Serbia Naming Customs
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Understanding customs used in surnames and given names can help you identify your ancestors in records. Learn to recognize name variations and see clues in names. |
Online Tools
- Behind the Name: Serbian Surnames
- Behind the Name: Serbian Given Names
- Surname experience at FamilySearch - search by surname to learn its meaning and origin
Surnames
- Most Serbian surnames have the surname suffix -ić . This can sometimes further be transcribed as -ic (without the diacritic mark), In history, Serbian names have often been transcribed with a phonetic ending, -ich or -itch. The -ić suffix is a Slavic diminutive, originally used to create patronymics. Thus the surname Petrović means the little son of Petar.
- Outside Serbian countries, Slavic suffixes have been transliterated. Serbs in Hungary have the endings -ity, -ics -its, Serbs in North Macedonia -ikj (or iḱ; Macedonian: иќ), and Serbs in Romania -ici.
- When marrying, the woman most often adopts her husband's family name, though she can also keep both of her last names or not change her last name at all.
- Serbian surnames as used today were first standardized in Principality of Serbia during 1851 and on the census of 1854, the population was recorded by their fixed surnames for the first time.
Surname Changes of Immigrants in the United States
As Immigrants moved into English-speaking countries, their surnames were impacted in a variety of ways.
- Most of the time the surname spelling changed to accommodate the different phonetic spelling in the English language. In other words, the recorder tried to write the name the way he heard it.
- Surnames may also have been translated outright into English, sometimes with a slight twist.
- Within the community, such as the local parish, immigrants may continue to use the original name, while at the same time using English-language equivalents when dealing with local government, census takers, and other English speakers.
- Different branches of the same family may adopt various surname spellings.
- Prior to 1900, formal surname changes documented in local court records are relatively rare.
- During the early 20th Century, especially the World War I era, surname changes are recorded more frequently, as immigrants or, more often, their children, tried to adopt more neutral surnames.
Given Names
- Serbian first names largely originate from Slavic roots: e.g. Miroslav, Vladimir, Zoran, Ljubomir, Vesna, Radmila, Milica, Svetlana, Slavica, Božidarka, Milorad, Dragan, Milan, Goran, Radomir, Vukašin, Miomir, Branimir, Budimir.
- Some may be non-Slavic but chosen to reflect Christian faith. Names of this nature may often originate from Hebrew for Biblical reasons. Christian names include: e.g. Nikola, Ivan, Jovan, Marija, Ana, Mihailo.
- Along similar lines of non-Slavic names among Christians, the origins for many such names are Greek: e.g. Aleksandar, Andrej, Teodora, Jelena, Sofija, Katarina, Nikola, Đorđe, Stefan, Petar, Vasilije, Todor.
- Names of Latin origin include: e.g. Marko, Anđelka, Antonije, Pavle, Srđan, Marina, Natalija, Kornelije. Names of Germanic origin, entering through Russian, include: e.g. Igor, Oliver, Olga.
- In Serbian naming culture, apotropaic names (intended to turn away harm or evil influences) include Vuk, Nenad, Prodan, Sredoje, Staniša, and others.
For Further Reading
References
This information comes from the Wikipedia article, Serbian name.