The designation of Kaunas district noblemen in a 1567 document

This article investigates the designation of 505 individuals belonging to 77 noble families in the Kaunas district. The persons inscribed in the document most likely did not have surnames at that time. Men were usually identified by name and patronymic or by name only. Women were most often identified by a personal name made from the spouse’s name or a personal name from the spouse’s name and his patronymic. All the men and only one-quarter of the women were identified by name. Patronymic designations were typical for the majority of men and only used once as the designation of a woman. Some men were designated with their father’s patronymic. Almost all of the men’s patronymics had Slavic suffixes. Lithuanian suffixes in patronymics were used only three times. Some identifications of men included personal names from the designation of family members (mother, stepfather, father-in-law). Titles were more typically used to identify women than men. Titles of marital status and kinship dominated the designations of both sexes. Business and professional titles were also typical for representatives of both sexes. Titles indicating estate occured only among the men’s identification. Most of the designations of men were binary and designations of women consisted of a single element. A few persons were designated only by a name. The mixed designation of men and the designation of women with an anthroponym made only from the personal names of the family members prevailedLituanistikos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta