Imiennictwo w Kobiórze w XVIII wieku
Names in Kobiór in the 18th century

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to describe the system of names in the 18th century Kobiór. The analysis of the records from the book of baptism allowed the author to come to the following conclusions. The catalogue of male names is definitely richer than that of female one. In the case of boys parents chose between 47 names, whereas in the case of girls, between 30. The numbers were gradually with time. All names were Christian. The boys were most frequently given the name of Jan, Jakub, Jerzy, Marcin, Walenty whereas the girls were called Zofia, Anna, Marianna, Jadwiga, Katarzyna. The parents from Kobiór gave their children one name in most cases. When it comes to the factors determining the choice of names, the biggest influence had the calendar. The parents chose the name of the saint, whose care and intercession they waned for their child. It was important to celebrate the patron’s name after child’s birth. It can be noticed that the very tradition was more frequent in the case of boys than girls. Before the patron day 88.7% of boys and 52.4% of girls were baptized. Initially, the tradition of giving children a few names was not popular in Kobiór. The intensity of the phenomenon of “multi‑naming” is visible starting from the 1770s, while two names were given in Kobiór. Mainly boys were given several names. Girls did not undergo it to such an extent. Giving children two names was not just the privilege of rich families. A high percentage of multi-named children was also to be found among the poorest families of outworkers, debt collectors and military men. In contrast to many other places, there were no cases of denouncing illegitimate children by giving them names typical of and not used in a village to differentiate them from the rest in Kobiór. Illegitimate children received the same names as the remaining ones. It also happened that they were given two names when baptised.

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