Proper name: a glimpse of history and today’s perspectives

Abstract

In everyday communication, the onomastic lexicon plays a crucial role in facilitating reference and disambiguation. Whether in interpersonal interactions or written texts, the use of proper names helps individuals identify and track specific entities within a given context. Moreover, proper names serve as markers of identity, allowing individuals to assert their distinctiveness and uniqueness in social settings. The nominations of places, organizations, products, etc. also carry symbolic significance, often reflecting the nation’s cultural values and historical legacies. Paying due tribute to the topicality of researching proper names from the interdisciplinary perspective, which constitutes the mainstream of modern scientific research, this paper aims to explore the theory of proper names by delving into its historical development and discussing the key concepts of Onomastics in contemporary debates.