If your
parents named you John, don't be surprised that in France people will call you
Jean. Or if you find yourself in Spain, an abuela (grandmother) may refer to
you as Juan. Women with names like Mariska, Mariah and Mary owe their names to
a Hebrew name. Muhammad, the most popular name in the world, has many different
spellings in different languages. Fascinating, isn't it?
Most of the
given names today originated from Latin, Greek, Hebrew or Arabic names.
Throughout human history, given names have changed from one location to
another. As people moved across lands and over seas due to migration, war or a
multitude of other reasons, they brought with them their given names that came
from their original mother tongues. The locals in their new communities must
have spoken a dialect or language different from theirs. So when their names
were adopted in these new settings, their original given names were changed in
order to fit the local language or dialect better.
