Personal Names in Algeria: Meaning and Usage

Our project builds upon the work conducted over many years at the CRASC on onomastics (anthroponymy and toponymy) within the framework of the PNR (2003) and the PE (since 2005). The management of a project on Algerian first names (2007–2010), the completion of a Magister on the patronymic and anthroponymic foundations of the Algerian civil registry, and the preparation of a thesis on the semiotics of space in literary works, have all introduced us to research in onomastics.

This project, which we propose within the framework of the PE, will initially allow us to broaden our field of investigation, which to date has been limited to anthroponymy, by taking an interest in onomastics in general. According to A. Dauzat, onomastics is “a systematic study of the etymology of proper names” (A. DAUZAT, 1980.07). This science is divided into two main branches: anthroponymy (personal names) and toponymy (place names). These two branches are closely interconnected, given the frequency of place names within family names and vice versa.

The study encompasses the naming of people and places (cities, villages, neighbourhoods, transport stations, bus, metro and tram stops, etc.), private spaces, literary characters, names of saints and their social dimensions and impact on society, the influence of media on the choice of boys’ and girls’ names, the citation of toponyms and anthroponyms in artistic and cultural production (popular poetry, songs, etc.), and the naming of products intended for commercialisation. All these linguistic, anthropological, and social phenomena merit study, taking into account the rapid changes experienced by Algerian society over the past twenty years, which, according to some researchers, are consequences of globalisation.