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Case Study: The Social Security Administration

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From 1880 to 2015, the Social Security Administration has recorded 83,686 babies born with the first name Maxwell in the United States (Names.org), and I am the only one with my specific name. I did not know much about my names before this assignment; the one fact that I did know was that my last name was part German. This seemed obvious to me because Smaglick looks and sound German. However, there was a lot of stuff that I wanted to learn about my names, such as where my ancestors came from and why I was named Maxwell. The first place that I looked for information about my names was the Behind the Names website. Next, I explored the library to find a book source. Then, I searched the MyNameStats.com website. Finally, I conducted an interview …show more content…

The name “Maxwell,” which means “the stream of Mack,” is a Scottish surname that became a first name (20,000 Names from Around the World). I must have a very exotic name. There are so many countries that my names are tied to. Being the most popular in the state of Minnesota, Maxwell, which has a derivative of Max, is ranked number 113 in popularity in the United States (Behind the Name). I knew that Maxwell was a popular name in America, but I thought it would be more popular than that. Also, of all the states that my first name could have been the most popular, I would not have expected Minnesota. A couple of people that I was named after include James Maxwell, who was a Scottish physicist that studied gases and electromagnetism; and Max Evans, who I learned was very smart (Behind the Name). I must have lived up to my name, as I am near the top of my class. I hope I can someday add to the list of famous Maxwell’s. I was named Maxwell because at the time, my dad was watching Gladiator and had knowledge of a TV character named Maxwell Smart; also, he had great expectations for me, as I was his child (Smaglick). I believe that he named me after Maximus in Gladiator because of how kind and noble he was. Also, I feel that I have lived up to my dad’s expectations. After concluding my research on my first name, I next began to discover information about my middle …show more content…

Gerald, which I got from my dad’s father, James Gerald Smaglick, is an Old German name that means “mighty (Smaglick) (Astoria).” I kind of expected more than just my name to be German. Also, I guess my parents knew that I would be a protector someday. Gerald, which is ranked number 764 in popularity in the United States, is derived from names such as Gerry and Jerry (Behind the Name). I did not know how popular my middle name was. Also, it makes sense that Gerry and Jerry are derivatives of my middle name. After I finished researching my middle name, I then started to find information about my last

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