, Roman naming conventions
• In computer programming, identifier naming conventions
• In computer networking, computer naming schemes
• In the sciences, systematic names for a variety of things

Naming conventions are useful in many aspects of everyday life, enabling the casual user to understand larger structures.

Street names within a city may follow a naming convention; some examples include:

• In Manhattan, roads that cross the island from east to west are called "Streets". Those that run the length of the island (North-South) are called "Avenues". Manhattan streets and avenues are numbered, with "1st Street" being near the southern end of the island, and "219th Street" being near the northern end, while "1st Avenue" is near the eastern edge of the island and "12th Avenue" near the western edge.
• In Ontario, numbered concession roads are East-West whereas "lines" are North-South routes.
• In San Francisco at least three series of parallel streets are alphabetically named, e.g. Irving, Judah, Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, Noriega, Ortega, Pacheco, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago, Taraval, Ulloa, Vicente, Wawona.
• The same tendency is seen in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, where Arlington Street is followed by roads to the west running parallel to it and named Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford.
• In Washington, DC, East Capitol Street runs east-west through the Capitol. East-west streets moving away from Capitol Street toward both the south (toward the Potomac River) and the north are lettered A, B, C,..., omitting J to avoid confusion on street signs and addresses, but after these are exhausted to the north, the streets are named with simple words in alphabetical order, omitting a few letters such as "x". The first cycle of names consists all of one-syllable words; then followed by a cycle of two-syllable words; then followed by a cycle of three-syllable words, and before these are exhausted, Maryland is reached. (Washington has north-south streets that are numbered, increasing to either side of North Capitol which likewise runs through the Capitol.) Suffixes (NE, SW, etc.) are used to distinguish between (up to four) duplicate addresses. For example 140 D Street SW, to indicate the 140 D Street location southwest of the Capitol
• In Montgomery, Alabama, the old major avenues are named for the Presidents of the United States, in their order of entering office, omitting John Quincy Adams. Hence, these streets are Washington Ave., Adams Ave., Jefferson Ave., Madison Ave., Monroe Ave., Jackson Ave., but not much farther than that. This was just the old plan from a long time ago, and it was eventually dropped. For example, there is not a Buchanan Ave., a Lincoln Ave., or a Johnson Ave.
• In Brampton, Ontario, different sections of town all have streets starting with the same letter and the alphabetical order reflects chronology.
• In Phoenix, Arizona, roads east of Central Avenue are termed streets while those west are avenues. A similar system applies in Nashville, Tennessee, but only to the numbered avenues and streets, west and east of the Cumberland River respectively, all of which run roughly north-south.

Large corporate, university, or government campuses may follow a naming convention for rooms within the buildings to help orient tenants and visitors. Otherwise, rooms may be numbered in some kind of a rational scheme.

Parents may follow a naming convention when selecting names for their children. Some have chosen alphabetical names by birth order. In some East Asian cultures, it is common for one syllable in a two syllable given name to be a generation name which is the same for immediate siblings. In many cultures it is common for the son to be named after the father or a grandfather. In certain African cultures, such as in Cameroon, the eldest son gets the family name for his given name, also, giving names such as "Thomas Thomas" (but the names are not European names like this one).

In other cultures, the name may include the place of residence, or the place of birth. The Roman naming convention denotes social rank.

Products may follow a naming convention. Automobiles typically have a binomial name, a "make" (manufacturer) and a "model", in addition to a model year, such as a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette. Sometimes there is a name for the car's "decoration level" or "trim line" as well: e.g., Cadillac Escalade EXT Platinum, after the precious metal. Computers often have increasing numbers in their names to signify the next generation.

Courses at schools typically follow a naming convention: an abbreviation for the subject area and then a number ordered by increasing level of difficulty.

Many numbers (e.g. bank accounts, government IDs, credit cards, etc.) are not random but have an internal structure and convention. Virtually all organizations that assign names or numbers will follow some convention in generating these identifiers. Airline flight numbers, space shuttle flight numbers, even phone numbers all have an internal convention.

