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 the Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, turn to ancient times, remembering pagan roots. A lot depends on fashion trends. However, European names will never go out of fashion, as their variety is huge. Let's talk about the most popular ones.
Greek names
Very 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, Anastasy, 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 the 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
Every mention of Holland conjures up pictures of cheese, windmills and tulips. However, many European male names came to us from this country. Many of them are not very common in our country, but are found in many countries of the world. But after all, we also have familiar men whom our parents named Adam, Albert, Alfred, Valentine, David, Max, Rudolf, Philip, Jacob. All of them are named after traditions that came to us from the Netherlands.
Spanish
Remember the end of the last century. It is to him that we owe the fact that European names of Spanish origin have flowed into our lives with a powerful stream. TV screens showed our mothers, aunts and grandmothers colorful series about a 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's hard to explain if the Italians themselves love life so much, or if it's their names that 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 have you, charges you with positive, gives you warmth. Is it possible to be sad next to a person whomnames are Adriana, Valentino, Silvia, Vincente, Laura, Antonio, Isabella, Gratiano, 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 meaning. If with age a person did not acquire the main character traits inherent in the name given to him, then to display his spiritual qualities he was given a suitable nickname. For example, Jaunutis was called “young”, Vilkas was called “wolf”, Kuprus was called “humpback”, Mazhulis was called “small”, and Juodgalvis was called “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 they 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, Lea, Lina, Max, Michael, Matiel, Otto, Julius, Carl, Frida, Suzanne 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 - Goly, Koval, Wilk. However, today European female names that have comefrom Poland are very popular. In any country in the world you can meet Agnieszka, Anna, Barbara, Magdalena, Jadwiga, Zofia or Tereska.
Finnish names
Finnish ancient names are closely related to the unusual subtle perception of nature that the indigenous people of those lands had. Many years ago, locals 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 used borrowings, but after a certain period of time they began to return to their roots.
Afterword
It is simply impossible to list all European names. And it's not even that there are many countries in Europe. After all, how many generations have changed, how many traditions have given birth to new names, how many borrowings have happened! One thing unites them all - each of them is popular. One - all over the world, the other - only in their own country, the third - in a certain area. But none of them will be forgotten!
