Names and epitaphs in the cemeteries of Săgeata, Buzău county

Săgeata is the seat of the commune with the same name in Buzău county. The names on the funeral monuments in the cemeteries found in this settlement are specific to Romanian rural space. As far as their origin is concerned, one can note that 25.9% are biblical names, originating in Christianity and with religious connotations, 20.3% have Slavic roots and were borrowed via Bulgarian, whereas 7.4% are of Slavic origin and entered the Romanian language via Greek. Epitaphs consist of messages or appeals to wisdom, adages which were “sung” to express the regret of dying, appeals to remember the deceased, words which conveyed resignation before one’s destiny or the grief of the beloved, various philosophical phrases, and sometimes small prayers or personalized verses, etc. The oldest epitaph in the cemeteries in Săgeata dates back to 1892.