Since there are a large number of people interested in ethnic Romanian personas and at present I have access to a large amount of information and specialists on Romanian history I have chosen to specialise this paper on ethnic Romanian names. From a historical point of view a more correct term for ethnic Romanian is "Vlach", as "Romanian" may also refer to either the various ethnic groups that now occupy the modern state of Romania or it might refer to the citizens of Tara Romaneasca (Wallachia). Vlach is used to refer to the original native speakers (and their descendants) of what is today referred to as the Romanian language. This is the term commonly used to refer to this ethno-linguistic population prior to the formation of the modern state of Romania. It is also useful in distinguishing them from other ethnic groups of Romanian nationality. By the late Mediaeval period, varieties of this ethnic group were located throughout most of the territory of modern Romania and Moldova as well as northern Serbia and south throughout the Balkan peninsula.
Peasants generally had a single name. This name was given to the child at birth or by the time of baptism. At the child's baptism, the name was made official. This given name was generally of two categories - 1. religious names (from the Bible or from a Saint); or 2. traditional names. The large scale use of religious names began mainly in the 19th century. Prior, the use of religious names depended largely on whether the village had strong Christian beliefs and upon the influence of the local priest. Traditional names were more prominent. Traditional names were generally derived from words. The names of flowers were commonly used for the given name of both females and males, for example the male name <Viorel> (from "violet"). Other common names reflected characteristics, often virtuous characteristics. As well, people often named their children after other objects (e.g. the female name <Stanioara> from "sheep pen" or the male name <Stanciu> from "stone"). Names of parents, grandparents and other relatives were often given to children. The use of Roman and Greek names was not used by peasants during the Mediaeval period. This is a very modern practice.
Since there were not a large variety of popular names being used, it was common for peasants to also have identifying names or nick names. People were generally not referred to by these names alone. In fact they were mainly used when it was necessary to distinguish between two people with the same given name. These identifying names were often linked to a place [NAME din PLACE]. For example, <Ioan din Blaj> - Ioan/John from Blaj. Note that a name such as <Ioan de Blaj> (John of Blaj) would signify that this person is nobility but <Ioan din Blaj> would not signify one way or the other. Their identifying name might have connected them to one of their relatives (e.g. their mother, father, husband, wife, etc.) who the person listening or reading might know better. For example, if someone was speaking about their friend Ioan but the listener did not know which Ioan, the speaker might refer to <Ioan a lu'Gligor> (Gligor's Ioan, in which case Gligor most likely would be Ioan's father) or <Gligor a lu'Maria> (Maria's Gligor, in which case Maria may be Gligor's mother or wife -- the listening presumably would know which) or even <Ioan a lu'Gligor a lu'Maria>. These types of identifying names were very dynamic and would have changed depending a lot on the person with whom one was communicating. A person might be referred to by the clan or extended family that they belong to by referring to an important ancestor. For example, if Ioan is part of the family descended from Bucur (perhaps the head of the family when it settled in that village) then Ioan might be referred to as <Ioan Bucureşti> (John of the Bucurs). Clan names are formed by adding <-eşti> to the end of the founder's name. If the name ends in a vowel, such as <Petru>, then the vowel is removed and <-esti> is added (e.g. <Petru> --> <Petreşti>). Peasants might also have been considered part of the household of the lord (or land owner) whose land they lived and worked on. In this case, their identifying name would have been derived in the same was as when referring to their clan or extended family. If Ioan lives on the land of Petru then Ioan may be referred to as <Ioan Petreşti<. The person's identifying part of their name might also indicate their profession (e.g. <Ioan Baciu> - Head Shepherd John). Their name might give some physical description of the person, such as <Ioan Inaltul> (Tall John), or <Ioan Grosu> (Fat John). In any case, these type names were used primarily to clarify a distinction between two people with the same name in cases of ambiguity. People would likely have more than one identifying name depending on who they were talking to or who was talking about them. They were not considered permanent names since someone completely unfamiliar with the person in question would likely not understand the identifying name.
The nobility (often self appointed nobility) often did use family names. There were not many family names in use but the family names that did exist were often used by extensive groups of people related to the "family". Many family names were derived from the name of a founder of the dynasty. For example, if Mihai was a member of a dynasty founded by Petru then Mihai might be named <Mihai Petrescu< (<Petru> + <-escu>), <Mihai a lui Petru>, or <Mihai Petreşti>. If there was a split in a family then two new dynasties might have formed, each using a new family name (based on the names of the two new founders). Although people would be associated with a particular dynasty, it wasn't always used as a name. Many rulers used only a single name (a given name) or a given name with a byname. Bynames that described the person often were in the form of <NAME cel ADJECTIVE>, for example, <Ioan cel Inalt> (John the Tall). Bynames may just have been a desciptive noun, such as <Mihai Viteazul> (Micheal the Brave Man). Sometime the nobility used a variety of different bynames, and even different language variations of their names (e.g. Romanian, Hungarian, German, Slavic, Latin, etc.). Ioan might also be referred to as <Iancu>, <Janos>, <Johanne>, or <Ivan> depending on who he was communicating with or why his name was being recorded. It was very common in Transylvania for Vlach peasants to also have Hungarian or German names. This was because their names may have been recorded by Hungarian or German speaking chroniclers in which case their commonly used name was most likely simply being translated into the native language of the person recording it. It was also possible that parents might give their children Hungarian or German names (or that adults may have adopted a translation of their name) to help them assimilate into the administration and court of Transilvania, which was at that time largely run by Hungarians and ethnic Germans.
Important people in the villages (e.g. doctors, priests, etc.) often had an intellectual name to emphasise their higher level of culture. These people and other members of educated families were often named after famous Romans or Greeks. In these cases though, they only adopted the most famous part of the the name of the person they were named after, for example <Ovidiu>, and did not use entire Roman or Greek names like the ancient Romans or Greeks. Priests would have also had a religious name which they may have taken when they became a priest.
Although many mediaeval names are still used today, names of Vlachs in the Mediaeval and Renaissance periods were not written as they are today in the modern Romanian language. The Italian based phonetic system used with the Greco-Roman alphabet which is used today to write the Romanian language (and hence also Romanian names) was only adopted during the early Modern period. Prior to this, the majority of Vlachs in the former Moldavian region and it's environs used the Cyrillic alphabet to write (as was used up until very recently). Vlachs in Transylvania and the Wallachian area (the area south of the Carpathian Mountains, also written Vlachia or Vallacia) tended to use the Greco-Roman alphabet but with Hungarian phonetics. Vlachs in Wallachia did also use Cyrillic. In general, the majority of peasants were illiterate and would not have even known how to write their own name. In this paper I've used modern Romanian phonetics to write names because that is how they often appear in modern books which might make it easier for the reader with access to history books, to adapt to their preferences names or parts of names which they find.
Dumitran, Ana
2006. Personal interview with Ms. Dumitran. Ms. Dumitran is a senior historian at the national museum in Alba Iulia.
Nicoara, T.
2001. "Transilvania la inceputurile timpurilor moderne (1680-1800). Societate rurala si mentalitati colective" Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca.
Stoicescu, N.
1971. "Dictionar al Marilor Dregatori din Tara Romaneasca si Moldova, sec XIV-XVII", Editura Enciclopedica romana, Bucharest.