Names and their forms in Polish landed gentry – on the material of memories

The article is between onomastics and sociolinguistics. The author shows the informal forms of names, which are used in Polish family of landed gentry in the beginning of XX century. The author carried out a word-formation analysis of a large collection of these forms, selected from three memory books. The article is an important contribution to the knowledge of the riches of the diminutives, which Poles in different epochs and environments have addressed themselves