Names Without Borders: Onomástica desde América Latina, Vol. 7 No. 1 (2026)

 Open the new issue of Onomástica desde América Latina and you will travel - without leaving your chair - from the classrooms of Algeria to the streets of Buenos Aires, from the Amazonian rainforest to the marathon finish line in Valencia, from Vietnamese birth registers to Yoruba names on Facebook.

Volume 7, No. 1 (2026) is one of the most geographically and thematically expansive issues the journal has published. It opens with two studies rooted in Algeria: Widad Souali examines proper names in Spanish-language teaching manuals (Los nombres propios en la enseñanza-aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera en Argelia), while Imene Maghraoui asks whether French children's readers like "Taoki et compagnie" open windows onto the world or impose cultural hegemony (Le poids des noms propres dans « Taoki et compagnie » en contexte algérien). Lamia Adrar rounds out the Algerian trio with a study of pharmaceutical brand names and their semantic motivations (Noms de Médicaments Algériens).

The issue then crosses continents with ease. Thi Minh Thao Le and Pham Thi Ngoc offer a sweeping sociolinguistic study of gender and culture in Vietnamese naming practices (Modern naming trends in Vietnam). Oluwatosin Mercy Ajayi, Esther Avosuahi Onmoke, and Idowu Odebode trace how Yoruba anthroponyms are anglicised on Facebook (Os processos morfológicos de anglicização de antropônimos iorubás). Chenglin Zhu and Gabriel Antunes de Araujo analyse phonetic adaptations in the translation of onomastic vocabulary in the works of Ruggieri (Adaptações fonéticas na tradução do léxico onomástico nas obras de Ruggieri).

Closer to home - or rather, closer to Latin America - Adianys Collazo Allen maps the propial expressions embedded in Cuban road names (Las vías de comunicación en Cuba: oraciones propiales), and the team of Gilberto Maximiano Ceballos Esqueda, Gloria Ignacia Vergara Mendoza, Lucila Gutiérrez Santana, and José Manuel González Freire proposes a methodological framework for classifying nicknames in Cuauhtémoc, Colima (Propuesta metodológica para la clasificación de los apodos). Yolanda Guillermina López Franco brings a lexicological and socio-anthroponymic lens to the most common given names in Mexico in 2021 (Une approche lexicologique et socioanthroponymique aux prénoms les plus attribués au Mexique en 2021), a study also published in Spanish translation in the same issue.

Across the Atlantic, Alexandre Melo de Sousa, Isabel Correia, Bruno Gonçalves Carneiro, and Amílcar Morais compare toponymic sign formation in Portugal and Brazil (Toponímia entre mares), while Robson Santos Silva traces the intellectual journey from traditional to critical toponymy (Da toponímia tradicional à toponímia crítica). Marcos Jaime Araújo explores Língua Geral toponymy and Amazonian identity in the Bragantina region of Pará (Toponímia em Língua Geral e identidade na Amazônia bragantina paraense), and the team of Romilia de Sá Feitosa, Maria Célia Dias de Castro, and Maria da Guia Taveiro Silva offers a socio-onomastic study of commercial establishment names in Imperatriz, Maranhão (Estudo sócio-onomástico de nomes de estabelecimentos comerciais localizados em Imperatriz/MA).

A highlight is the special dossier on onomastics and linguistic landscape, coordinated by María Carmen Fernández Juncal, who opens it with a panoramic overview of achievements and challenges (Onomástica y paisaje lingüístico: logros y retos). The dossier includes Elisa Suárez Caramés on the social stratification of chrematonyms in Galician urban space, Lucía Morán Gaitero on proper names in the rural linguistic landscape of León, María Victoria Galloso Camacho and Águeda Vázquez Hidalgo on odonymy and linguistic landscape, Mercedes De La Torre García on the naming of public libraries in Seville, Montserrat Rangel Vicente on institutional topo-ergonyms in Salamanca, Ricard Morant on names on marathon race bibs in Valencia, and Vinícius Pereira de Souza Cruz on football onomastics in the linguistic landscape of Buenos Aires.

Finally, a Mini contribution by Anna Choleva-Dimitrova, Nadezhda Dancheva, Maya Vlahova-Angelova, and Gergana Petkova surveys the Bulgarian personal name system in the early 21st century - a reminder that this journal's reach extends well beyond its Latin American home.

The full issue is freely available at e-revista.unioeste.br.

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Português

Nomes sem fronteiras: Onomástica desde América Latina, v. 7, n. 1 (2026)

Abra o novo número de Onomástica desde América Latina e viaje - sem sair do lugar - das salas de aula da Argélia às ruas de Buenos Aires, da floresta amazônica à linha de chegada da Maratona de Valência, dos registros civis vietnamitas aos antropônimos iorubás no Facebook.

O volume 7, número 1 (2026) é um dos mais ricos e geograficamente abrangentes já publicados pela revista. Três estudos abrem o número com foco na Argélia: Widad Souali investiga os nomes próprios no ensino de espanhol como língua estrangeira (Los nombres propios en la enseñanza-aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera en Argelia), Imene Maghraoui questiona se cartilhas francesas como "Taoki et compagnie" abrem janelas para o mundo ou impõem hegemonia cultural (Le poids des noms propres dans « Taoki et compagnie » en contexte algérien), e Lamia Adrar analisa os processos semânticos de formação dos nomes de medicamentos argelinos (Noms de Médicaments Algériens).

Da Ásia, Thi Minh Thao Le e Pham Thi Ngoc oferecem um estudo sociolinguístico abrangente sobre gênero e cultura nas práticas de nomeação no Vietnã (Modern naming trends in Vietnam). Da África, Oluwatosin Mercy Ajayi, Esther Avosuahi Onmoke e Idowu Odebode investigam como antropônimos iorubás são anglicizados no Facebook (Os processos morfológicos de anglicização de antropônimos iorubás). Chenglin Zhu e Gabriel Antunes de Araujo analisam as adaptações fonéticas na tradução do léxico onomástico nas obras de Ruggieri (Adaptações fonéticas na tradução do léxico onomástico nas obras de Ruggieri).

