And now it's time for Who's Smarted.
Well, yee -haw and howdy, folks.
A great big welcome to y 'all.
My name is Blunt Filbert, and I'm a tickle -pink that y 'all here for the greatest, the most exciting, the biggest event of the year here in Smartie County.
I am, of course, talking about, drumroll please, the annual Smartie County Fan Pizza Pie Eating Contest.
Now, we've got some new contestants this year, along with some old pros.
Who's going to take home the trophy this year?
Well, that we're going to find out.
But whoever it is, they're going to have to be one heck of a pizza eater.
Hey there, smarty pants.
I'm probably going to regret this, but I couldn't help it.
When I saw they were having a pizza pie eating contest, I had to enter.
Of course, I probably shouldn't have had breakfast.
and lunch before this, but I got hungry.
Anyway, I'm hoping my love of pizza will put me over the top.
Now, before we get all the cheering, swallowing, and hollering started, let's introduce the contestants.
First, we've got Sharon Short.
She once ate 62 meatballs in eight minutes.
This is her second pizza pie -eating contest.
Next, we've got my friend Papa Peterson.
This is Pappy's Knife Pizza Pieogen Contest.
He's won twice before, including last year, with 26 and a half slices in just ten minutes.
Oh boy! Whoa, 26 and a half slices in ten minutes?
Uh, I definitely shouldn't have had lunch.
Next up, we've got Rufus Roosterhouse, the pickle and anchovy eating champion of the world.
Back for his fifth time.
Still looking for that first win, though.
And last but not least, we've got a brand first -timer up on stage with us.
He calls himself the Trusty Narrator.
Ha! All right, let's give everybody a big old hand.
Wow, all these people are really good at eating.
Even more so, they all have such interesting names.
Blurt Filbert, Sharon Short, Pappy Peterson, Rufus Roosterhouse.
Yep, names are what gives us our identity and makes each and every one of us unique.
Right. Oh, and, uh, you are?
I'm Robert Smith. But you can call me Bob.
Bob Smith? Uh, no offense, but that doesn't sound very unique.
I suppose you're right.
But I bet most of those other Bob Smiths are an onomasticians.
Onomastic what now?
An onomastician is someone who studies names.
And that's what I do.
Onomastics. Oh, well, how very convenient you happen to be right here, right now.
I was just marveling at all these cool names people have.
And, um, I'd also like an excuse to get out of this pizza pie eating contest, if I'm being honest.
So you would rather learn about names instead of eating slice after slice until you...
What? Yeah, don't get me wrong.
I love pizza, but cramming 20 slices into my mouth hole in front of a crowd of cheering people doesn't sound like my idea of a picnic.
Instead, I'd rather learn about things like, where do names even come from?
Why do some cultures have very similar -sounding names?
And how come some people just have a first and last name, and other people have really long names?
You name the time and place, and I'll tell you all about names.
Great! In that case, it's time for another whiff of science and history on… Who's smarted?
Who's smarted Who's smart Is it you Is it me Is it science Or history Listen up Everyone We make smarting Lots of fun On who's smarted Hey smarty parents I know the struggle Of wanting to create The best future For the children In your life That's why I'm thrilled To share my experience With IXL Learning
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Okay, Smarty Pants, I quit the pizza pie eating contest.
To be honest, I don't even think anyone noticed I left.
But now I'm here with the ironically named name expert, Bob Smith, to find out where do our names come from?
Well, that's a pretty big question, trusty narrator.
I think we should break it down and focus on last names first, since those tend to be more complex than first names.
Excellent idea, Mr.
Smith. In most parts of the world, regardless of culture or language, last names, also known as surnames or family names, tend to fit into one of about five categories.
Let's start with a very common category.
Occupational surnames.
Occupation? You mean like a job?
Exactly. Many last names are a result of the job that that first person with that last name had.
For example, my last name is Smith.
which comes from blacksmith or someone who works with metal.
It's very likely one of my ancestors was a metal worker, and that's how that name came to be.
Hey, that makes a lot of sense.
My last name is Narrator, and I, too, come from a long line of narrators.
