USE AND ORIGIN OF SURNAMES. a3 
christian name is generally chosen from a list 
of names, which use has consecrated in each com- 
munity. I think the number of such names in 
this country—that is, christian names, in pretty 
general acceptance and currency—amounts to 
about two hundred.* 
It is obvious to remark, that in a numerous 
society of men, consisting of many thousands or 
even millions, a list of two or three hundred sin- 
gle names would not be sufficient to distinguish 
individual men from one another; as the same 
name must of necessity be attached to many 
thousand individuals. ‘To obviate the confusion, 
which in that case would be unavoidable, various 
ways were adopted, when particular families or 
communities became too numerous for every in- 
dividual to be sufficiently distinguished by one 
name. The Greeks, Romans, and other ancient 
* Of course I do not include in my estimate names seldom 
used, which caprice and fancy lead men sometimes to adopt ; 
nor foreign names; nor names borrowed from the scriptures, 
scarcely sanctioned by custom, as Obadiah, Ezekiel, &c. 
It not unfrequently happens, that the surname of the mother’s 
family, or of other relatives or honoured friends, is adopted 
and used for a christian name. Ido not include names of 
this class. 
