Anthroponymy of the Habitants of the Polish Town of Wawolnica in the Second Half of the 15th Century

Abstract

The paper analyses the anthroponyms (surnames and names of men and women) of townspeople of the medieval town (now village) of Wawolnica in Lesser Poland in the second half of the 15^th century. The recorded -onyms reveal their undoubted Polish character, with the studied names rooted in the Christian tradition. These observations indicate that the community was homogenous in terms of confession and ethnicity. Appellative (including professional) and patronymic formations constitute a significant portion of the studied records. The most popular male names include Jan, Stanisław, Wojciech and Mikołaj. On the other hand, the number of names and surnames identifying women in the 15^th-century sources is relatively low. This is a consequence of the fact that the social position and legal status of women were associated with certain restrictions. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the 15^th century was characterized by a lack of stabilization of surnames in the anthroponymy of Wawolnica.