Title: Multicultural first names in the Land of Chioar
Abstract: By indicating a connection between tradition and modernity, names offer a clear image of the past and the present. Names mirror the particularities of individuals’ lives, on the one hand, and the life of the communities, on the other. The aim of this study is to analyse the way in which first names given by people in the Land of Chioar were influenced by multiculturalism, mostly associated with religion, ethnicity and the onomastic fashion at the time of naming. Therefore, a strong impact can be observed in the case of baptismal names (given during the ceremony of baptism) as a result of the phenomena that took place in the history of the Romanian language, especially after 1989, when the Romance influence was strongly felt in the Land of Chioar. Using the first names recorded in the civil registries of the Land of Chioar (a multi‑ethnic and multi‑confessional region), this research is, in fact, a synchronic and diachronic analysis of first names, emphasizing the way in which name givers’ attitudes subscribe to the global trend.