Europe

Note

This page contains references to Europe in general, and also (below) Eastern Europe and Western Europe. There are separate pages for each individual country, and also a sub-section of transnational references, as shown on the menu on the left. (Asterixed countries lie across two continents and are listed under both, or they have otherwise ambiguous affiliation.)

Europe – General

Brendler, A. (2006). Europäische Personennamensysteme . Hamburg: Baar-Verlag.
Notes: [ISBN 3935536658]

Brunet, G., & Bideau, A. (2000). Surnames: History of the family and history of populations. The History of the Family, 5(2), 153-160.
Notes: Time :15c-20c. 10 notes. English
Abstract: "A meeting on surnames was recently held in Lyons, gathering searchers from different scientific horizons such as sociology, history, anthropology, demography and population genetics. We selected the six following papers because of their major interest to history of the family and history of populations. Surnames appear as an important and convenient tool for the study of marriage patterns or of geographical mobility. We also provide some general comments about the different uses of surnames in the current works in the field of historical demography and population genetics. We also mention some examples revealing the social significance of surnames in some specific historical context."
[Publishers abstract]
"All archival sources are nominative, and surnames link data, yet in the past historical demographers did not pay much attention to surnames. Long recognized as tools and convenient markers, surnames have themselves become the subject of studies. Much recent historical demographic work is based on a longitudinal approach to small populations, and research groups are building very large computerized population files based on surnames and family relations. Surnames can be studied through anthroponomic, onomastic, and philological techniques or generational transmission, and reveal social importance related to specific historical contexts."

Figueras, L. To. (1996). Anthroponymie et pratiques successorales (À propos de la Catalogne Xe-XIIe siècle). Genèse médiévale de l’anthroponymie moderne: L’anthroponymie document de l’histoire sociale des mondes Méditerranéans Médiévaux: Actes du colloque international organisé par l’École française de Rome avec le concours du GDR 955 du C. N. R.S. (pp. 421-433).

Gersuny, C. (1974). Occupations, occupational names and the development of society. Journal of Popular Culture, (8), 99-106.
Abstract: "shows how the development of society from agricultural to non-agricultural influenced surnames. Shows a table of 12 occupations in 9 European languages where 93 out of the 96 of the cognates appear. Occupations include baker,cooper,mason,shoemaker" Abstract source -ed lawson

Härtel, R. (1996). Ai confini del mondo tedesco. Genèse médiévale de l’anthroponymie moderne: L’anthroponymie document de l’histoire sociale des mondes Méditerranéans Médiévaux: Actes du colloque international organisé par l’École française de Rome avec le concours du GDR 955 du C. N. R.S. (pp. 203-225).

Insley, J. Thoughts on the comparative study of European surnames : a review of Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges ‘A Dictionary of Surnames".
Notes: check ref

Kohlheim, R., & Kohlheim, V. (2005). Die Diffusion der vererblichen Familiennamen in Europa. In: A. Brendler, & S. Brendler (editors), Namenforschung morgen. Ideen, Perspektiven, Visionen. (pp. 107-116). Hamburg: Baar.
Abstract: discusses the onset of hereditary naming in Europe

Mateos, P., & Webber, R. Age, gender, and …ethnicity?? : How to segment populations by a slippery dimensionin European multicultural geographies. International Polulation Geographies Conference .
Notes: Powerpoint presentation

Mezes, B. The origin of family names in Europe and the genealogical research on them. Onomata, (13), 176-187.
Abstract: Lawson: "General on surnames in Europe"

Valetas, M.-F. (2001). The surname of married women in the European Union. Population & Sociétés, (367).

Zandersone, L. (2004). Problem of transfer of personal names used in EU legislation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Latvia, Faculty of Modern Languages, Department of Contrastive Linguistics, Translation, and Interpreting.
Notes: Master’s thesis

Eastern Europe

European Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (EBSEES) [Web Page].
Abstract: useful for tracing new Slavic personal name references – free access (unlike the American equivalent- which is by subscription)

Brandt, B. (1996). Where to look for hard-to-find German-speaking ancestors in Eastern Europe : Index to 19720 surnames in books, with historical background on each settlementClearfield.

Fordant, L. (2004). Noms et prénoms des pays de l’Est : histoires et anecdotes. Archives et Culture.
Abstract: Albanie, Arménie, Autriche, Bulgarie, Estonie,Hongrie, Lettonie, Lituanie, Pologne, Roumanie, Russie, pays de l’ancienne Tchécoslovaquie et pays de l’ancienne Yougoslavie

Western Europe

Beech, G., Bourin, M., & Chareille, P. (2002). Personal name studies of medieval Europe: Social identity and familial structures (Studies in medieval culture No. 43). Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-205)
reviewed in ‘Names’ 2003

Bennett, M. (2006). Spiritual kinship and the baptismal name in traditional European society. D. Postles, & J. T. Rosenthal (editors), Studies on the personal name in later medieval England and Wales . Medieval Institute Publications.
Notes: 978-1-58044-026-6

Maurel, C. (1992). Prenomination et parente baptismale du moyen age a la contrereforme: modele religieux et logiques familiales. Revue De L’Histoire Des Religions, 209(4), 393-412.
Notes: : [Naming and baptismal relationships from the Middle Ages to the Counter-Reformation: religious model and family reasoning].12c-17c.
Abstract: Publisher’s abstract "In late medieval and early modern Europe, personal names, bestowed on Christians at baptism, indicated family relationships and social status, although the Catholic Church managed to limit the choice of names to those of canonized saints, adding a spiritual dimension to social relationships; the Church also forbade marriage between persons related to each other by baptismal sponsorship."

Scapoli, C., Mamolini, E., Carrieri, A., Rodriguez Larralde, A., ., & Barrai, I. (2007). Surnames in Western Europe: A comparison of the subcontinental populations through isonymy . Theoretical Population Biology, 71(1), 37-48.

[page last updated: July 25, 2008]