Osli keresztnévadásának története napjainkig

Abstract

Christian-name-giving practices in the settlement of Osli changed greatly in many respects during the two and a half centuries surveyed in the present paper. Until the middle of the 1960s, the name stock was rather poor, with the exception of the period between 1845 and 1885, when popular names changed significantly and many more Christian names came into use, reducing name frequency (the period was first described by Ferenc Jáky, a 19th century local priest). After the 1970s the name stock became even more rich: this period was less characterised by the earlier application of the principle of the importance of inheriting ancestors’ names; furthermore, current nationwide fashion trends in name-giving practices also played an important role. It was the female name stock that changed more considerably: the monotonously repeating name forms of the early periods were substituted by names of less frequency. Even today, however, parents are prone to choose traditional, historical masculine names for their sons; thus boys often inherit their names. Choosing names of two (rarely three) elements could not be demonstrated before the end of the 19th century, and after two generations, by the end of the 20th century this phenomenon disappeared again.