Simple and organised minority name management in Slovakia

Abstract The paper deals with the specificities of minority name management in Slovak–Hungarian bilingual environments in Slovakia. It discusses the differences between simple and organised name management, the function of the first name as a marker of ethnic identity, the trends in the choice of first names of Slovakia Hungarians living in a bilingual environment (the most significant minority in Slovakia is made up of ethnic Hungarians), and the work on the forthcoming Hungarian–Slovak first name dictionary. The first name dictionary aims to help Hungarian parents in Slovakia choose their newborn child's first name, promote using mother tongue names, and explain the laws regarding minority personal name rights in Slovakia. Furthermore, the dictionary might serve as a guide for registering first names in the mother tongue and could also be used in the registry offices of Hungarian municipalities in Slovakia. The author also presents the applicability of the topic in university education.