Motivations behind choosing the first name Réka

Abstract

Motivations behind choosing the first name Réka

Based on the findings of a questionnaire, this paper examines how the first name Réka is judged among those bearing the name and what ideas motivated their parents to choose this name for them. The name became a part of the Hungarian name stock approximately 60 years ago as a revived historical name and in 2005 it was the second most often chosen female name. The most important conclusions drawn from the corpus of answers of 303 informants: 90% of those bearing the name Réka are satisfied with their parents’ name choice. Parents confessed to choosing this name either because it is a Hungarian name or because they liked it. 50% of the informants living in Transylvania (Romania) also mentioned that their parents’ choice had also been motivated by the fact that this name can not be translated into Romanian, so it can appear in personal documents in Hungarian. About 50% of the interviewees would gladly give this name to their daughters, either to pass on the name or to induce identity formation. According to the data observed, the first parents who gave this name to their daughters had a university or college degree.