Na América Latina, Adianys Collazo Allen mapeia as expressões propiais presentes nos nomes de vias cubanas (Las vías de comunicación en Cuba), e a equipe formada por Gilberto Maximiano Ceballos Esqueda, Gloria Ignacia Vergara Mendoza, Lucila Gutiérrez Santana e José Manuel González Freire propõe uma metodologia para classificar apelidos em Cuauhtémoc, Colima (Propuesta metodológica para la clasificación de los apodos). Yolanda Guillermina López Franco aplica uma abordagem lexicológica e socioantroponímica aos prenomes mais atribuídos no México em 2021. Na interface entre Portugal e Brasil, Alexandre Melo de Sousa, Isabel Correia, Bruno Gonçalves Carneiro e Amílcar Morais comparam a formação de signos toponímicos nos dois países (Toponímia entre mares), enquanto Robson Santos Silva traça o percurso da toponímia tradicional à crítica (Da toponímia tradicional à toponímia crítica).

O dossiê temático sobre onomástica e paisagem linguística, coordenado por María Carmen Fernández Juncal, reúne sete estudos que vão da estratificação social dos crematônimos na Galícia (Elisa Suárez Caramés) ao nome nos dorsais da Maratona de Valência (Ricard Morant), passando pela onomástica futebolística no paisagismo linguístico de Buenos Aires (Vinícius Pereira de Souza Cruz).

O número completo está disponível gratuitamente em e-revista.unioeste.br.

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Español

Nombres sin fronteras: Onomástica desde América Latina, v. 7, n. 1 (2026)

Abra el nuevo número de Onomástica desde América Latina y viaje — sin moverse de su silla — desde las aulas de Argelia hasta las calles de Buenos Aires, desde la Amazonia hasta la meta del Maratón Valencia, desde los registros civiles vietnamitas hasta los antropónimos yorubas en Facebook.

El volumen 7, número 1 (2026) es uno de los más ricos y geográficamente ambiciosos que ha publicado la revista. Tres estudios con foco en Argelia inauguran el número: Widad Souali examina los nombres propios en la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera (Los nombres propios en la enseñanza-aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera en Argelia), Imene Maghraoui pregunta si cartillas francesas como "Taoki et compagnie" abren ventanas al mundo o imponen hegemonía cultural (Le poids des noms propres dans « Taoki et compagnie » en contexte algérien), y Lamia Adrar analiza los procedimientos semánticos en los nombres de medicamentos argelinos (Noms de Médicaments Algériens).

Desde Asia, Thi Minh Thao Le y Pham Thi Ngoc presentan un estudio sociolingüístico sobre género y cultura en las prácticas de nominación en Vietnam (Modern naming trends in Vietnam). Desde África, Oluwatosin Mercy Ajayi, Esther Avosuahi Onmoke e Idowu Odebode estudian la anglicización de antropónimos yorubas en Facebook. Chenglin Zhu y Gabriel Antunes de Araujo analizan las adaptaciones fonéticas en la traducción del léxico onomástico en las obras de Ruggieri.

En América Latina, Adianys Collazo Allen cartografía las expresiones propiales en los nombres de las vías cubanas, y el equipo formado por Gilberto Maximiano Ceballos Esqueda, Gloria Ignacia Vergara Mendoza, Lucila Gutiérrez Santana y José Manuel González Freire propone una metodología para clasificar los apodos de Cuauhtémoc, Colima. Yolanda Guillermina López Franco aplica una perspectiva lexicológica y socioantroponímica a los nombres más atribuidos en México en 2021 - estudio que aparece también en traducción al español en este mismo número. Alexandre Melo de Sousa, Isabel Correia, Bruno Gonçalves Carneiro y Amílcar Morais comparan la formación de signos toponímicos entre Portugal y Brasil (Toponímia entre mares), y Robson Santos Silva traza el recorrido intelectual de la toponimia tradicional a la crítica.

El número incluye además un dossiê temático sobre onomástica y paisaje lingüístico, coordinado por María Carmen Fernández Juncal, con siete contribuciones: desde la estratificación social de los crematónimos en el espacio urbano gallego (Elisa Suárez Caramés) hasta los nombres en los dorsales del Maratón Valencia (Ricard Morant), pasando por la función del nombre propio en el paisaje rural de León (Lucía Morán Gaitero), la odónima y el paisaje lingüístico (María Victoria Galloso Camacho y Águeda Vázquez Hidalgo), las denominaciones de bibliotecas públicas en Sevilla (Mercedes De La Torre García), los topo-ergónimos institucionales en Salamanca (Montserrat Rangel Vicente) y la onomástica futbolera en el paisaje lingüístico de Buenos Aires (Vinícius Pereira de Souza Cruz).

El número completo está disponible de forma gratuita en e-revista.unioeste.br.

Исторический код имени: скандинавский след в Средневековой Руси

Беседу ведут Алексей Семихатов и Федор Успенский. Имя личное – совершенно особенная часть лексики. С ним связана вера в магическую силу слова, оно служило оберегом, отражало личные и социальные качества своего обладателя. Личные и родовые имена, патронимы, фамилии, прозвища, псевдонимы, криптонимы являются предметом внимания особой дисциплины – антропонимики, которая привлекает внимание лингвистов, литературоведов, психологов, этнографов, географов и других специалистов. История имянаречения – это замечательный портал в прошлое, она позволяет поставить точку в ключевых научных дискуссиях, а также увидеть процессы и события, которые не попали в письменные источники и остались незаметными для современного человека. О том, как выбирали имена в Средневековой Руси, какие важные исторические, политические и социальные процессы за этим стояли, и как имянаречение отражало мировоззрение наших предков, в этом выпуске «Вопроса науки» беседуем с доктором филологических наук, специалистом по русской антропонимике и скандинавской филологии, профессором РАН, член-корреспондентом РАН по Отделению историко-филологических наук и директором Института русского языка им. В. В. Виноградова Федором Борисовичем Успенским. 00:00 Тема и гость выпуска 01:17 Варяги, Рюриковичи и скандинавские имена 04:49 Многоимённость 06:14 Имя при крещении 07:40 Владимир Святославич 09:46 Годунов 13:09 До принятия христианства 15:58 Мода на имена 21:55 Славянские имена за границей 26:11 Изяславичи Полоцкие 31:48 Красивые и некрасивые имена 32:53 Когда основные имени стали христианскими 37:04 Современные тенденции 39:42 Произвольное количество имён сегодня

When Jokele Berkowicz Became Jakob Funkelstein: Reassessing Jewish Family Names in Galicia

 

Namenkundliches Online-Kolloquium: Peter Ernst über Pragmatik von Eigennamen

KI-generiert, kein offizielles Poster

Das nächste Namenkundliche Online-Kolloquium der Gesellschaft für Namenforschung findet am Montag, 18. Mai 2026, ab 18:30 Uhr statt - und es lohnt sich, den Termin im Kalender zu markieren.