Brand names[link]

The process of developing a name for a brand or product is heavily influenced by marketing research and strategy to be appealing and marketable. The brand name is often a neologism or pseudoword, such as Kodak or Sony.

Literary names[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

In fiction, proper names of people or places are often unique to the work in which they appear. Although, within the work of fiction proper, the name may nonetheless be said to have a certain ethnic origin, the name itself may not actually exist. For example, the character of Ororo Munroe (Storm of the X-Men franchise) is of African descent.^{[citation needed]} Her first name, however is not an authentic African name. Names may also be created to either represent ethnic neutrality or corruption of a name with the passage of time. This is a common technique used by science fiction and fantasy writers who may also employ alternate spellings of existing names. Also, many science fiction operates on the premise that racial and ethnic boundaries will cease to exist in the future thus producing names that appear to be mixes of different ethnic sources.^{[original research?]} Yoshiyuki Tomino (creator of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam) is notable for creating character names that are unusual, exotic, and sometimes silly sounding. Examples include Char Aznable (which is actually based on a real person), Bright Noa, Quess Paraya, and Marvel Frozen. The science fiction writer Isaac Asimov has also created names which may or may not be variants or corruptions of existing or ancient names. Examples include Dors Venabili, R. Daneel Olivaw, and Giskard Reventlov. The Star Wars and Dune franchises contains many character names that juggle existing names with created ones; Leia Organa, Ben Kenobi, Paul Atreides, Vladimir Harkonnen.^{[citation needed][original research?]}

.name domains[link]

This section appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (May 2012)

According to Verisign,^[5] the .name top-level domain name (TLD) is designed for individuals to create a presence and make online communications easy and accessible. Not exclusive to registrars, social networking and community sites may also offer .name registration to their members and customers as a value-added service to help establish an individual identity online.^[6]

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• "Names" by Sam Cumming, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), a philosophical dissertation on the syntax and semantics of names
• Matthews, Elaine; Hornblower, Simon; Fraser, Peter Marshall, Greek Personal Names: Their Value as Evidence, Proceedings of The British Academy (104), Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-726216-3
• Name and Form - from Sacred Texts Buddhism

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Name

• Kate Monk's Onomastikon (Dictionary of Names) or Kate Monk's Onomastikon Names over the world throughout the history
• The etymology of first names
• Meaning of Names The etymology of first names
• What is a Name?

Donna Summer
Donna Summer at a recording studio in 1977
Background information
Birth name	LaDonna Adrian Gaines
Also known as	Donna Gaines
Born	(1948-12-31)December 31, 1948 Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died	May 17, 2012(2012-05-17) (aged 63) Englewood, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Pop, disco, dance-pop, rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1969–2012
Labels	Oasis, Casablanca (1975–80), Geffen (1980–88), Atlantic (1988–91), Mercury (1994–96), Warner-Elektra-Atlantic (1980–91), Epic (1999–2001), Burgundy (2006–12)
Associated acts	Giorgio Moroder, Brooklyn Dreams

LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012),^[1] known by the stage name Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the late 1970s. She had a mezzo-soprano vocal range, and was a five-time Grammy Award winner. Summer was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the United States Billboard chart, and she also charted four number-one singles in the United States within a 13-month period.

Born into a devoutly Christian lower middle class African American family in Boston, Massachusetts, Summer first became involved with singing through church choir groups before joining a number of bands influenced by the Motown Sound. Influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, she became the front singer of a psychedelic rock band named Crow and moved to New York City. Joining a touring version of the musical Hair, she spent several years living in West Germany, where she married Helmut Sommer, whose surname she adopted as her stage name.

