The process of globalization is closely associated with the processes of internationalization and nationalization, where the second process is manifested in the everincreasing interest in national roots, national culture and national identity. In this regard, one of the main objects of scientific knowledge has been and is folklore as a mirror reflecting historical and cultural information and the national creative potential of the people. As one of the popular genres of oral folk art is an anecdote, in which the features of humorous discourse are most clearly manifested. A common technique for creating humorous discourse, in particular, anecdotes, is the use of precedent names. By precedent names, we mean proper names that are known to everyone in a certain linguocultural community and whose main function is not to designate a specific person, but to represent a kind of national and cultural sign. The purpose of this article is to describe precedent names in Turkic anecdotes, such as Aldar Kose, Effendi and Kozhanasyr, their functional load and national and cultural specifics. These nomadic images from generation to generation are national heroes with national traits, an acute mind, gumption, the ability to get out of any difficult situation, as well as ridiculing the vices and shortcomings of society of different times. The material of the study was more than 300 anecdotes collected and published by Kazakh and Uzbek folklorists.