Zu Gast ist Peter Ernst von der Universität Wien, einer der profiliertesten Forscher im Bereich Pragmatik und Eigennamen. In seinem Vortrag „Zu einer pragmatischen Namenauffassung" präsentiert er seine Überlegungen dazu, wie Namen nicht nur als sprachliche Zeichen, sondern als pragmatische Handlungen verstanden werden können - also was wir tun, wenn wir Namen gebrauchen, und was Namen in konkreten Kommunikationssituationen leisten.

Die Veranstaltung ist online zugänglich. Die Zugangsdaten werden kurz vor Beginn an alle angemeldeten Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer verschickt.

Jetzt anmelden: forms.gle/bx2vcwBxFmoAqExF7

Wir freuen uns auf einen anregenden Abend mit spannenden Diskussionen!

Fernando Cabeza Quiles (1953-2026)

 Fernando Cabeza Quiles, leading scholar and disseminator of Galician toponymy, dies at 73

The Galician onomastic community mourns the death of Fernando Cabeza Quiles - philologist, writer, teacher, and one of the most dedicated modern scholars and popularizers of Galician toponymy. The Real Academia Galega announced its deep sorrow at his passing on 1 May 2026, recalling him as an indefatigable student and disseminator of the names of Galicia, especially of those places that shaped his own life story.

Born in Ponferrada in 1953, Cabeza Quiles moved to Galicia as a child because of his father’s profession as a secondary-school teacher. His biography became closely interwoven with the Galician places whose names he later studied: A Estrada, Ribeira, Padrón, Pontecesures, and Carballo. These were not merely coordinates in a life; they became part of his intellectual geography.

Cabeza Quiles devoted decades to the study and public explanation of Galician place names. His work helped make toponymy accessible beyond academic circles, showing that names of villages, fields, rivers, parishes, and landscapes preserve linguistic memory, settlement history, ecological perception, and cultural identity. The Xunta’s toponymy portal describes him as one of the principal researchers and disseminators of Galician toponymy, with books and articles published over more than thirty years.

Among his major contributions were the volumes he published in the Terra Nomeada collection: Toponimia da Estrada (2018), Toponimia de Carballo (2020), Toponimia de Ribeira (2022), and Toponimia de Padrón e Pontecesures (2025). The last of these was presented only a few months before his death, in January 2026. Earlier works such as Os nomes de lugar and Os nomes da terra also formed part of a long intellectual project: to explain the origin, meaning, and cultural value of Galician place names to both specialists and the wider public.

His activity was also institutional. He was a founding member of the Instituto de Estudos Bergantiñáns and a member of the board of the Asociación Galega de Onomástica, confirming his place not only as an author but also as a builder of Galicia’s onomastic community.

Fernando Cabeza Quiles died in Carballo, after suffering a fall while cycling in the parish of Ardaña. Cycling, like nature, was one of his passions; the Real Academia Galega noted that his interest in the names of the land arose from his love of the natural world.

His death leaves Galician toponymy without one of its most generous voices. Yet his books remain as maps of memory: works that teach readers to hear history in the names of places and to understand that every toponym is a small archive of language, landscape, and belonging.

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Muere Fernando Cabeza Quiles, referente de la toponimia y la onomástica gallegas

La comunidad onomástica gallega lamenta la muerte de Fernando Cabeza Quiles, filólogo, escritor, profesor y uno de los grandes estudiosos y divulgadores contemporáneos de la toponimia gallega. La Real Academia Galega expresó su profundo pesar por su fallecimiento el 1 de mayo de 2026, recordándolo como un investigador incansable de los nombres de Galicia, en especial de aquellos lugares que marcaron su propia trayectoria vital.

Nacido en Ponferrada en 1953, Cabeza Quiles se trasladó a Galicia siendo todavía niño por la profesión de su padre, profesor de instituto. Su vida quedó ligada a lugares que más tarde ocuparían un lugar central en su obra: A Estrada, Ribeira, Padrón, Pontecesures y Carballo. En su caso, la biografía personal y la geografía onomástica se entrelazaron de manera profunda.

Durante más de tres décadas, Cabeza Quiles dedicó una parte esencial de su labor intelectual al estudio, explicación y difusión de los nombres de lugar. Su trabajo mostró que la toponimia no es una materia secundaria ni meramente erudita, sino una vía privilegiada para comprender la historia lingüística, la memoria del poblamiento, la relación con el paisaje y la identidad cultural de Galicia. El portal de toponimia de la Xunta lo presenta como uno de los principales investigadores y divulgadores de la toponimia gallega, con numerosos libros y artículos publicados.

Entre sus aportaciones más destacadas figuran los cuatro volúmenes publicados en la colección Terra Nomeada: Toponimia da Estrada (2018), Toponimia de Carballo (2020), Toponimia de Ribeira (2022) y Toponimia de Padrón e Pontecesures (2025). Este último libro fue presentado pocos meses antes de su muerte, en enero de 2026. A estos trabajos se suman obras anteriores como Os nomes de lugar y Os nomes da terra, que contribuyeron decisivamente a acercar al público el origen, el significado y el valor cultural de los topónimos gallegos.

