Proper names have their history, but they are also a mirror of history. This is especially clear in relation to brandnames. Therefore, they stand in the focus of observation. For example, this can be gathered from the 'Rügener Badejunge” (bathing boy) who appeared on the Camembert chees of recent German history. Invented in Stolp (today's Poland), produced on the Island of Rügen and later the leading brand in die GDR (German Democratic Republic), suspended after the reunification of Germany, and after a renaissance, a renowned brand. The skin cream 'Nivea' had to be renamed 'Skin Cream Containing Fat' in 1943. Lifestyle products such as Kombucha are typical of the present day. The use of food supplements is however, controversial. Other types of names also stand in the context of the times. This becomes especially clear in giving first names. This was marked for its individualization and internationalization by Karlheinz Hengst. In this way, the son of a married couple who were artists, was given the name Liam (the Irish shortform for 'William') and Taj (Sanskrit for 'The wisdom of God'). In addition, in the style of giving first names, one can observe the principle of 'dosed discrepancy' (Jürgen Gerhards): Phonetically similar sounding names are prefered (Christian, Christopher, Christoph, Chris). Greetings an congratulations are transmitted in special columns of daily newspapers. Pet names used in these are of significance, which, in part, are derived from the animal world (Maus, Bär). Such notices ar especially frequent on St. Valentine's Day (14 February). Names used in jokes on the entertainment pages have changed. The traditional figure of jokes 'Fritz' has become rare. Names of the middle generation are more frequent. This essay is dedicated to Karlheinz Hengst, the first Professor of Onomastics in Germany (Leipzig). He also occupied himself in his works with the tendencies in giving modern first names.

The article deals with several problems that are connected with proper names in the translation of literary texts and analyzes translations of J.K. Rowling's bestseller 'Harry Potter'. The results of our investigations respectively comparisons show that it is nearly impossible to preserve all functions of a literary name in a target language text.

This is the second in a series of interviews with Italian writers on literary names. The purpose of this series is to complement the indirect approach of investigating strategies of literary naming in literary texts by directly questioning those who give names to literary characters or places. The interviews are to provide evidence of tendencies in literary naming in contemporary Italian writers. General conclusions will in due course be drawn from the material to be presented in the series. The present interview with Maurizio Maggiani was conducted in Hamburg on 26 April 2002.

With the evaluation of numerous sources for personal and place names in the Niederlausitz (Lower Lusatia) new information also was gained to shed further light on three place names in the Leipzig area. The Niederlausitz place name Kolkwitz and the Leipzig place name Kulkwitz, wich have a very similar historical documentation, originally were traced back to *Kolkovici, from the personal name *Kolk, and also to *Kolkovica, from an appellative *kol, respectively, the diminutive *kolk 'pile, peg, stick, pole'. A more likely possibility is probably *Golkowici, from the personal name *Golk, which has been verified as a frequent family name in Lower Lusatia. Until now one presumed that the hybrid place name Meusdorf was derived from the Sorbian personal name *Mič< Nikolaus. The oldest historical forms- 1245 Mitisdorf, 1254 Mitisdorf, and only in 1339 Miczdorf - would seem to indicate a derivation from a personal name *Mět or *Mětiš. Both are common as family names in the Lausitz. One traced the name Schkölen, a place not far from Leipzig, on the basis of *skol < *sьkolь,, back to kol 'pile' and arrived at the meaning of a 'settlement near or with a palisade rampart', also because there is a circular rampart in the vicinity of the village. We have traced back the Niederlausitz place names Schollen and Schuhlen, which based on a chain of evidence closely correspond to Schkölen, to *Skolin, from the personal name *Skola, which was often used as a family name in the Niederlausitz. This interpretation is most probably also valid for Schkölen. This article once again demonstrates the close relationships between personal names and place names.

There may be different reasons for choosing another name instead of the native family name. The examination covers a large number of pseudonyms of singers in terms of the relationship between the pseudonym on the one hand and the native names on the other. One reason for giving up the original name is the triviality of the family name, as in the case of Schultze, Schwarz, or Krause. Another important reason is that a name may provoke ridicule, as in the case of Krzywonos [crookes nos], Koslowa [goat], Ochsenbein [ox leg], Sülzenfuß [brawn foot]. The names in the last group are so-called 'Schmähnamen', i. e., names, which can be used to defame a person.

Examination of anthroponymic material of Jews from Bialystok shows that surnames of typically nickname charakter include surnames describing man's behaviour, his character, faults and virtues as well as surnames alluding to his physical appearance or physical infirmity. They also include insulting surnames devised by clerks to humiliate. Other surnames made on the basis of an appellative lexis usually relate to biblical events, animal, plant and material symbols and metaphors or serve to hide identity. To establish their nickname nature, unequivocal information about motivation, choice and conferment of such names is necessary.

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Der Sammelband Namenarten und ihre Erforschung bringt eine Menge wertvoller Erkenntnisse durch einen breiten Blickwinkel der analysierten onymischen Klassen. Dank der theoretischen Themen, der Hinweise auf methodologische und methodische Aspekte, der Detailcharakteristik zahlreicher Klassen von Eigennamen und der bemerkenswerten umfangreichen Bibliografie zur Onomastik überschreitet das Werk weit den proklamierten Lehrbuchcharakter. Die Übersichtlichkeit und die Handhabung des Handbuchs erleichtert die im Großen und Ganzen einheitliche Konzeption der Beiträge.

Very different opinions on the origin of Dresden's byname Elbflorenz, have been given. Based on much diverse evidence this paper explores the conditions and the genesis of this allonym in connection with comparative place-names. Local written records limit the time of origin of the byname and extensively document its widespread reception.

The author emphasizes that geonames are not a recent field pf research among German geographers. However, geographical names are very important for the perception and representation of geographic spaces. In Germany some names like 'Odenwald' and 'Eifel' are very old, others as 'Pfälzerwald' or ”Taunus' were created in the 19th century. During the 20th century, physiogeographical divisions had been created in Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria. They are organized like hierarchical systems, they are very similar and compatible to one another. A high number of new geonames have been created by geographers and other specialists. Modern landscape divisions are very important contributions towards a worldwide standardization of geonames by order of the UNO. In Germany the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (StAGN) is responsible for all questions concerning geographical names.