Analiză statistică asupra tipurilor de nume folosite în Țara Românească în secolul al XVIII-lea

The period in Europe that saw the spread of Enlightenment ideas and a gradual secularization was, for Romanians, a time when the Ottoman Porte tightened its control over the Romanian Principalities, yet also a time of increased Orthodox Church involvement in people's lives. Numerous scholarly works have examined various aspects of the political regime, society, culture, and even daily life during that era. This study aims to complete that picture by introducing new insights into the mindset of the people of the time—their aspirations and fears—as revealed through their choices of names for their children. Did the Romanian system of personal naming undergo changes during this period, or did conservatism prevail here as well? What exerted the greatest influence on the naming system: Ottoman rule, secular Greek elements, or an attachment to tradition and the Church? These questions prompted the present study, which is based on a statistical analysis of the Romanian naming system in Wallachia during the 18th century and reveals various mechanisms behind name selection.