Su compromiso con la onomástica tuvo también una dimensión asociativa e institucional. Fue socio fundador del Instituto de Estudos Bergantiñáns y miembro de la directiva de la Asociación Galega de Onomástica, desde donde contribuyó a consolidar una comunidad dedicada al estudio y defensa del patrimonio onomástico gallego.

Fernando Cabeza Quiles falleció en Carballo tras sufrir una caída mientras circulaba en bicicleta por la parroquia de Ardaña. La bicicleta era una de sus aficiones, y la naturaleza - según recordó la Real Academia Galega - estaba en el origen de su interés por los nombres de la tierra.

Con su muerte, la toponimia gallega pierde a una de sus voces más constantes y generosas. Pero su legado permanece en sus libros: verdaderos mapas de memoria que enseñan a leer los nombres de lugar como testimonios vivos de lengua, territorio, historia y pertenencia.

ONE MONTH LEFT ! Call for Workshop and Session Proposals: ICOS 2027, Vienna

AI-generated illustration – no official poster

 The XXIX International Congress of Onomastic Sciences is coming to Vienna, Austria, 16–20 August 2027, and the call for workshop and session proposals is now open.

Organised under the auspices of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS), the congress is hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Geographical Society. The congress theme is "Names as Condensed Narratives" - an invitation to reflect on how names carry stories about the people, places, and communities they denote, and about those who give them. Proposals need not address the theme directly; all areas of onomastic research are welcome. icos27-vienna

You are cordially invited to submit proposals for workshops and sessions via icos27-vienna.at. Proposals should be 200–300 words. Note that workshops and sessions work slightly differently: workshop organisers invite their own speakers, while sessions are filled by paper submitters who choose to affiliate their abstract with a given session.

The deadline for workshop and session proposals is 31 May 2026. A call for papers will follow in July 2026, with a paper submission deadline at the end of October 2026.

The congress will take place in the premises of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna's historical centre, with capacity for up to 500 participants across six parallel sessions. All presentations will be in English.

Don't miss the deadline - it's just a month away!

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunity in Socio-onomastics at Vilnius University

 An interesting opportunity has just appeared on EURAXESS for onomasticians working on naming practices, anthroponymy, and the intersection of names with migration and identity.

Vilnius University's Faculty of Philology is inviting researchers to develop a joint application for the 2026 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship, hosted within the Department of Baltic Studies at the Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic. The supervisor would be Prof. Dr. Daiva Sinkevičiūtė-Villanueva Svensson, a specialist in Baltic anthroponymy whose current research focuses on contemporary Lithuanian naming practices, identity expression in diaspora families, and the sociocultural drivers behind parental name choice and innovation. She has also worked extensively on historical Baltic anthroponyms and the structure of Lithuanian compound personal names.

The suggested research topic is Personal Naming as a Site of Negotiation in Families of Lithuanian Citizens and Immigrants - a rich area sitting squarely at the crossroads of socio-onomastics, migration studies, and family language policy. It's an exciting framing: names as negotiated objects, shaped by competing pressures of heritage, belonging, legal systems, and parental aspiration.

Candidates are expected to have a background in socio-onomastics and experience analysing naming within sociocultural and political contexts. Familiarity with the Baltic region and Lithuanian linguistic and cultural contexts is listed as highly desirable.

The MSCA deadline is 9 September 2026, but those interested should contact Prof. Dr. Sinkevičiūtė-Villanueva Svensson well before then - ideally now - at daiva.sinkeviciute@flf.vu.lt. A CV, publication list, and proposal summary are needed to get the process started.

Worth noting for non-European applicants: Lithuania is a "widening country" under Horizon Europe, which means unsuccessful proposals are automatically resubmitted to the ERA Fellowships call, giving candidates an additional shot at funding.

XV Международная научная конференция «Проблемы общей и региональной ономастики»

В Адыгейском госуниверситете 24-25 апреля 2026 г. прошла международная конференция «Проблемы общей и региональной ономастики», участниками которой стали 60 филологов России и зарубежья. Лингвисты из таких регионов, как Адыгея, Краснодарский, Ставропольский края, Ростовская область, Дагестан, Якутия, Тамбов, Москва и Украина, и других в течение двух дней обсуждали актуальные проблемы ономастики — науки об именах собственных.

Конференция проводится раз в два года, и в этом году она посвящена юбилею доктора филологических наук, профессора АГУ, заслуженного деятеля науки Адыгеи и Кубани Розы Намитоковой. Благодаря ее инициативе в АГУ организован Координационный центр по изучению региональной ономастики Северного Кавказа (КЦИРОСК), поддержанный в 2001 году грантом Министерства образования России. Каждое мероприятие предваряется выпуском сборника материалов.

— Это уже десятая конференция, ставшая для АГУ и для филфака брендовой, что является еще одним подтверждением того, как провинциальный вуз может создать собственную интеллектуальную площадку и сделать ее общероссийской. Ученые разных поколений и школ имеют возможность обмениваться опытом, — рассказала кандидат филологических наук Индира Нефляшева. — Участие в работе конференции принимают и студенты, и аспиранты Адыгейского госуниверситета.

Также в рамках этого события в актовом зале главного корпуса состоялся показ спектакля «Фауст», с которым студенты филологического факультета победили на завершившемся недавно фестивале «Студенческая Весна АГУ—2016».

Напомним, что после 12 лет работы конференции в 2013 году в Москве был издан «Сводный словарь личных имен народов Северного Кавказа». В книге 600 страниц, 17 именников, которые представлены по алфавиту для каждого этноса проживающих на Северном Кавказе. Есть и русские собственные имена, извлеченные северокавказскими русистами из летописей и документов, отражающие наиболее распространенные имена первых поселенцев на Кавказе.

Валентина Остапенко.

Фото Аллы салиенко.

Ein Blick ins Programm der Tagung „Onomastik im digitalen Zeitalter“

KI-generierte Illustration – kein offizielles Tagungsposter

 Die Tagung „Onomastik im digitalen Zeitalter“, die Ende September 2026 an der Universität Bremen stattfindet, verspricht einen ausgesprochen breiten und zugleich sehr aktuellen Einblick in die digitale Namenforschung. Schon das Programm zeigt, dass es nicht nur um Digitalisierung im technischen Sinn geht, sondern um einen tiefgreifenden Wandel onomastischer Arbeitsweisen, Infrastrukturen und Fragestellungen.

