Expression of Lithuanness in the names of children of Lithuanian emigrants in Norway, 1991–2020

Abstract

This article examines the Lithuanianness of the names of Lithuanian citizens born in Norway between 1991 and 2020. To do this, a scale was created to measure Lithuanianness that takes into account grammatical structure, origin, derivation, and orthography. From a grammatical point of view, the study shows that the names of most Lithuanian citizens born in Norway comply with the usual structure of Lithuanian names (86.3 per cent). More than two-thirds of the Lithuanian citizens born in Norway have borrowed names that coincide with those of other languages, including endings. As a result, it is clear that the endings of many names indicate Lithuanian ethnic identity, but the stems of the names conceal it. The naming trends for girls and boys differ. Lithuanian emigrants usually give girls and boys names that coincide with those of other languages. In addition, boys often receive names that only have the stems in common with other languages.