Names.

1. Answer the following questions. Post your answers in the Upper Intermediate Forum.

What are common names where you come from?
Is your family name common?
Does your family name have a meaning? Does it tell you anything about where you are from?
Are any names from other countries popular in your country? Which ones?

For example:

I’m from the Basque Country. Popular Basque names are Amaia, Maialen, Ainhoa for girls and Oier, Jon or Mikel for boys. In the Basque Country, and in the rest of Spain, we use both the father’s and the mother’s surname. My surnames are Etxeberri Martínez. “Etxe” means house and “berri” means new. Martínez is a very common Spanish surname and means “the son of Martin”. Martínez is particularly common in Navarra, La Rioja and Murcia. Among the immigrant population from Latin America some of the most popular names are Sofia, Mateo or Benjamín.

2. Go to the Upper Intermediate Forum and read some of the other students’ messages. Choose one. Click on "Write a reply" and leave a comment or ask a question. For example:

My cousin is called Amaia. I didn’t know that this is a Basque name! What does it mean?
Martínez is also very common in Latin America.

Remember: If somebody asks you a question, don’t forget to answer!