I teach English and have some US students and some English students. I was wondering about the history of the names "full stop" and "period". Which name came first and how did the other name originate?

Hi, pakmac!

Please click on the following two searches. You'll find quite a bit of information on some of the sites that you'll find on those searches.

Full Stop Definition - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=Full+Stop+Definition)

Full Stop Definition History - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=Full+Stop+Definition+History)

The following site in particular yields a lot of information.

Full stop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_stop)

Thanks!