New York, NY ( prsafe ) May 15, 2012 - Names are more than just sounds that we identify with people, places, and things. Traditionally, most societies assigned names to their citizens based on specific name meanings, indicating the personality traits of the person, values of the family, or characteristics that they hope will develop in the child. In some cases, generic names were assigned to children (first daughter, second son) until the child's personality came to the surface. In modern Western culture, baby names tend to be assigned on the basis of personal taste (how the name sounds to the parents), and sometimes on names of honored or deceased family members. These are probably not the worst criteria in the world for choosing names, but when a child asks, "What does my name mean?" the parents usually can't answer. Knowing the meaning of names can bring an additional sense of identity to a child's life, and it also shows that the parents took great care in making this important decision. In addition, having knowledge of name meanings can help the parents to choose between names; if there is a debate between two names that sound nice to the parents, knowing the name meanings can add another criteria for comparison that can help to clear up the decision.

Now it is easier than ever to research the meanings of names due to the internet. Leading the way in name research is MFNames.com, which provides a huge database of names, name meanings, name origins, and other useful information about male and female names. Parents who would like to choose an authentic name that is linked to their heritage can find names at MFNames.com that are categorized by origin, so people who want to see lists of Irish, Japanese, Indian, African, Jewish, or Chinese names can just punch in a few words and come up with a list of many to choose from. This is a great feature for families who would like to help preserve their heritage through the names of their children.

MFNames.com is also a very useful tool for anyone who wants to choose names for any reason. Pet owners can use the site to find unique pet names, including names with origins that match the pet's breed or region. Writers also find this database useful when they need to come up with names for characters for novels, short stories, plays, TV shows or movies. MFNames.com helps writers to find character names that are believable, non-cliché, and authentic to the character's background. Then, of course, there are people who want to change their own names for business or personal reasons. They can make very good use of this website when they are selecting new names for themselves, and the ability to find name meanings and origins allows them to select new names for legal name changes that are meaningful, reflecting their identities in a significant way.

About MFNames.com

MFNames.com is a multi-faceted, user-friendly website that supplies the origins and meanings of names from around the world. Their database of names is extensive, and very helpful to people who are trying to select baby names, or names for pets, fictional characters, or for any other reason. For more information, please visit www.mfnames.com.

###