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Re: 2nd name
I am reminded of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Almost everyone in his family was Johann 'something' Bach.It seems to me that these names were often used to appease, as mentioned, family concerns or maybe the saints themselves.Naturally John and Mary are the most common and Jacob/James and Elizabeth follow closely behind. These names are not just popular (and thusly reused within families) but the names of those persons closest to Christ.I wonder if anyone here knows when the Jean-x and Gian-x style of names developed in France and Italy respectively with regard to the German pattern. I also believe that other languages excel in bi-part names modernly by shear numbers. Namely the Low-German (Lise-x, x-lise) and Spanish (Mari-x, x-lisa).
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