The Anthroponyms of Children from Mixed Families: between Identity Issues and the need of insertion

Abstract

The "denominative" act is not as trivial as one might think; on the contrary, it is of vital interest because it often conveys issues of identity, religion, and sociocultural importance. This contribution seeks to understand the reasons underlying the anthroponymic choices of children from mixed marriages of families settled in Europe. These families present themselves as a combination of heterogeneous relationships resulting from the encounter of people with different identities and cultures (Deprez et al., 2014). As part of a transdisciplinary approach, the sociolinguistic dimension of this study consists of analysing the representations of Algerian speakers integrated into European societies, with a particular emphasis on their choices regarding anthroponomy. At the same time, from an onomastic perspective, this research seeks to follow the evolution of Algerian anthroponyms in atypical contexts. This sociolinguistic study integrated into the field of onomastics uses a field survey through semi-directive interviews aimed at answering our research questions which revolve around the reasons for attributing anthroponyms in certain mixed families as well as the functions that parents seek to fulfill by naming their child. It turns out that the naming act is complex because it is not only motivated by factors of a religious, cultural and identity nature, this choice also refers to the type of adaptation strategies of each couple (Collet, 2019), their life history, their needs for integration and/or exclusion within the networks and societies in which they find themselves inserted.