What do people want to know about names? Onomastic inquiries in the Czech Language Consulting Centre

Since as early as 1946, Czech language users have been able to consult their questions with the Czech Language Consulting Centre by phone. Since 2019, there is a software database available, making the unique data of obtained inquiries accessible to the public. This paper introduces those parts of this database that are connected with proper names (not only the origin and interpretation of proper names, but also their pronunciation, spelling, declension, etc.), identifies the categories of the most frequent queries and presents examples of questions. Onomastic inquiries are specific due to the fact that to answer them, an interdisciplinary approach, knowledge of foreign languages and orientation in the entire contemporary multicultural world are necessary.