Anthroponyms of Balto-Fennic Origin in the 15th–16th Centuries Cadastres of the Southeastern Lake Onega Region

• Published in: Вопросы Ономастики
• Main Author: Anton I. Sobolev
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: Izdatelstvo Uralskogo Universiteta 2017
• Subjects: Karelian language; Veps language; toponymy; place names; historical anthroponymy; language contacts; ethnic history; Onega region; Karelia; Vologda region; History of Civilization; CB3-482; Philology. Linguistics; P1-1091; Onega; karelia*; karelian; karelians; Russian North; veps language
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2017.14.1.001; https://doaj.org/article/43dd036b8e5445e59b6194fa83de09a2

The article deals with the anthroponyms of Balto-Fennic origin of the southeastern Lake Onega region. Focusing on the region’s historical anthroponymy, the author provides an etymological, areal and chronological analysis of the Balto-Fennic personal names, surnames and nicknames as attested in the 15th–16th centuries Russian and Swedish cadastres. The author also analyses typologically relevant data: personal names and deanthroponymic place names known within the large area of distribution of modern and substrate Balto-Fennic toponymy — from Finland to the eastern part of the Russian North. On this basis, the author divides the historical anthroponyms of the southeastern Lake Onega region into three language types: Karelian names, Veps names, and nondifferentiable Balto-Fennic names. The analysis leads to conclude that in the 15th–16th centuries the southeastern Lake Onega area was populated by Veps and Karelians and that the active migration of Karelians to this territory from the northeastern Lake Ladoga region began at the end of the 15th century. The author establishes that in the 15th–16th centuries most of the Balto-Fennic anthroponyms of the region were patronyms of Karelian type derived from Christian calendar personal names, though Russian nicknames and non-calendar personal names were also in use among the Balto-Fennic population. Many of the bearers of those names sought to settle down on the underdeveloped lands for the reason of being landless or dependent, which proves their forced migration from the southeastern Lake Onega region. The reliability of the conclusions made by the author is ensured by the wide use of historical sources relating to the Balto-Fennic peoples’ contemporary and historical habitat, the use of the open databases of contemporary names, as well as by their comparison with the results obtained in earlier studies.