The Big Book of Names. A Complete Study: Origin, History, Meaning

What is a human name? We only know that it is what our parents call us, and it is written in our passport. Few people think that at the dawn of humanity, it was known that a name represents not... just a distinctive set of sounds but is also an intimate, non-random part of the very essence of a person, serving as a driving force of their fate. This is why the act of naming was a ceremonial act of creation. Since ancient times, shamans and sorcerers of various cultures and peoples, when initiating someone into their secrets, would give them a new name, sometimes so sacred that a person would not reveal it to anyone even in the face of death. Echoes of those customs remain in our cultures in the form of religious rites (the naming of a child in Islamic traditions, or baptism in Orthodoxy). The book you are holding is not a directory of names or a brief glossary of their meanings. It is a truly fundamental, authorial research work that illuminates the most popular names existing in our country. Each name in the book is a journey into the depths of history, getting acquainted with our ancestors and events of antiquity. An engaging description of each name, analysis from the standpoint of word formation, listing of diminutive and other forms will give the reader the most complete understanding of each name. A name is like clean clothes; it does not tolerate dirt. A name cannot be washed away like clothing. And thus, it should be cherished from a young age, like one’s honor, like one’s conscience. Your name is you.