My name is Janet. When I was a kid I wanted a nickname, but nobody would call me Jan because everyone “knew” Jan was a boy’s name in Holland. They didn’t realize the J was pronounced like a Y over there.
Now sometimes I’m Jan and sometimes I’m Janet, depending on if there’s another Jan or Janet in the group.
I have to stop and think which name I should use every time I go to a meeting or social event.
And there are lots of similar names besides Janet and Jan. Girls may be named Jane, Jean, Joan, Jeanette, Janice, Juanita, Joanne, Joni, or Shawna. And boys are often named John, Juan, Sean, Ian, Evan, Jack, Hans, Johan. And those aren’t even all of the related names.
Probably the reason there are so many people in the world with similar names is the original meaning. Those names are all derived from Hebrew words meaning God, gift, and grace. So the names mean God gives grace, or gracious gift of God.
I guess originally a lot of people were very happy to have the babies they gave names to with that meaning.
Of course over the centuries lots of babies were named after other people who had those names.
Do you know what your name means?
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