POST-REVOLUTION ROMANIAN FIRST NAMES BEETWEN FASHION AND TRADITION
POST-REVOLUTION ROMANIAN FIRST NAMES BEETWEN FASHION AND TRADITION

Summary/Abstract: In the evolution of the semantic system, the anthroponomical baptismal name is lost today and what remains is only its identification function. The given name has been liberated from its magical connotations and today it is merely a "label”, although for those who choose it, it usually has an affective value. First person forenames were words of common language, they had a special meaning and brought a distinguished information about the person who wore it. Formerly, the current identification of people consisted of adding the Christian name to the name of the father. If the specification was insufficient, the identification resorted to the use of the paternal grandfather’s given name, highlighting patrilineary progeny (the most known example is – “Nică a lui Ştefan a Petrei"). The popular denomination system reflects social relations and primary relatives. Today, the forename is no longer the subject of so many precautions, superstitious and magical practices. It has become "the first name”. It may however be an object of pride or shame, and it reveals as much about us as it once did. Even now, the way we use the given name is not arbitrary. The level of integration and adaptation of an individual in a system depends on several factors, including the name that each of us presents to others. But, unlike the name that we inherit from generation to generation, our forename is chosen by parents who do not always realize the importance of the denomination act and choose for their children names that often evoke hilarity and amusement, being unconditionally subjected to irony and public disapproval. Our project aims to present the situation of the Romanian denominative system after 1989, having in mind the fact that the political and economical changes have had social consequences. The opened borders, Romania's EU entry and free movement of persons, with the significant increase of the media, allowed the Romanians to make contacts with other cultures and civilizations, from which forenames were soon taken. This study is based on an investigation of first names of children born after 1996, both from urban and rural areas from the city of Bacau and Piatra-Neamţ. We will try to grasp how the tradition of given names has been preserved and how much the given names are due to fashion.

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