Returning to the United States, Summer co-wrote the song "Love to Love You Baby" with Pete Bellotte; music producer Giorgio Moroder convinced her to sing it herself, and it was released to mass commercial success in 1975, particularly on the disco scene. Over the following years, Summer followed this success with a string of other disco hits, such as "I Feel Love", "MacArthur Park", "Hot Stuff" and "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)". Becoming known as the "Queen of Disco", she regularly appeared at the Studio 54 club in New York City, while her music gained a particularly large following within the gay community, for whom she became a gay icon. Struggling with drug addiction and depression, she subsequently became a born-again Christian.^[2]

Diagnosed with lung cancer, Summer died in May 2012, at her home on Manasota Key in Englewood, Florida, after a battle with the disease. She was posthumously described as the "undisputed queen of the Seventies disco boom" who reached the status of "one of the world's leading female singers."^[2] Her work with Moroder, particularly "I Feel Love", has also been described as "really the start of electronic dance" music, by Moroder himself.^[3]

Early life[link]

Summer was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on December 31, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts, to her parents, Andrew and Mary Gaines, and was one of seven children.^[4] She and her family were raised in the Boston neighborhood of Mission Hill. Her father, Andrew Gaines, was a butcher, and her mother Mary, was a schoolteacher.^[5] Summer's mother later recalled that from the time she could talk, Summer would often sing: "She literally loved to sing. She used to go through the house singing, singing. She sang for breakfast and for lunch and for supper."^[5]

Summer's performance debut occurred at church when she was ten years old, when she replaced a vocalist who had failed to show up.^[5] Her priest invited Summer to perform, judging from her small frame and speaking voice that she would be an "amusing spectacle", but instead Summer's voice recalled a voice older than her years and frame.^[5] Summer herself recalled that as she sang, "I started crying, everybody else started crying. It was quite an amazing moment in my life and at some point after I heard my voice came out I felt like God was saying to me 'Donna, you're going to be very, very famous' and I knew from that day on that I would be famous."^[5]

Summer later attended Boston's Jeremiah E. Burke High School, where she performed in school musicals and was considered popular.^[5] She was also something of a troublemaker, skipping home to attend parties, circumventing her parents' strict curfew.^[5] In 1967, just weeks before graduation, Summer left for New York where she was a member of the blues-rock band, Crow. After they were passed by every record label, they agreed to break up. Summer stayed in New York and auditioned for a role in the counterculture musical, Hair. When Melba Moore was cast in the part, Summer agreed to take the role in the Munich production of the show. She moved to Munich, Germany after getting her parents' reluctant approval.^[5]

Summer eventually became fluent in German, singing various songs in German. She participated in the musicals Ich Bin Ich (the German version of The Me Nobody Knows), Godspell and Show Boat. Within three years, she moved to Vienna, Austria and joined the Vienna Volksoper. She briefly toured with an ensemble vocal group called FamilyTree, the creation of producer Guenter "Yogi" Lauke. In 1968, Summer released (as Donna Gaines) on Polydor her first single, a German version of the title Aquarius from the musical Hair, followed in 1971 by a second single, a cover of The Jaynetts' "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", from a one-off European deal with Decca Records.^[6] In 1972, she issued the single, "If You Walkin' Alone" on Philips Records.^[6]

In 1973, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer and had a daughter, Mimi, the same year. Citing marital problems caused by her affair with German artist (and future live-in boyfriend) Peter Mühldorfer, she divorced Helmuth. She kept his last name, but Anglicized it to "Summer". She provided backing vocals on producer-keyboardist Veit Marvos on his 1972 Ariola Records release, Nice to See You, credited as "Gayn Pierre". Several subsequent singles included Summer performing with the group, but she often denied singing on any of the Marvos releases. The name "Gayn Pierre" was also used by Donna while performing in Godspell with Helmuth Sommer during 1972.^[6]

Music career[link]

1974–1979: Initial success[link]

While singing background in a recording session at Munich's Musicland Studios for Three Dog Night, Summer met German-based producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. The trio forged a working partnership and began collaborating on songs together starting in 1974. A demo tape of Summer's work with Moroder and Bellotte led to a deal with the European-distributed label, Groovy Records. The label issued Summer's first album, Lady of the Night. The album became a hit success in selected countries with two songs, "The Hostage" and "Lady of the Night", reaching the top of the charts in countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium.