Ein deutlicher Schwerpunkt liegt auf digitalen Ressourcen und Portalen: Vorgestellt werden unter anderem die onomastischen Plattformen des Schweizerischen Idiotikons, digital erhobene Flurnamen als Forschungsinfrastruktur, der Familiennamenatlas der Deutschschweiz, das Historische Ortsverzeichnis von Sachsen sowie das Rheinland-Pfälzische Flurnamenlexikon. Damit rücken zentrale Fragen in den Vordergrund: Wie lassen sich Namendaten langfristig sichern, kartieren, vernetzen und für Forschung wie Öffentlichkeit nutzbar machen?

Auffällig ist außerdem die starke Präsenz von Raum-, Karten- und Geodatenperspektiven. Mehrere Beiträge widmen sich der räumlich-zeitlichen Analyse von Namenverzeichnissen, der webbasierten Kartierung von Toponymen sowie der Lokalisierung und geografischen Nutzung von Flurnamen. Das zeigt, dass digitale Onomastik heute immer stärker auch als raumbezogene Datenwissenschaft gedacht wird.

Daneben öffnet sich die Tagung bewusst für neue Namenwelten und neue Methoden. Besonders spannend wirken Beiträge zu Hannoveraner Pferdenamen, zu Produktnamen und Logos von Lernmanagementsystemen, zu Namenübergriffen im politischen Diskurs sowie zur Onomastik im Dialog mit KI, konkret zu Namen von KI-Chatbots und KI-Agenten. Gerade hier dürfte sichtbar werden, wie sehr sich die Namenforschung inzwischen auch mit gegenwartsnahen, medialen und technologischen Phänomenen verbindet.

Ein weiterer wichtiger Zug des Programms ist seine internationale Reichweite. Beiträge aus Zürich, Innsbruck, Bratislava, Tbilisi, Uppsala, Riga, Bern, Cherson/Münster und anderen Orten machen deutlich, dass digitale Onomastik längst in transnationalen Netzwerken arbeitet. Thematisch reicht das von onomastischer Terminologie über mittelalterliche Personennamen Schwedens bis hin zu deutsch-ukrainischen Vergleichen bei digitalen Ressourcen zur Straßenbenennung.

Bemerkenswert ist schließlich auch, dass die Tagung nicht bei der Theorie stehen bleibt. Mit Themen wie partizipativer Onomastik, Digitalisierung und Ehrenamt im Thüringischen Flurnamenprojekt, einer onomastischen Stadtführung sowie der Vorstellung des International Network for Personal Names Research wird deutlich, dass hier auch über Kooperation, Vermittlung und die Zukunft der Fachcommunity nachgedacht wird. Insgesamt kündigt das Programm eine Tagung an, die klassische Namenforschung, digitale Infrastruktur, Öffentlichkeit und innovative Themenfelder produktiv zusammenführt.

Programm Tagung „Onomastik im digitalen Zeitalter“
(Stand 05.03.2026)
Ort: Universität Bremen
Veranstalter*innen: Barbara Aehnlich, Andreas Jäger, Anna Mattfeldt, Andreas Rothenhöfer

28.09.2026

12:00: Öffnung des Tagungsbüros
13:00: Eröffnung der Tagung

13:30–14:00: This Fetzer und Martin Graf (Zürich):
Die onomastischen Plattformen des Schweizerischen Idiotikons und ihr Potenzial und ihre Herausforderungen für Forschung und Öffentlichkeit

14:00–14:30: Elisabeth Gruber-Tokić und Gerhard Rampl (Innsbruck):
Die Nutzung digital erhobener Flurnamen als Forschungsinfrastruktur

14:30–15:00: Simone Berchtold (Zürich):
Digitalisierung: Familiennamenatlas der Deutschschweiz

Kaffeepause

15:30–16:00: Eric Iwanski (Dresden):
Das Historische Ortsverzeichnis von Sachsen (HOV) heute – digitale Fortschritte, neue Erkenntnisse und Herausforderungen

16:00–16:30: Michael Albus, Andreas Görres und Holger Meyer (Rostock):
Techniken zur räumlich-zeitlichen Analyse von Namenverzeichnissen

16:30–17:00: Christoph Nölle (Wuppertal):
Web-basierte Kartierung von Toponymen am Beispiel der apa-Namen

17:00–17:30: Daniel Kroiß (Mainz):
Das Rheinland-Pfälzische Flurnamenlexikon – Herausforderungen und Perspektiven eines 20 Jahre alten Digitalprojekts

18:30: Verleihung Henning-Kaufmann-Preis

29.09.2026

09:00–09:30: Kristin Loga (Münster):
Alles digital, oder was? – Eine Momentaufnahme beim Deuten von Orts- und Familiennamen

09:30–10:00: Milan Harvalík und Iveta Valentová (Bratislava):
Digitale Bearbeitung der onomastischen Terminologie

10:00–10:30: Marina Andrazashvili (Tbilisi):
Toponyme Deutschlands unter der Lupe der Auslandsgermanistik

Kaffeepause

11:00–11:30: Anja Hasse und Martina Heer (Zürich/Bern):
Von Frühsport bis Johnny Depp. EquinOn – Das digitale Namenprojekt zu Hannoveraner Pferden

11:30–12:00: Stefan Hackl (München):
Onomastik im Dialog mit KI: eine explorative Studie zu Namen von KI-Chatbots und KI-Agenten im KI-gestützten Forschungsdesign

12:00–12:30: Luca Winklmüller (Mainz):
„Gavin New-Scum, he’s the governor of California“. Positionierung mit Namenübergriffen im öffentlich-politischen Diskurs

12:30–13:00: Michael Reichelt (Halle/Saale):
Von Abara bis Zywave, von Adler bis Zylinder – Produktnamen und -logos von Lehr- und Lernmanagementsystemen (LMS)

