Simple (non-organized) name management: Knowledge about and attitudes towards family names and first names among university students in Nitra/Nyitra

Abstract In this paper, the knowledge of university students in Nitra about their first names and family names is described on the basis of a questionnaire survey: whether they know the meaning and origin of their own names, whether they know when their name days are celebrated, but also how common they think their names are, and how they are addressed and nicknamed. In addition to knowledge about personal names, students' attitudes towards their own names are discussed. Since the survey was conducted among university students in Nitra, a brief description of the teaching of onomastics at the institute is also provided. Previous attitude surveys regarding names are also reviewed, some of which have assessed the knowledge about and attitudes towards names of Hungarian university and high school students in Slovakia. In the present study, besides the aforementioned onomastic phenomena, the motives for naming and name changes are also touched upon, both of which can be related to name management, a concept clarified in the introduction. The naming issues covered in the survey can be discussed in the university programs of the institute and can be incorporated into the curriculum, so these issues are also briefly addressed at the end of the paper.