by Sara Mcgrath

Created on: August 05, 2008   Last Updated: July 20, 2011

Enter your name in a search engine and you may get hundreds of thousands of results. Add the words "name," "origin," and "meaning" to your search and you'll narrow it down, but you'll still probably get hundreds of results.

My name is very common. When I type "Sara name meaning origin," my favorite etymology website, Behind the Name: The Etymology and History of First Names, is in the top 5 results. Behind the Name gives me the most common spellings of my name, its various pronunciations, its gender, the languages in which I can find it used, and its meaning and origin.

I've discovered that Sara is most often spelled Sarah, most often pronounced SER-uh, and it means "lady" or "princess" in Hebrew.

Name History and Origin

Behind the Name also gives me some history about the origin of my name. Mine was the name of the wife of Abraham in the Old Testament, although her original name was Saray (see Genesis 17:15). In England, Sarah came into use as a name after the Protestant Reformation.

Did you know that the Protestant Reformation had a profound effect on given first names? I didn't either until Behind the Name pointed me to name-related information beyond the general meaning and origin of my name.

The names of saints fell out of favor. Old Testament names came into fashion.

Etymology of a Name

Etymology refers to the origin and historical movement and development of a word. In this case, it's the long story of your name, first or last.

Given names are also called first names, forenames, or Christian names, in Europe and North America where they precede the family name. Last names are also called surnames or family names.

Name Classification by Origin

Behind the Name classifies names by origin for easy browsing and allows searching by surnames, meanings, usages, namesakes, name days, popularity, and glossary. For example, Sara ranked 49,607 out of 88,799 in the United States and falls under the classifications of diminutive, Marian names (names which honor the Virgin Mary), and the Old Testament.

Finding the meaning and origin of your name, first or last (given or family) can be as easy as typing it into a search engine, but you may as well skip that step and go directly to Behind the Name for a thorough resource.

For fun, try Behind the Name's Random Name Generator, Random Renamer, Anagram Names, Name Themes, and Names for Twins.

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