Poland
By Jenna, regional contributor in Poland.
When I first received my class register here in Poland and read through the list of students’ names, I felt lost in a sea of consonant clusters. Katarzyna. Małgorzata. Czesław. Grzegorz. As an English speaker, I’d always considered z to be the loneliest letter of the alphabet. Not so in Polish. I quickly realized that I had an entire list of new sounds to learn, in order to pronounce my students’ names correctly.
Many Polish names are rooted in the names of Christian saints. It is quite common for people to celebrate their name-day, which is the day dedicated to their patron saint, in the same way that they celebrate their birthday. Many places that display the date (for example, on the electronic screens in trams and buses) also flash that day’s particular patron saints.
I also soon learned that, like in many Slavic languages, most Polish names actually have two forms; the formal version and the diminutive, which is a shorter and more widely used form of the original name. Katarzyna becomes Kasia. Małgorzata becomes Gosia. Barbara becomes Basia. Joanna becomes Asia.
In some ways, diminutives added a new challenge to my name-recall skills, and for the first few weeks, I felt that I had to remember two names for every face. But the diminutive forms of Polish names are also usually shorter, and easier for the pronunciation-challenged, like myself.
Adding another layer of complexity, most Polish names, as well as many Polish words, can have multiple diminutive forms. By adding endings like –ka, -siu and –ek to names, the speaker expresses a level of intimacy with the person. Literally translated, these endings essentially mean cute or small.
So, for example, a woman’s formal name may be Katarzyna. Her colleagues and friends may call her Kasia. Her mother and her boyfriend may call her Kaśka.
***
Portugal
By Sandra, regional contributor from Portugal.
In Portugal we generally give two Christian names as first names, for example Maria Helena or António Joaquim. Usually, these first names are followed by two surnames. The first is from the mother and the second is from the father. Imagine like this: Maria Helena Pereira Silva. “Pereira” is from the mother and “Silva” is from the father.
Maria is a very popular name in Portugal. It’s the name of Our Lady to whom Portugal is especially devoted. Usually, we use the name Maria together with another Christian name. In that case, the lady in question should be called by her complete first name, Maria Helena. But now is also popular to name the girl only by Maria.
For boys, Maria could be their second Christian name: Dinis Maria, José Maria or Manuel Maria are some examples. Nowadays it’s a very fashionable choice. Manuel, José, João, António or Pedro are the most common names for boys. Again, Saints names and the Catholic influence.
In 1970, when I was born, the most common first names for girls were Sandra, Sónia, Susana, Carla and Paula. However, ten years ago, the most fashionable names were Constança, Carolina or Mariana.
It’s considered polite and well appreciated to give the godmother/godfather names or put together the grandmas/grandpas names. My mother, for example, was named with the first name of her father’s grandma. My grandpa loved his grandma very much. It was his way to show his love for her.