Guided reading · Approximately 45 minutes
Names, meaning and evidence
A source-literacy lesson separating a dictionary headword, a documented person’s name, spelling variation and an individual’s naming intention.
Secondary learners and adult family-history groups. Timing includes a short introduction and reflection.
Learner activities
Activity 1 · 12 minutes
Three questions for one name
Read the Aman and Anand entries. Build a table with three headings: documented use; dictionary evidence; personal intention. Fill only the fields supported by the cited records. Use ‘not established in these sources’ wherever evidence is missing.
Activity 2 · 12 minutes
Keep a spelling with its source
Compare the Arjan and Balraj entries. Record one full public-name form and the source that supplies it. If a variant or native form appears, identify whether it comes from a dictionary, an institutional record or a particular person. Explain why those are different claims.
Activity 3 · 11 minutes
Make a small evidence record
Choose one of the four entries. Write a record of no more than 80 words containing the name, one supported statement about its use, one evidence limit and a source ID. Exchange it with a partner and check whether every statement can be traced to the cited record.
Bring the evidence together
Reflection
Which of the three questions—use, lexical meaning or personal intention—was hardest to answer from the available evidence, and why?
Take it further
Use the names explorer to compare a record with documented lexical evidence and one whose meaning remains unestablished. Identify the different source types; do not rank the names by how complete their records are.
For facilitators
Discussion guidance
Use these points to assess the evidence and reasoning. Learners can give different supported answers. The printed worksheet omits this section; the teacher download includes it and the full source trail.
1. Three questions for one name
Check that an institutional record is used for documented use and a dictionary is identified as lexical evidence. A learner should not fill an unknown field by turning an attractive English association into the bearer’s intended meaning.
2. Keep a spelling with its source
A good answer preserves the full form and exact source locator. A lexical native form should not be assigned to an individual as their preferred spelling unless the evidence actually says so. Variant spellings should not create separate identities without supporting evidence.
3. Make a small evidence record
Accept a short record with an explicitly unknown meaning. Do not reward unsupported certainty, identity inferred from spelling, or the amount of personal information included. The goal is a clear, traceable record with its limits intact.
No external curriculum approval or assessment certification is claimed. These questions accompany the site’s AI-assisted, source-checked English articles; see the editorial policy.