13:00–14:00: Mittagspause

14:00–14:30: Rita Heuser und Jonatan Jalle Steller (Mainz):
Mehr Selbstwirksamkeit im konsolidierten Portal für Namenforschung

14:30–15:00: Daniel Solling (Uppsala):
Das Wörterbuch der mittelalterlichen Personennamen Schwedens und seine Digitalisierung

15:00–15:30: Renāte Siliņa-Piņķe (Riga):
Historisches lettisches Vornamenbuch (digital): Berührungspunkte mit dem Deutschen

15:30–16:00: Martina Heer und Michael Prinz (Bern/Uppsala):
SaRa-Digital: Datenarchäologie und Familiennamengeographie auf der Grundlage der Sammlung Ramseyer

17:00: Onomastische Stadtführung
18:30: Abendessen

30.09.2026

09:00–09:30: Verena Kohlmann und Florian Landes (München):
Von Aach bis Zwölfling – Zum aktuellen Stand der „Erfassung der mundartlichen Form der Ortsnamen in Bayern“

09:30–10:00: Ulrich Ritzerfeld (Marburg):
Das Hessische Ortslexikon als Grundlage einer modernen Onomastik

10:00–10:30: Stefan Aumann (Marburg):
Wege zur Lokalisierung Hessischer Flurnamen

Kaffeepause mit Postervorstellungen

11:15–11:45: David Brosius und Petra Kunze (Jena):
Partizipative Onomastik: Digitalisierung und Ehrenamt im Thüringischen Flurnamenprojekt

11:45–12:15: Hans-Peter Ederberg und Christian Zschieschang (Cottbus):
Die Digitalisierung Niederlausitzer Flurnamensammlungen. Aus der Werkstatt

12:15–12:45: Axel Heinze (Aurich):
Die geografische Nutzung einer digitalen Flurnamensammlung

12:45–13:45: Mittagspause

13:45–14:15: Maria Kopf (Hamburg):
Herausforderungen der Gebärdensprach-Toponomastik

14:15–14:45: Larysa Kovbasyuk (Cherson/Münster):
Kontrastive Studie zur Straßenbenennung im Deutschen und Ukrainischen: Vergleich der digitalen Forschungsressourcen

14:45–15:15: Anna-Maria Balbach (Münster):
Vorstellung des Netzwerks: International Network for Personal Names Research

15:15: Verabschiedung
15:45: Mitgliederversammlung GfN

Antroponimia Náhuatl: los apellidos de Cholula y Tlaxcala

 El próximo martes 28 de abril de 2026, de 3:00 a 5:00 pm, se celebrará en el Auditorio de la Casa Amarilla (Av. 2 Ote. 410, Centro Histórico, Puebla) el encuentro “Antroponimia Náhuatl. Los apellidos de Cholula y Tlaxcala: investigaciones y experiencias”.

El evento se centrará en un tema de gran interés para la onomástica y la historia cultural de México: los apellidos de tradición náhuatl en las regiones de Cholula y Tlaxcala. Reunirá investigaciones y experiencias en torno a la antroponimia indígena, con la participación de Ethel Xochitotzin Pérez, Hugo Zacapantzi Quintero, Oscar Coyotl Mitznahuatl y Raúl Felipe Chiquito.

La moderación estará a cargo de Irma Xóchitl Cuauhtémoc Xicoténcatl. El cartel destaca además la colaboración de diversas instituciones académicas y onomásticas. Se trata, sin duda, de una cita valiosa para quienes se interesan por los nombres, la memoria histórica, las identidades locales y la herencia lingüística náhuatl.

English

Náhuatl Anthroponymy: Surnames of Cholula and Tlaxcala

On Tuesday, 28 April 2026, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, the event “Náhuatl Anthroponymy: The Surnames of Cholula and Tlaxcala – Research and Experiences” will take place at the Auditorio de la Casa Amarilla (Av. 2 Ote. 410, Centro Histórico, Puebla).

The meeting will focus on a highly significant topic for onomastics and Mexico’s cultural history: surnames of Náhuatl tradition in the regions of Cholula and Tlaxcala. It brings together research and lived perspectives on Indigenous anthroponymy, with participation by Ethel Xochitotzin Pérez, Hugo Zacapantzi Quintero, Oscar Coyotl Mitznahuatl, and Raúl Felipe Chiquito.

The session will be moderated by Irma Xóchitl Cuauhtémoc Xicoténcatl. The poster also reflects the involvement of several academic and onomastic institutions. This promises to be a valuable event for anyone interested in names, historical memory, local identities, and the linguistic heritage of Náhuatl.

Kyrgyzstan’s Toponymic Turn and the 2027 Question

In mid-April 2026, Kyrgyzstan found itself in a familiar post-Soviet toponymic controversy. Several media outlets reported that President Sadyr Japarov had said the republic would finish renaming villages with Russian-language names by the end of 2027. Yet the claim quickly became unstable: the official presidential report on his 13 April 2026 meeting with residents of Alay district did not publicly foreground such a plan, and presidential press secretary Askat Alagozov then said that renaming Russian-named villages “is not on the agenda,” insisting that the discussion had instead concerned a possible ban on giving settlements the names of individuals. In other words, the headline-grabbing promise of a total renaming by 2027 is not currently backed by a published official state program that I could verify online. What is verifiable is something subtler but more important: Kyrgyzstan has indeed been renaming settlements for years, and under Japarov the process has become more active, more ideologically explicit, and more visible.

That distinction matters. If one asks, “Has Kyrgyzstan officially adopted a final, binding plan to eliminate all remaining Russian-language village names by 2027?”, the careful answer is: I could not verify such a formal program from official legal or presidential sources. But if one asks, “Is Kyrgyzstan steadily moving toward a more Kyrgyz-centered rural toponymy, including the replacement of some Russian and Soviet names?”, the answer is clearly yes. The existing law, the presidentially signed renaming acts of 2022–2025, and the language-and-identity politics of the republic all point in that direction.

