Reviewed by Marc Pierce, University of Texas at Austin

This sizeable volume offers exactly what the title indicates: discussions of the personal naming systems of a number of European languages. It is dedicated to Rosa and Volker Kohlheim, both of whom have published extensively on onomastics. The book begins with the normal paraphernalia of a handbook or Festschrift: a brief dedication to the Kohlheims; an essay, ‘Zum Geleit’ by Ernst Eichler that outlines the Kohlheims’ work; a brief foreword by the editors; a table of contents; and a list of abbreviations used in the work. The book proper begins with the essay ‘Europäische Personennamensysteme’ (21–24), which justifies the publication of the book, defines ‘Personennamensystem’ (‘ein strukturierter…und funktionaler…Komplex von Personennamen’ [21]) and ‘europäisch’, and outlines the content and structure of the handbook.

The meat of the book consists of entries on the personal naming systems of an impressively broad range of seventy-seven languages, including Albanian, Basque, English, Maltese, and Slovenian. All of the entries are similarly structured. For example, Sirkka Paikkala’s chapter on Finnish (‘Das finnische Personennamensystem’ [200–14]) begins with a brief introduction, then discusses the development of first names (covering such issues as the use of Finnish versions of originally foreign names) and then of last names and patronymics (with a treatment of, e.g. the use of names by the nobility, the military, and farmers), and concludes with an outline of the relevant literature and an extensive bibliography.

In many respects, this is a valuable and useful work. The individual entries pack a good deal of information into a relatively limited space, and the book well repays the browser. At times a bit more editorial control could have been exercised (the terminology is not always consistent from entry to entry, as the editors admit in the foreword), a more complete table of contents would make the book handier to use, and the price of the volume will doubtless keep it out of the hands of many potential readers. Nevertheless, this book is a good resource for those interested in European personal names.