In mid-1975, while working on another album, Summer passed on an idea for a song that Moroder was working on for another artist in the then-nascent disco sound, writing part of the song and labeling it as "Love to Love You". Summer would later say that she had imagined how Marilyn Monroe would sing this song and demonstrated how she felt Monroe would've approached it. Prior to recording the song and to get into the mood, she requested Moroder to turn off the lights while they sat on a sofa with him inducing her moans and groans. Moroder liked what he heard after hearing its playback and felt Summer's song should be released. The song was then sent to Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart in hopes of getting an American release. Bogart informed Summer and Moroder he would release the song (now called "Love to Love You Baby") but requested that Moroder produce a longer version for discothèques. Moroder, Bellotte, and Summer returned with a 17 minute version and Casablanca signed Summer and released the single in November 1975. The shorter version of the single was promoted to radio stations while clubs regularly played the 17 minute version (the longer version would also appear on the album). Casablanca became one of the first record labels to popularize the 12" single format.

By early 1976, "Love to Love You Baby" had reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while the parent album of the same name sold over a million copies. The song generated controversy due to Summer's moans and groans and some American and European radio stations, including the BBC, refused to play it.^[7] "Love to Love You Baby" found chart success in several European countries, and made the Top 5 in the United Kingdom despite the BBC ban. Other upcoming singles included "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It", US No. 80; "Could It Be Magic", US No. 52; "Spring Affair", US No. 58; and "Winter Melody", US No. 43. The subsequent albums Love Trilogy and Four Seasons of Love both went gold in the US.

In 1977, Summer released the concept album I Remember Yesterday. This album, again co-produced by Moroder and Bellotte, included her second top ten single, "I Feel Love", which reached number six in the US and number one in the UK. Another concept album, also released in 1977, was Once Upon a Time, a double album which told of a modern-day Cinderella "rags to riches" story through the elements of orchestral disco and ballads. This album would also attain gold status. In 1978, Summer released her version of the Jimmy Webb ballad, "MacArthur Park", which became her first US number one hit. The song was featured on Summer's first live album, Live and More, which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and went platinum selling over a million copies. Other studio tracks included the top ten hit, "Heaven Knows", which featured the group Brooklyn Dreams accompanying her on background and Joe "Bean" Esposito singing alongside her on the verses. Summer would later be romantically involved with Brooklyn Dreams singer Bruce Sudano and the couple married two years after the song's release. Also in 1978, Summer acted in the film, Thank God It's Friday, playing a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club. The film met modest success, but a song from the film, titled "Last Dance", reached number three on the Hot 100 and resulted in Summer winning her first Grammy Award. Its writer, Paul Jabara, won an Academy Award for the composition.

In 1979, Summer performed at the world-televised Music for UNICEF Concert, joining contemporaries such as Abba, Olivia Newton-John, the Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Rod Stewart, John Denver, Earth, Wind & Fire, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson for an hour's TV special that raised funds and awareness for the world's children. Artists donated royalties of certain songs, some in perpetuity, to benefit the cause.

[edit] 1979–1980: Bad Girls and the break from disco

Summer began work on her next project with Moroder and Bellotte, Bad Girls, an album that had been in production for nearly two years. Summer based the whole concept on prostitution (revisiting the theme for 1974's Lady of the Night), even dressing as a hooker herself on the cover art.

