Abstract:

The paper deals with the ways foreign anthroponyms function and are assimilated in a different linguistic and sociocultural context. It discusses the main social function of anthroponyms: identification of an individual, their social status, ethnicity in a multicultural society, cultural background, nationality, religious affiliation, and a space-time identifier. The article considers how foreign language and foreign culture personal names function, how migrants’ names integrate into a new culture and a new society, how names are changed in totalitarian states, how minority language names function in a majority language culture. The conclusion is that anthroponyms are a powerful tool of self-identification, manipulation, assimilation and communication in a sociocultural context.

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