Patterns in Family Relationships in 19th Century Transylvania: Data from the Historical Population Database of Transylvania
Patterns in Family Relationships in 19th Century Transylvania: Data from the Historical Population Database of Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: Child naming is an essential part of family life, because choosing a name is never a random decision. This practice can also be used to reconstitute the dynamics of family structures at a given time. For 19th century Transylvania, due to a historical population database under construction at Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj, such a reconstruction can be done for the first time. The present paper focuses on the practice of necronymic naming, as an indication of the importance of certain names in the family. For this analysis, two localities were selected, Ocna-Mureş and Războieni-Cetate. Although this research is still a work in progress, there is already plenty of data to support the hypothesis that child naming was used to strengthen family relationships.

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