Naming Persons in Bigar, a Czech-Speaking Village in the Southern Romanian Banat. Sociolinguistic Working Paper Number 89.

The unusually elaborate system of nicknaming in the Romanian village of Bigar, wih a population of 340, is influenced by the region's history. Every villager has a legal name consisting of a given or first name and a family name, both conforming to Romanian orthography. The villagers may also use the corresponding Czech forms in informal contexts with other Czech speakers. The custom of placing the family name before the given name is followed with the Czech forms. Females' family names are rarely given the feminine suffixes that are obligatory in formal Czech. The repertory of given names used is very conservative, currently consisting of 26 male and 26 female names. To distinguish among individuals whose full names are identical, diminutives or familiar names are used, some of which continue to reflect past foreign models or otherwise depart from modern Czech usage. Names of children born in the last 15 years are similar to those of the preceding three generations or longer, and to those most widely used in Bohemia and Moravia from the late Middle Ages to the early 19th century. A very small number reflect German influence, only one is borrowed from Magyar, and only one name, in male and female form, is Romanian, although many domestic animals are given Romanian names. In 111 households there are only 25 family names, of primarily Czech and German origin. Nicknaming is almost universal, and it is common for someone to have several of these names, used in different contexts or audiences and derived from tradition, ancestry, occupation, or personal attributes. (MSE)