A personal name is a proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants orphaned by natural disaster for whom no written record survives. The Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies that a child has the right from birth to a name. Certain isolated tribes, such as the Machiguenga of the Amazon, also lack personal names.
Naming conventions are strongly influenced by culture, with some cultures being more flexible on naming than others. However, for all cultures where historical records are available, the naming rules are known to change over time.
Read more about Personal Name: Structure, Feudal Names, Naming Convention, Name Order, Nonhuman Personal Names
Famous quotes containing the word personal:
“I want relations which are not purely personal, based on purely personal qualities; but relations based upon some unanimous accord in truth or belief, and a harmony of purpose, rather than of personality. I am weary of personality.... Let us be easy and impersonal, not forever fingering over our own souls, and the souls of our acquaintances, but trying to create a new life, a new common life, a new complete tree of life from the roots that are within us.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)