earticle

영어

It is essential to understand American social values for better communication between Korea and
America. This study is about American social value changes based on the trends in naming
babies. Generally, parents throughout the world have expectations when they name their
newborn babies. Social values include parents' views of life and occupations. This study
analyzes, by decade, the top 20 American names used in naming the newborn for the last 110
years. The names are divided into types signifying power, justice, honor, and service in
reference to scholars' classifications in this area. Thus this study arranges changes in American
social values based on the interrelation between names and their types. The result of this study
shows American parents' social values have changed during the last 110 years. This study finds
its import in showing that American social value changes are reflected in naming the newborn.
(University of Incheon)