Hey, smarty pants, which of these names is not an occupational surname?
A. Farmer, B. King, or C.
Eisenhower? This one is a little tricky, but if you said king, you're right Someone with the last name Farmer obviously descended from a person who was a farmer And Eisenhower is actually German for iron worker Right on, but wait, isn't king technically an occupation?
I suppose. But an actual king wouldn't have that last name, King.
But this does bring us to the next category of last names.
Cognominal names. These are especially fun.
A cognominal name is a name that comes from...
From what, Smarty Pants?
See if you can guess.
Is it A, a nickname, B, a dog's name, or C, a nursery rhyme.
The answer is a nickname, and king is a great example.
You see, someone who acted like he was a king, you know, pretending to be all high and mighty, may have gotten that nickname.
Or perhaps he played a king as an actor.
Back in medieval England, people would put on plays called mystery plays, which acted out stories from the Bible.
It was common for an actor in a mystery play to resume the same role his entire life before passing the name on to his eldest son.
So an actor who played the king would get the last name King and pass that on to his son?
Yep. That's so interesting.
Other surnames deriving from nicknames include Short, which could have been a short person, Fairchild, which may refer to someone with light -colored hair, or Brown for a person with this.
In Chinese, the last name Gao means tall.
Wow. I wonder if there's someone out there named Andy Annoying, whose ancestors were annoying, or Brenda Blabbermouth, who couldn't keep a secret.
You never know. Then we've got something called toponymic surnames, which are location names, like Evelyn England, or Diane Dorlands, which means from Orleans, or Maria Monte, which is Italian for mountain.
Also very interesting.
Then there's ornamental surnames.
These sometimes come from descriptions of a noble house's coat of arms, like the Danish name Rosencrans, which means rose wreath, or a person could be named Gallo, the Italian word for rooster.
Ah, like Rufus, rooster house.
Okay, that's four name categories.
One more? Yep. Those are what's known as patronymic and matronymic names.
Those are names that come from the father or mother.
Pappy Peterson probably comes from an ancestor who was the son of Peter.
Hence, Peter's son, which becomes Peterson.
Smarty pants, true or false?
Patronomic names are the oldest and most common type of last name.
The answer is true.
Wow. Bob Smith? Who knew that last names had such colorful stories behind them?
But there's still something I don't quite understand.
You've been saying stuff like someone was given their last name based on a nickname or an ancestor was the first to have a certain last name.
Does that mean there was a time when people didn't have last names?
Great deduction, trusted narrator.
And the answer is yes.
In fact, first names are actually much older than last names.
Whoa. Ever heard of the famous Greek philosophers Plato, Aristotle, or Socrates?
Of course. Have you, Smarty Pants?
Well, they didn't have last names.
Actually, nobody in ancient Greece did.
But hold on. What would happen if there were two people in the same town named Aristotle?
What do you think, Smarty Pants?
In that case, their father's name would be added, and that's where patronymic names come from.
So if one of the Aristotle's dads was named Bob, he'd be Aristotle Bobson?
Sure. Wow. And was it common all over the world to not have a last name?
It depended on where you were.
For example, ancient China did use surnames, and they were originally matronymic, so passed down from the mother.
But in Western Europe, people didn't have last names until the 11th century.
Really? So why did they start getting them?
Well, it was mostly for practical reasons.
For example, in 11th century England, the king at the time, William the Conqueror, wanted a record of every piece of land, a list of all the resources that land produced, and a list of all the people that lived there who owed him taxes.
Think of it like a very early census or survey.
It was called the doomsday book.
Yikes, that sounds spooky.
It only sounds spooky.
It was just a long, boring list, and it was completed in 1086.
Anyway, this long, boring list of all these people on all this land meant they needed to start giving out some last names in order to keep track of everyone.
And that's where we got a lot of those very first occupation and nickname -based surnames.
Fascinating. And by about the 1400s, most English people had last names.
Around the same time, in many other parts of the world, the same process was happening.
Kings, barons, and all sorts of government types demanded a way to organize, count, and track people.
