Minor names or microtoponyms are typically collected and analysed in etymological dictionaries. However, this may not be the most productive method in every case. More importantly, names should be analysed within the context of the communication community whose members created and used them. In rural settlements, these were primarily landowners. With the threefield crop rotation system (Dreifelderwirtschaft), which dominated agriculture in Central Europe from the Middle Ages until the 19th century, farmers had to be in constant discourse about the areas under cultivation, and this was not possible without using microtoponyms. For this reason, land users in each and every village established a special system of nomination within their local subdistrict. A detailed investigation of these names, taking account of this local perspective and considering the geographical, linguistic, sociolinguistic, ecological and historical context, identifies the specific reasons behind each individual nomination, which is very helpful in determining the meaning of more or less frequent name elements in general. Thus, only detailed studies of this kind provide a sound basis for various analyses – etymological, cognitive and others – of microtoponyms in general. This is demonstrated with the example of one local subdistrict, namely, a deserted village in a hilly and forested part of the countryside between Berlin and Leipzig. The minor names there have to be extracted from artificial nominations for land parcels, created for the purposes of land reallocation in the 19th century. The names were analysed and subsequently set in relation to the context suggested by different archival sources.

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This paper deals with place names ending in -leben which contain a single stem personal name as modifier with strong declension. A typological analysis shows both the distribution of name elements and regional differences between the main distribution areas Bode- and Unstrutkreis. This subtye of -leben names dominates in the Bodekreis but is less representative in the Unstrutkreis. The analysis is completed with a map.

Rare personal names in the Early Middle Ages. – Numerous Germanic personal names can only be evidenced a few times, some of them no more than once. The historical and geographic frames of reference for their respective classification as ‘rare’ are mainly the known inventory of Germanic names from the 4th until approximately the end of the 8th century within the Frankish territories east of the Rhine river as well as Gallo- and Italoromania. Obviously, there are various reasons for classifying a personal name as rare. The form of its tradition – perhaps accidentally and with great regional differences – certainly plays a role; but there is also a variety of linguistic and onomastic phenomena that could have greatly influenced the frequency of Germanic anthroponyms. They are criteria of both selection and limitation as well as new creativity. This article focuses on important features and mechanisms of name-giving, particularly regarding their potential for enabling names to remain rare.

The Merovingian Practice of Naming after Relatives: Family Traditions and Politics. – The name-giving habits in the Early Middle Ages are often connected with the traditions of a kin group. But the Merovingian example shows the importance of politics: During the course of its existence the Merovingian Frankish Kingdom was often separated into Teilreiche. Their kings were closely related which led to a claim to succeed one another. This is the context of the beginning of the Merovingian naming after relatives. Giving a name which was a popular part of the tradition of another Teilreich was a means to express one’s political claim on said kingdom. It is interesting that Clothar I – the weakest king of his generation – used this instrument most frequently. As did his son Chilperic I who at first also was at a disadvantage compared to his half-brothers. Chilperich even used the name Merowech which shows his ambition to rule the Gesamtreich, at least around Clothar’s I death in 561. Naming after a direct ancestor (especially after the grandfather) was comparatively seldom. Maybe because naming generally did not serve as stabilisation of a family tradition (as in later centuries) but current political concerns. In the 7th century the naming after direct ancestors or relatives prevailed.

Basic Research on the Relation between Toponymy and Surnames from the Areal Point of View. – The article thoroughly reviews vol. IV of the high-profile German Atlas of Family Names covering present-day anthroponyms after origin (place names etc.) or habitation (field-names and the like). Its focused approach to various methodical problems the authors were faced with permits us to recognize their theoretical performance and their etymological achievements as well. The effectively used principle to go from the general to the particular, which enables them to overcome the difficulties of delimiting both classes of names, to form subcategories, and to examine typological and singular phenomena – not to forget the wealth of conclusive maps –, is especially pointed out. In view of the extensive and sophisticated problems that had to be tackled some additional remarks and supplements on the part of the reviewer can in no account depreciate the authors’ further substantial contribution to anthroponomastics.

Der Beitrag ist um eine Erklärung von Herkunft und Entwicklung des Gewässernamens Zschopau in Sachsen (Deutschland) bemüht. Anhand von urkundlich überlieferten Namenformen seit rund einem Jahrtausend erweist sich einerseits eine Herleitung aus dem Slawischen als verfehlt und andererseits eine Erklärung als Bildung in germanischer Zeit als begründet. Die ermittelte sprachliche Semantik des Hydronyms wird durch die geographische Situation am Flusslauf gestützt. / Why did the river Zschopau get this name? Is it of Slavonic or Germanic origin? – The article tries to give an explanation of origin and development of the river name Zschopau in Saxony (Germany). On the base of documents all historical forms since about thousand years are discussed. The main issue is to prove whether the hydronym is of Slavonic origin. Further the name’s origin is explained as a Germanic nomination. The original meaning is compared with the geographical situation along the river.

Social Change and Binominality in the Eleventh Century – a French perspective. – The paper treats the spread of second names in the eleventh century France and its underlying causes on the basis of sources from the counties of Anjou and Maine in Western. Previous research has focused mostly on toponymical surnames of nobles and seen them as a part of the “mutation féodale” and connected changes in noble family structure. An examination of the sources, however, reveals the importance of the urban population in the development of surnames. After the presentation of some examples of naming in charters and a section on sobriquets, individual variations and the inheritance of surnames are discussed. The second part of the papers treats the sobriquets of the counts of Anjou and Maine in the tenth and eleventh century and the discussion of their meaning in near contemporary texts. It is shown that the sobriquets appear only in the course of the eleventh century and are only contemporary for the counts after 1060. The increasing use of surnames appears to be the result of two coinciding developments of densification: The first is the growth of the (urban) population, the second is an increasing genealogical interest in the families of princes, leading to the creation of genealogies and historiography centered on princely families. Both of these changes resulted in an increasing desire to differentiate individuals bearing the same (first) name.

The Lingual Situation in the Area of Leipzig Around 1000 AD. – For the first time a medieval area of Central Germany is under focus for the time after its integration into the German political and lingual domain. Around 1000 AD the area along the rivers Elster, Parthe and Pleiße was mainly settled by Slavs. It belonged to the Slavonic region Chutici. In the tenth century the Christianization of the area took place. From 968 awards it belonged to the diocese of Merseburg within the archdiocese Magdeburg. With the help of documents and narrative sources the linguistic data is analyzed to answer the question of the linguistic predominance there around 1000 AD. The resulting conclusions are relevant for the complete Central German region around the year 1000.