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Names constitute a key component of the cultural heritage of any region. Though geographically, culturally and linguistically apart, Estonia and Zambia share some elements and motivations in naming. Zambia's British colonial experience and Estonia's Danish, German, Polish, Swedish and Russian/Soviet influence in the past made significant changes to personal and place names in both regions. Following independence, both states made strides in the indigenisation of names for promoting local heritage and national identity. Zambia predominantly focused on changing the names of some towns, and of the country (from Northern Rhodesia to Zambia). On the other hand, the Estonian onomastic experience has been more comprehensive - regulating both personal and place names, enacting corresponding laws and maintaining the Institute of the Estonian Language to oversee language and name planning, among other responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant change occurred in Finland and Estonia in the second half of the 19th century: given names of native origin were taken into use in addition to international names. Similar changes occurred in many other European countries in connection with the rise in national consciousness. Similar techniques were used in the creation of new names: heathen names in old documents; names from the folklore and mythology; artificially created names; names were translated. There are names which can be interpreted as versions of international names as well as names of native origin. In Estonia, it was recommended to borrow names from closely related languages and Finnish names were primarily borrowed. The Finns have borrowed some Estonian names. The spread of new names was facilitated by their introduction in calendars, their occurrence in the epos and fiction. As of the end of the 19th century, Finland has been ahead of Estonia in terms of time. Already in the last decades of the 19th century, approximately one tenth of children were given names of native origin in Finland. The peak years arrived in the 1930s-1940s when about one third of children were given characteristically Finnish names, girls more often than boys. In Estonia, the peak of female names of native origin occurred at the same time, approximately half of the girls were given names of native origin. Today, naming has become more and more individual, and names of native origin provide plenty of opportunities. In Finland, precisely the names of native origin constitute the source of uniqueness at the moment. In Estonia, the share of persons with unique names has been higher for a longer period of time, but on the account of many versions and spellings. Innovation in names in the 19th-20th centuries has had continuous impact on the use of names by Estonians and Finns. Both languages are full of examples of how certain agreeable structures, sound combinations or name elements will be repeated and reiterated in new names of individual creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reason for the appearance of parallel family names in Estonia and Latvia is unique: in the 1820s-1830s, the manor officials gave family names to local peasants and the Lutheran pastors changed those names or gave different ones. In some areas, mismatch was up to 53%, but generally did not exceed a few percent. Sometimes in the church records, the names were later changed to match the manor (or later tax) records, but much less often vice versa. However, when the names in the church records were changed (mostly Germanized) in the second half of the 19th century, but not in the tax records, new mismatches appeared. As of 1926, the state began to keep vital statistics records and the name in a birth entry in the church book was usually fixed as the only family name thereafter. This marked the end of the occurrence of most of the parallel family names in Estonia, but some became double family names and some still caused confusion in later records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of place names is a research topic for linguists (or onomasticians) and geographers, but since ancient times a wide range of people have also been inter- ested in the subject. As Latvia is the closest neighbour to both Lithuania and Estonia, they share, to a large extent, a common history, as well as -- because of this fact -- a number of borrowed common words and names. This article is based on the toponymical material included in the short dictionary of Latvian geographical names entitled "No Abavas līdz Zilupei" ("From Abava to Zilupe. The origin of Latvian geographical names"), which was compiled by Laimute Balode and Ojārs Bušs and published in Rīga in 2015. It offers insights into the contemporary situation of Latvian oikonyms as well as providing comparisons of the names of inhabited places with their historical names. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]