ABSTRACT
By the twentieth century, the pattern of personal naming was firmly and definitively fixed. The second, last or family name was invariable and passed from father to legitimate children. Within countries the pool of family names was closed. Some new names were introduced by immigration but these confirmed to the prevailing norms in function and often form. First and (and “middle”) given names continued to be bestowed at birth and selected from an accepted repertoire, but this repertoire expanded and the rules or conventions by which names were allotted to individuals changed. Transmission of names within families gave way to the following of fashion. Only first names in this period therefore really have a history, and attention must be focused on them. The subject has been most thoroughly investigated for France.