So last names became more common.
There were lots of son -of -names happening in those early days, like Milton Martinson was the son of Martin, or Alberto Rodriguez would have been the son of Rodrigo.
Do you remember what these were called, Smarty Pants?
That's right, patronomic names.
But this also meant everyone's last name was always changing with every generation.
So, around the 1600s in many parts of the world, family names were adopted.
No more son stuff every time a guy has a kid, but rather one last name that's the same for everyone in the family.
Ah, good stuff, Bob Smith.
But what about first names?
And really long names?
And really weird names?
Great questions, Trusty.
In fact, did you know some names are so weird, it's illegal to have them as names?
I did not. But we'll find out all about them right after a quick break and a word from our sponsors.
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And now we're back to Who's Smarted.
All right, we've covered the origins of all sorts of last names.
But now let's talk first names, long names, and weird names.
Oh, and why do some people have middle names and some don't?
A lot of it is simply cultural.
For example, in Spain, and in many Spanish -speaking countries in South America, a child of two parents takes both their last names and has a combined name.
But it happens in a very specific order.
So if Raul Diaz Gomez marries Paloma Vergara Perez, and they have a daughter they name Joanna, her name would be Joanna Diaz Vergara.
Then, if they get little Joanna middle name, say...
Geraldine! Then she'd be Joanna Geraldine Diaz Vergara.
Okay, that's a pretty long name.
Yeppers. And here's another odd name and quirk.
While in most of the world, you'd write your first name first and last name last, in some cultures, your last name's actually written before your first name.
This is quite common in China, Korea, and Japan, which is why it's called the Eastern Naming Order.
Smarty Pants, which of these non -East Asian countries also uses the Eastern Naming Order?
Canada, Hungary, or Estonia?
If you guessed Hungary, you're right.
In fact, many countries have their own unique naming traditions.
In some Eastern European countries, your last name depends on whether you're a boy or a girl.
For example, if you're a Polish boy with the last name Porowski, your sister's last name would be Porowska.
And in Iceland, first names carry more weight than last names.
So much so that you call your teacher and doctor by their first names.
So instead of saying Dr.
Jones, I'd say Dr. Fred?
Exactly. Except in Iceland, it would be more like Dr.
Inar, Dr. Gunnar, or Dr.
Magnus. Wow. Those are pretty cool names.
But you don't hear them too often here in the United States.
Nope. Different cultures or countries often have different popular names.
And then there are some first names that are actually illegal to use.
Whoa. Okay, this I have to hear.
What do you got, Bob?
Well, did you know in the United States it's illegal to name your child a king, queen, or Santa Claus?
Ho, ho, ho. No. I did not.
And in Japan, you can't name a person devil.
And in Malaysia, you can't name a person snake.
Yikes. Those are some pretty crazy names, Bob.
But here's a question for you smarty -pants out there.
True or false? In Portugal, it is illegal to name your kid Tom.
If you said true, you're right.
But don't worry, all you Toms out there.
You can still visit Portugal all you want.
Names are a pretty incredible thing.
They're as varied as it's all.
And your name is what makes you you.
That's true, even if other people share your name.
By the way, according to a 2023 survey, the most popular first name in the world is Muhammad, with over 133 million people with that name.
Whoa. In second was Maria, followed by Nushi.
Yep, but I can only think of one trusting narrator.
Aw, thanks, Bob Smith.
Oops, sorry about that.
I guess I'm hungry again.
let's pop by the pizza eating contest.
Maybe I can grab a quick slice or two with my name on it.
A big shout out to Max in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Max wrote me a note that reads, Hi, trusty narrator.
I really love Who Smarted because it helps me get smarter.
Why, thank you, Max.
And a big thank you to your mom, Jen, as well.
We're so happy to have your family as part of our Smarty family.
This episode names was written by Phil—not his real name, Jeremy— and voiced by Brad—cool name, Raider, and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh—what's -in -a -name, Han?
Our associate producer is Max—no -middle -name, Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian—say -my -name, Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam—what's -his -name, Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Kolber.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
Too Smarted
