A
given name (also known as a first name, forename) is a part of a person's
personal name. It identifies a specific person and differentiates that person
from other members of a group, such as a family or a clan, with whom that
person shares a common surname. The term given name refers to the fact that the
name usually is bestowed upon a person, normally given to a child 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, Baby Names.
Regnal
names and religious or monastic names are special types of given names, as they
are given to adults upon them receiving a crown or entering a religious order
and as such are replacing the original given name of those persons.
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.
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