Many names are of Hebrew (Daniel, David, Elizabeth, Susan) or Greek (Nicholas, Dorothy, George, and Helen) origin.
Some are Germanic names, sometimes adopted via the transmission of French (Robert, Richard, Gertrude, Charlotte) or originate from Indo-European (Adrian, Amelia, Patrick) or Celtic.
Most are male names like Cecil, Gerald[citation needed], Howard, Percy, Montague, Stanley or Gordon, though some of those some have female versions like Cecilia or Geraldine.
[4] While it is normal for a child to be given one of their parents' surnames, traditionally the father's (or increasingly some combination of the two), there is nothing in UK law that explicitly requires this.
Nonetheless, the General Register Office and various organizations that help with creating and enrolling deed polls will reject anything that is unreasonable (racist, offensive, fraudulent, implying a title of nobility not held, unpronounceable, not in the Latin script, etc.).