The legal framework: place names as national property

Kyrgyzstan’s toponymic policy is not ad hoc. The Law “On Place Names in the Kyrgyz Republic” defines place names as part of the national patrimony: they are described as “national property of the people of Kyrgyzstan” and an “integral part of history and culture.” The same law places naming and renaming within a formal state procedure rather than spontaneous symbolic politics alone. This matters because it frames toponymy not merely as signage but as a matter of sovereignty, heritage, and administrative control.

At the constitutional level, the state is officially bilingual in a very specific sense: Kyrgyz is the state language, while Russian is used as the official language. That constitutional formula is important because it shows why renaming debates in Kyrgyzstan are never simply “anti-Russian” or “pro-Russian.” The state is institutionally committed both to strengthening Kyrgyz and to retaining Russian in public life. Any interpretation of the current renaming process has to begin with this duality.

The 2022 amendments to the law on geographical names expanded the recognized grounds for naming and renaming. They explicitly allowed naming administrative-territorial units and villages after prominent state and public figures, historical figures, or in order to restore lost but widely known geographical names. Ironically, this is the very permissive framework that Japarov was reported in April 2026 to be reconsidering, at least in part, when he said villages should no longer be named after people.

What has actually been renamed?

The strongest evidence that the process is real lies not in the disputed 2026 quote, but in the laws and signed acts of the previous years.

In November 2022, Japarov signed a law renaming three rural areas and ten villages in Batken region. The official rationale was telling: the changes were said to be needed to return historical names “within the framework of protecting national interests,” and the background statement added that the law aimed at “strengthening the national ideology” and patriotic education on the basis of national and historical traditions and values. This is not neutral technocratic language. It is classic nation-building language.

In January 2024, another law renamed settlements and rural municipalities in Batken, Jalal-Abad, and Issyk-Kul. Again, the rationale was explicit: to “strengthen the national ideology” and restore geographical names “widely known in the past and present.” Among the changes were Semenovsky aiyl aimak → Kozhoyar aiyl aimak and Semenovka village → Kozhoyar-Ata in Issyk-Kul region, as well as Komsomolskoye → Kytai. These are exactly the kinds of changes that feed the current debate: some names are Soviet-ideological, some are Russian-language, some are hybrid administrative formations, and the replacement names move in a more Kyrgyz symbolic direction.

In October 2024, a further draft law proposed renaming settlements in Batken, Naryn, Talas, and Chüy. The list included highly legible Soviet/Russian examples such as Karl Marx → Birimdik, Communism → Ak-Aryk, Lenin → Iskhak Razzakov, Iskra → Sumbula, and Sadovoe → Masymkan. The explanatory note again used the same two-part formula: strengthening national ideology and restoring names known in the past and present, with local meetings and local councils cited as the procedural basis.

Then, in January 2025, Japarov signed another law renaming villages in Jalal-Abad, Naryn, Talas, Chüy, and Issyk-Kul. This list included Novodonetskoye → Aitmatov and Teploklyuchenka → Ak-Suu, among others. Even without counting all previous post-1991 renamings, these 2022–2025 acts alone show a steady and ongoing renaming campaign affecting well over fifteen settlements.

One should also add the symbolically charged 2022 renaming of Isfana to Razzakov. That was not a “Russian-to-Kyrgyz” case in the narrow linguistic sense, but it is part of the same broader politics of memorial landscape, state symbolism, and titular-national narration under Japarov.

So is this a thirty-year process? Yes.

The 2026 controversy makes sense only in the context of a much longer post-Soviet trajectory. The core logic of language and symbolic policy in Kyrgyzstan has been debated since the late Soviet period. Eugene Huskey’s classic article on “The Politics of Language in Kyrgyzstan” analyzed the late-Soviet and early-independence struggle over the status of Kyrgyz vis-à-vis Russian, while Britta Korth’s monograph on language attitudes in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan and the work of Orusbaev, Mustajoki, and Protassova showed how deeply asymmetrical Kyrgyz–Russian bilingualism remained in the republic after independence. Russian retained prestige in urban life, education, and mobility, even as Kyrgyz became central to the symbolic project of sovereignty.

That asymmetry helps explain why toponymy becomes so politically potent. When a titular language is constitutionally elevated but a former imperial language remains highly functional in administration, education, and daily communication, symbolic domains become especially important. Names are among the most visible domains in which a state can “Kyrgyzize” public space even while maintaining Russian as an official language. In that sense, the renaming of settlements is not an isolated policy; it is one branch of a broader post-Soviet balancing act.

Why are northern regions central to the story?

Much of the remaining Russian or Soviet village nomenclature has been concentrated in the north and northeast of the country, especially in Chüy, Issyk-Kul, and to some extent Talas. That geography is not accidental. It reflects the history of Russian imperial peasant settlement and later Soviet demographic layering in northern Kyrgyzstan. Historians of Russian colonization in Central Asia have long shown that peasant colonization was especially marked in Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan, and that Chüy and Issyk-Kul became major settlement zones. This historical settlement geography left not only churches, street plans, and cemeteries, but also village names.

This is why the current renaming wave often appears geographically uneven. In the south, many rural names were already more thoroughly Kyrgyzized earlier or were never deeply Russified in the same way. In the north, however, Russian-language village names remained more visible as fossilized traces of settlement history and Soviet administration. The place-name landscape thus preserves an older ethnohistorical map that no longer corresponds to present demography.

The demographic backdrop

The demographic shift since independence is fundamental. According to the National Statistical Committee’s open data, the number of Russians in Kyrgyzstan fell from 348,935 in 2019 to 335,237 in 2022, while the total population rose from 6.39 million to 6.75 million in the same period. By 2022, Russians represented roughly 5% or slightly below, depending on the dataset and timing used. This does not by itself justify renaming, but it helps explain why the political cost of replacing Russian-language rural names is lower today than it would have been in the 1990s.

Yet demography cuts both ways. The shrinking Slavic share may make renaming easier politically, but it also means that the names now under pressure often outlast the communities that gave them social depth. That is precisely why the debate is so charged: are these names merely colonial leftovers, or are they part of Kyrgyzstan’s own layered history? The law itself says place names are part of history and culture, which means renaming is never only replacement; it is also historical selection.

