Linguistic Methodologies in The Study of Anthroponyms

Abstract

Anthroponymy, a subfield of onomastics, explores the structure and meaning of personal names, offering deep insights into linguistic, cultural, and social dynamics. As the relevance of personal naming conventions grows in interdisciplinary linguistics, a need arises to systematically analyze anthroponyms through multiple linguistic methods, including structural, semantic, historical, and sociolinguistic approaches. While individual methods of anthroponymic analysis are well-documented, integrated studies that holistically examine naming systems across linguistic and cultural contexts remain limited. This study aims to synthesize and evaluate key linguistic methodologies—descriptive, comparative, cognitive-conceptual, linguocultural, morphological, componential, statistical, etymological, and sociolinguistic—in the analysis of anthroponyms. The findings demonstrate that each method provides unique yet complementary insights: descriptive and morphological methods reveal structural patterns; comparative and etymological approaches trace historical evolution; cognitive-conceptual and linguocultural analyses uncover socio-cultural meaning; statistical techniques expose naming trends; and sociolinguistic inquiry highlights identity and societal influence. Together, these methodologies enable a multifaceted understanding of how names function within language and culture. This study uniquely integrates diverse analytical lenses to offer a comprehensive, interdisciplinary framework for anthroponymic research, enhancing both theoretical and applied linguistics. The approach holds practical value for sociolinguistic surveys, database design, language policy, and artificial intelligence applications involving name recognition. It also advances the anthropological and psychological interpretation of naming conventions across languages and societies.