Anthroponomastics (or Anthroponymy), a branch of onomastics, is the study of anthroponyms (<Gk. anthropos, 'man', + onuma, 'name'), the names of human beings. Onomastics (Onomatology) is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. ... Greek (, IPA — Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of 3,500 years. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ...

Anthroponyms often preserve lexical elements that have dropped out of the standard lexicon of a language. For example, the English name Fishburn preserves -burn, from an older bourn, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "brook", which has dropped out of common standard English usage. Anthroponyms also easily pass from the language of origin into other, often unrelated languages. A lexicon is usually a list of words together with additional word-specific information, i. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ...

In the case of poorly attested languages, anthroponyms are often a primary source for determining the nature and characteristics of a language, though this has many drawbacks compared to more direct evidence of a language's features.

The subdivisions of Anthroponymy include:

• Personal names
• Surnames
• Clan names
• Patronyms
• Teknonyms
• Nicknames
• Ethnonyms
  • Autonyms/Endonyms
  • Exonyms

A given name is a word which specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name. ... A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ... A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the name of ones father. ... A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Nick is short for Nicholas). ... An ethnonym (Gk. ... An exonym is a name for a place that is not used within that place by the local inhabitants, or a name for a people that is not used by that people. ...

See also

• Toponymy