Gender factors in the formation of ergonyms in the Namangan region

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the influence of the gender factor on the formation of ergonyms (commercial and social names) in the Namangan region as an element of the regional linguistic landscape. The research material consists of a corpus of 270 unique ergonyms collected from actually functioning institutions across various spheres of activity, including healthcare, education, tourism, public catering, trade, the beauty industry, and childcare services. A qualitative-quantitative tagging methodology was applied, involving the classification of names according to types of gender representation (female, male, neutral, and mixed) as well as their functional and semantic domains of usage. The findings reveal that the neutral naming strategy predominates (84.5%), while feminine marking accounts for 9.4%, masculine for 5.4%, and mixed representation for 0.8%. Gender markers are most actively manifested in the spheres of beauty services, childcare, and public catering, where naming practices are oriented toward target audience appeal and emotional-evaluative components. In contrast, medical and educational institutions more frequently employ neutral models incorporating English lexical elements (med, clinic, center, travel), emphasizing prestige and universality. The results confirm that regional ergonyms function as indicators of contemporary socio-cultural processes and reflect patterns of gender representation in the public discourse.