prename - old-fashioned?

[mathias_r]

I've searched my dictionary for alternative terms of "forename" and have found: first name, given name, Christian name. I wonder why I haven't come across the word "prename" which I have heard of before.
A Google search (limited on English websites) indicates that "prename" is rare:

"first name": 609,000,000 hits
"given name": 81,000,000
"forename": 76,000,000
"Christian name": 2,110,000
"prename": 155,000

Has "prename" become old-fashioned? Or is its usage just a question of personal taste whereas obviously many speakers don't like this word very much? Or is "prename" only regionally used?

What do you think?

[charliedeut]

Hi Mathias,

Neither here: Prename - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary nor here: prename - definition of prename by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. (there are probably more examples) does it says it's old-fashioned.

So it seems that it is not used by speakers, that's all. Of course, the implication is, in my opinion, that if speakers don't use it, it will be old-fashioned sooner than later.

charliedeut

[Barb_D]

I have never seen or used prename or forename, though I see the latter has 76 million hits. Perhaps that one is used more often in the UK. The most common way, as the Goggle results show, is "first name" but as we become more global and realize some cultures have their family name first and the name their parents pick out for them second, "given name" is becoming more popular. I recommend with an American audience you use "given name."

[5jj]

I have never seen or used prename or forename, though I see the latter has 76 million hits. Perhaps that one is used more often in the UK.

When I was a child it was always 'Christian name' in BrE, but cultural sensitivity put a stop to that, at last among those younger than I. I think 'forename' is as common as anything these days. I have never heard or seen 'pre-name'.

[emsr2d2]

As 5jj said, here in the UK we have seen "Christian name" give way to "forename" or "first name" or sometimes "given name" but I have never seen pre-name. I can see the logic - the French word for it is "prénom" but I've never heard what appears to be a direct translation used.