Shelter Zoonymy from a Linguistic and Cultural Perspective (Based on Dog Names in Russia)

Pawel Smolko

Abstract


The study analyzes the onomastic and cultural context of names given to dogs housed in Russian shelters in 2024. The aim of the study is to demonstrate that these names serve not only an identifying function, but also cultural and emotional ones, expressing human empathy for animals. The theoretical section of the article presents the basic characteristics of zoonymy as a subdiscipline of onomastics. The empirical section analyzes a catalog of 145 names of Russian shelter dogs, classifying them semantically. The results indicate that zoonyms inspired by human names are most frequently chosen, reflecting the process of humanizing animals and changing social perceptions of their role.

Original title in Polish: "Zoonimia schroniskowa w perspektywie językowej i kulturowej (na przykładzie nazw psów w Rosji)."


Keywords


onomastics; zoonymy; animal names; culture; shelter; empathy; linguistics

References


Animal Farm Foundation n.d.: “Naming Dogs in Shelters: The Power of Positive Framing.” https://www.animalfarmfoundation.org/dog-names-framing/ (accessed 12.11.2025).

Brown & McConnell 2016: Brown, Christina M. & Allen R. McConnell. “Thinking about Cats or Dogs Provides Relief from Social Rejection.” Anthrozoos, vol. 29, issue 1 (2016): 47–60.

Kijak-Mantas 2024: Kijak-Mantas, Agnieszka. “Personal Names as Animal Names.” [In Polish: „Imiona osobowe w funkcji zoonimów.” Jezykoznawstwo, no 18 (2024): 113–124.]

Kolodziej 2018: Kolodziej, Agnieszka. “Urban Zoonymes in Selected Western and Southern Slavic Languages.” Onomastica, no 62 (2018): 233–249. https://doi.org/10.17651/ONOMAST2018.18. [In Polish: Kołodziej, Agnieszka. „Nazewnictwo urbozoonimiczne w wybranych językach zachodnio- i południowosłowiańskich.” Onomastica, nr 62 (2018): 233–249.]

Kovalev 2023: Kovalev, G. F. “Zoonym as an Object of Study of Literary Onomastics.” Actual Issues of Modern Philology and Journalism, no 2(49 / 2023): 113–120. https://doi.org/10.36622/AQMPJ.2023.57.68.017. [In Russian: Ковалев, Г.Ф. „Зооним как объект изучения литературной ономастики.“ Актуальные вопросы современной филологии и журналистики, № 2 (49 / 2023): 113–120.]

Madieva & Suprin 2015: Madieva, G. & Suprun, V. Theory and Practice of Onomastics. Moscow: Flinta, 2015. [In Russian: Мадиева, Г. & Супрун, В. Теория и практика ономастики. Москва: Флинта, 2015.]

Podberi Sobaku 2024: webportal.https://podberi-sobaku.ru/sobaki-v-dobrie-ruki (accessed 17.03.2024). [InRussian: Подбери Собаку! „Собаки и щенки в дар – в добрые руки.“]

Serpell 1986: Serpell, James. In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships.London: Basil Blackwell, 1986. (First edititon: 1952.)

WSJP: “Psiecko.” In Wielki słownik języka polskiego. Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN. https://wsjp.pl/haslo/podglad/119145/psiecko (accessed 12.11.2025).

|CMP|

Article submitted / Zgłoszony do Redakcji: 14.11.2025 | Reviews completed / Proces recenzyjny zakończony: 13.12.2025 | Accepted for publication / Przyjęty do publikacji: 07.01.2026 | Screened with iThenticate




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/zcm.2026.15.147-155
Date of publication: 2026-03-18 16:53:02
Date of submission: 2025-11-14 13:26:56


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