the.com/onomastics
the study of names, because someone had to explain why you're not a jennifer for nothing.
means the scholarly study of proper names, their origins, forms, and how they encode history, class, and belief.
from from greek onoma, meaning name, filtered through onomastikos, relating to naming; the field split into anthroponomastics (people) and toponomastics (places) as scholars realized names are basically fossilized culture.
two main branchesanthroponomastics studies people, toponomastics studies places
names as datacan reveal migration patterns centuries after the fact
academic journals existnames has been peer-reviewed since 1952
forensic usehelps date undated manuscripts by naming conventions
for instance
domesday book — 1086 survey used as a goldmine for english surname origins
ellis island myth — names were not actually changed there, onomastics debunked it
icelandic patronymics — jonsdottir and jonsson track fathers, not fixed family lines