Various interpretations of the term origin in the description of given name systems

Abstract

The term origincan be understood in several ways with regard to given names. For instance, at least four interpretations coexist in the Hungarian onomastic literature: (1) the language in which the name was formed or from which it was borrowed (these two categories frequently do not coincide with each other), (2) the method through which the name entered the name stock (by category change –e.g. from common noun to proper name–, name-building, revival or recreation of long-forgotten names, borrow-ingor translation of foreign names, etc.), (3) the source of the name (e.g. the Bible, martyrologies, literary works), (4) the relation of the name to the Christian name stock (saint or profane). As the cate-gories created based on these points of view do not overlap, merging anyof these approaches leads to misunderstandings not only in academic discourse but also in the public sphere. Finally, it should also be considered that everyday categorisation does not work on scientific grounds. Consequently, the lay classification of the linguistic origin of a name may differ from the scientific categorisation. The aim of this paper is to create a theoretical model –by separating the above-mentioned points of view –for the proper description of given name systems by origin, based on the contemporary Hungarian given name stock. Due to the similarities between the given name stocks of Christian peoples (and –a certainextent –that of other cultures), the model will hopefully also be useful for the description of various national given name stocks.