Nation-building, decolonization, and symbolic repair

From a scholarly point of view, the Kyrgyz case fits broader patterns in critical toponymy. Maoz Azaryahu’s work on commemorative naming and subsequent research in critical toponymy have shown that place names are not innocent labels: they are instruments of memory, power, and political pedagogy. Regime changes and nation-building moments often produce waves of renaming precisely because names naturalize an “authorized” past in everyday space. Jaroslav David has similarly emphasized the special political role of commemorative place names.

Applied to Kyrgyzstan, this means the current renamings are best understood not as random cultural nationalism, but as an attempt to rebalance the symbolic landscape after empire and socialism. The official phrases used in Kyrgyz legal and administrative texts - “strengthening national ideology,” “returning historical names,” “protecting national interests” - are textbook examples of state-sponsored mnemonic restructuring. The map is being edited so that sovereignty appears more visibly Kyrgyz.

There is also a decolonial reading. Recent work on Kyrgyzstan’s decolonization discourse notes that post-Soviet language and identity debates increasingly frame Russian cultural dominance as a colonial legacy rather than simply a neutral bilingual inheritance. That does not mean all renaming is decolonial in a scholarly sense, nor that all new names are historically superior. But it does mean that many supporters of renaming see the issue as one of symbolic repair: replacing a namescape shaped by imperial settlement, Soviet ideology, or Russian-language administration with one anchored in Kyrgyz historical and linguistic legitimacy.

But there are limits — and they are real

Still, the story is not one of straightforward de-Russification. Kyrgyzstan remains structurally bilingual. Russian is constitutionally protected as the official language. It remains strong in urban communication, education, and cross-border mobility. Research on language attitudes and education in Kyrgyzstan has repeatedly shown that Russian retains high instrumental value, especially in employment and higher education. Even where the state renames a settlement, everyday speech may lag behind. Studies of post-socialist toponymy elsewhere have shown that old names often persist in lived practice through habit, memory, and routine, even after official replacement.

That is why the April 2026 denial is so revealing. It suggests that the Kyrgyz state still wants room to maneuver. A steady, piecemeal renaming policy is one thing; a loudly announced plan to eliminate all Russian-language village names by 2027 is another. The former can be presented as legal normalization and historical restoration. The latter sounds like a frontal symbolic break with a sensitive bilingual order. The rapid retreat from the stronger formulation therefore makes political sense even if the underlying trend remains intact.

Is the policy justified?

That depends on the criterion one applies.

If the criterion is post-colonial nation-building, then the renamings are easy to defend. Independent states routinely revise inherited namescapes, especially where imperial or ideological labels remain out of sync with the language, memory, and self-description of the titular nation. Kyrgyzstan is hardly unique in this respect.

If the criterion is historical pluralism, the picture is murkier. Some Russian-language place names are indeed Soviet commemorations or ideological labels with little local rootedness; others are part of the social history of colonization, migration, and multiethnic settlement. A blanket campaign against “Russian names” risks flattening those differences. From a toponymic standpoint, there is a meaningful difference between removing Komsomolskoye or Karl Marx and erasing names that testify to older settlement histories, however uncomfortable those histories may be.

If the criterion is public utility, practical objections remain. Renaming costs money. It requires changes in signs, seals, databases, cadastral records, educational materials, and routine administration. And official renaming does not guarantee popular uptake. One reason post-socialist name changes often produce friction is that maps can be changed faster than habits.

Conclusion

So how far has de-Russification of place names gone in Kyrgyzstan?

Far enough that it is clearly a real and continuing state project, but not so far that one can honestly describe the 2027 deadline as an officially settled fact. What is documented is a long-running, legally regulated, and ideologically framed renaming process that accelerated under Japarov and that has already transformed dozens of rural toponyms, especially through laws signed in 2022, 2024, and 2025. What remains undocumented, at least in official sources I could verify, is a formal decision mandating the complete elimination of all remaining Russian-language village names by 2027.

The most accurate conclusion, then, is this: Kyrgyzstan is not suddenly beginning a de-Russification of rural toponymy; it is continuing one. The April 2026 episode matters not because it launched the process, but because it briefly exposed the endpoint some nationalists would like to see - and the political caution with which the authorities still prefer to approach it.

Dr. Eugen Schochenmaier

Selected academic references

For readers who want to pursue the broader scholarship behind this debate, the following works are especially useful:

Eugene Huskey, “The Politics of Language in Kyrgyzstan,” Nationalities Papers 23(3), 1995.

Britta Korth, Language Attitudes towards Kyrgyz and Russian: Discourse, Education and Policy in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan (Peter Lang, 2005).

Abdykadyr Orusbaev, Arto Mustajoki, and Ekaterina Protassova, “Multilingualism, Russian Language and Education in Kyrgyzstan,” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 11(3–4), 2008.

Asel Murzakulova and John Schoeberlein, “The Invention of Legitimacy: Struggles in Kyrgyzstan to Craft an Effective Nation-State Ideology,” Europe-Asia Studies 61(7), 2009.

Erica Marat, National Ideology and State-Building in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Silk Road Paper, 2008).

Marlène Laruelle, “The Paradigm of Nationalism in Kyrgyzstan,” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 45(1–2), 2012.

Maoz Azaryahu, “The Critical Turn and Beyond: The Case of Commemorative Street Naming,” ACME 10(1), 2011.

Jaroslav David, “Commemorative Place Names — Their Specificity and Problems,” Names 59(4), 2011.

Duncan Light, “Habit, Memory, and the Persistence of Socialist-Era Street Names,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 104(3), 2014.

Call for papers: "Names in Fiction"

 

📢 Call for papers: Onoma Thematic Edition

🎯 Theme: Names in Fiction

💢 Deadline for abstracts: 30 September 2026 (🔺 English + 🔺 300 words

🔺 lasse.j.hamalainen@helsinki.fi & milla.juhonen@helsinki.fi

💢 Deadline for full-length articles: 31 January 2027

🔺 English / French / German

🔺 5,000 - 8,000 words

💢 Publication: December 2027