Romanian first names in America: a synchronic perspective

Abstract

This article deals with a topic which has not been researched extensively. It refers to first names of children born over the last decades in North America and aims to show how Romanian immigrants chose for their children various types of first names: traditional, international, adapted to the language used across the Atlantic, or specific to the adoptive country. A simple, four-question survey was drawn up and applied to 56 Romanians who have settled in Canada, the USA, and Martinique over the last decades. It reveals that the integration into the host country is achieved on the social, professional, and educational levels, as well as on the linguistic and onomastic ones. Thus, we can state that first names chosen for children born across the Atlantic are socio- and psycholinguistic markers not only of the attachment to family, cultural, and religious values, but also of the wish to integrate seamlessly into the adoptive society. The reasons behind the anthroponymic choices are related to the parents’ level of education, the size of the community of immigrants, the connection with certain religious, cultural, and educational institutions which can influence the parents’ onomastic decisions. At the same time, ethnic prestige, on the macrosocial level, and self-esteem, on the microsocial level, determine the choice of first names for newborns.

Keywords

• anthroponymy
• Romanian first names
• contemporary Romanian immigration in America