The album became a huge success, spawning the number one hits "Hot Stuff" and the title track and the number two "Dim All the Lights". With "MacArthur Park", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", and the Barbra Streisand duet "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)", Summer achieved four number one hits within a thirteen month period. Those aforementioned songs, along with "Heaven Knows", "Last Dance", "Dim All the Lights", and "On the Radio" (from her upcoming double-album) would give her eight US Top 5 singles within a two year period. "Hot Stuff" later won her a second Grammy in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, the first time the category was included. That year, Summer played eight sold-out nights at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

Summer released On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II, her first (international) greatest hits set in 1979. The double album reached number one in the United States, becoming her third consecutive number one album. A new song from the compilation, "On the Radio", reached the US top five, selling over a million copies in the United States alone.

1980–1985: Continued success[link]

After the release of the On the Radio hits album, Summer wanted to branch out into other musical styles in addition to disco, which led to tensions between her and Casablanca Records as Casablanca wanted her to continue to record in the disco format while Summer wanted to sing more rock and pop-based music. Sensing that they could no longer come to terms, Summer and the label parted ways in 1980, and she signed with Geffen Records, the new label started by David Geffen.

Summer's first Geffen album, The Wanderer, featured an eclectic mixture of sounds similar to Bad Girls but with only little emphasis on Summer's past disco success, instead, bringing elements of rock, rockabilly, new wave and gospel music. The album continued Summer's streak of gold albums with the title track peaking at No. 3 in the US, though its follow-up singles, "Cold Love" and "Who Do You Think You're Foolin'" were only modestly received.

When Summer presented Geffen with her projected second album, I'm a Rainbow, the label disapproved of its production sensing Moroder's sound had grown stale and advised Summer to change producers, leading to an argument between the artist and the label. Eventually, Moroder and Bellotte and Summer agreed to part ways with Geffen hiring top R&B and pop producer Quincy Jones to produce Summer's next album, the eponymously titled Donna Summer, released in 1982 and which took over six months to record, which was unusual for Summer's recordings. Among its releases included the top ten hit, "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)", and the more moderately received "State of Independence" (No. 41 pop) and "The Woman in Me" (No. 33 pop). Problems then increased between Summer and Geffen Records after they were notified by Polygram Records, Summer's former label Casablanca was by then a wholly owned subsidiary, that she needed to deliver them one more album to fulfill her contract with them.

Summer delivered the album, She Works Hard for the Money, and Polygram released it on its Mercury imprint in 1983. The title song became a hit reaching number three on the US Hot 100, and would provide Summer with a Grammy nomination. The album also featured the reggae-flavored UK Top 20 hit "Unconditional Love", which featured the British group Musical Youth who were riding high from the success of their single "Pass the Dutchie". The third US single, "Love Has A Mind of Its Own", reached the top forty of the Billboard R&B chart. The album itself was certified gold.

In late 1984, with her obligation to Polygram complete, Summer returned on Geffen Records with her next release. Geffen, wanting to keep the momentum going, enlisted She Works Hard for the Money's producer Michael Omartian to produce Cats Without Claws. The album, however, was not as successful as She Works Hard for the Money and failed to attain gold status in the US, becoming her first album since her 1974 debut not to do so. It did include a moderate hit in The Drifters cover "There Goes My Baby", which peaked at No. 21. Jellybean Benitez remixed two of the songs for the album that were released as 12" singles for club play "Eyes" & "I'm Free".

On January 19, 1985, she sang at the nationally-televised 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala, the day before the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan. She was introduced by Merv Griffin.

Controversy over alleged anti-gay comments[link]

In the mid 1980s, Summer was embroiled in a controversy. She had allegedly made anti-gay remarks regarding the then-relatively new disease, AIDS, which as a result had a significantly negative impact on her career. Summer, by this time a born-again Christian, was alleged to have said that AIDS was a punishment from God for the immoral lifestyles of homosexuals. ^[8][9] However, she denied that she had ever made any such comment and, in a letter to the AIDS campaign group ACT UP in 1989, she said that it was "a terrible misunderstanding. I was unknowingly protected by those around me from the bad press and hate letters... If I have caused you pain, forgive me." She went on to apologize for the delay in refuting the rumours and closed her letter with Bible quotes (from Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians).^[10]