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{{breadcrumb | link1=[[Czechia Genealogy|Czechia]] | link2= | link3= | link4= | link5=[[Czechia Naming Customs|Naming Customs]] }} ==Online Tools== *[https://www.kdejsme.cz/ '''Kde Jsme'''] Surname Distribution Map *[[Given Name Equivalents in the Austro-Hungarian Empire|'''Given Name Equivalents''']] This table, based on the resource [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS8L-TQ27-6 Słownik imion], alphabetizes names in Latin, with equivalents in other languages, including Czech. *[http://www.20000-names.com/male_czechoslovakian_names.htm '''Male Czech Names, Slovak Names, Bohemian Names, Czechoslovakian Names'''] *[http://www.20000-names.com/female_czechoslovakian_names.htm '''Female Czech Names, Slovak Names, Bohemian Names, Czechoslovakian Names'''] *[https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/czech '''Behind the Name: Czech Given Names'''] *[https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/slovak '''Behind the Name: Slovak Given Names'''] *[https://surnames.behindthename.com/names/usage/czech '''Behind the Name: Czech Surnames'''] *[https://surnames.behindthename.com/names/usage/slovak '''Behind the Name: Slovak Surnames'''] *[https://www.prijmeni.cz/ '''Modern Czech surname distribution'''] *[https://www.familysearch.org/en/surname '''FamilySearch's surname experience'''] - enter your last name to find its meaning and origin ==Surnames== Czech names are composed of a given name and a family name (surname). Czechs typically get one given name – additional names may be chosen by themselves upon baptism but they generally use one. With marriage, the bride typically adopts the bridegroom's surname. <ref name="Czech">"Czech name", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_name, accessed 25 February 2021.</ref> ====Surname Language Variation==== *Surnames may also be affected by the language in which the record was written. *Some priests simply '''translated the surname into the language of the church register'''. For example, the Czech surname ''Černý'' could be translated to ''Schwarz''. Similarly, ''Nový, Novák, Nováček, Novotný'', and ''Novotníček'' could be translated into German as ''Neumann''. *Usually surnames were not translated, but simply '''altered to fit the phonetic spelling and grammar of the language used in the parish register'''. It is not uncommon to see Czech surnames changed according to German spelling rules. Thus we find ''Čermák - Tschermak'', ''Šebek - Schebek'', ''Havlíček - Hawlitzek''. Likewise, German surnames often are seen with Czech spellings: ''Schultz - Šulc'', ''Schreier - Šrajer'', ''Schmidt - Šmid''. *Grammatically, there are two types of surnames: nouns and adjectives. Surname endings will vary according to the gender of the person. Female surnames are usually feminized with the basic endings: '''-ová''' or '''-á'''. ===Inflection=== *In English some words have different endings depending upon how they are used in a sentence. A few examples of this are they-their-them, he-his-him, and who-whose-whom. This changing of words according to grammatical usage is called inflection. '''Czech is a Slavic language and as such is extremely inflective'''. *All nouns and adjectives, including names of people and places, are subject to changes that can be a source of confusion to anyone not familiar with this language and their complicated grammar. Here are some examples: *manželství mezi '''Janem Mikuleckým''' a '''Anežkou roz. Krplovou''' = marriage between '''Jan Mikulecký''' and '''Anežka Krplová''' <span style="color:red">Notice the name endings alter when placed in the grammar of the marriage.</span> *Josef, syn '''Ludvíka Ryby''' a '''Františky roz. Sýkorové''' = Josef, son of '''Ludvík Ryba''' and '''Františka Sýkorová'''<span style="color:red">Again, notice the inflection change in the name endings. </span> *'''z Prahy''' = from Praha (Prague); '''v Praze''' = in Praha; '''do Prahy''' = to Praha <span style="color:red">This demonstrates how extremely inflective the language is. </span> ===Inflection Differences in Male and Female Surnames=== Czech surnames are affected by gender. For example, a woman's surname must have a feminine ending. Although all surnames are nouns, they come from various parts of speech; adjectives and nouns. Surname endings vary according to the type of surname, i.e. whether from a noun or adjective, and the gender of the person. '''Names from Adjectives''' 1. Most adjective surnames end in '''-ý''' for males and '''-á''' for females. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Černý |Černá |- |Novotný |Novotná |- |Veselý |Veselá |- |Palacký |Palacká |} 2. Other types of adjective surnames end in '''-í''' and in '''-ů'''. These surnames are the same for females as for males. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Krejčí |Krejčí |- |Jirků |Jirků |} '''Names from Nouns''' 1. Noun surnames end with a consonant or a short vowel (a vowel that doesn't have an accent mark). Noun surnames are feminized by adding the ending '''-ová'''. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Novák |Nováková |- |Haneš |Hanešová |- |Bartoš |Bartošová |- |Havlík |Havlíková |- |Krk |Krková |- |Šlytr |Šlytrová |} 2. Surnames that end with an '''-a''', '''-e''', or '''-o''' drop the final letter before adding the '''-ová'''. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Kučera |Kučerová |- |Homolka |Homolková |- |Housle |Houslová |- |Mičko |Mičková |- |Štýblo |Štýblová |} 3. Surnames ending with '''-ě''' are quite uncommon. These usually simply drop the '''-ě''' before adding the '''-ová'''. Some however keep the '''-ě''' and add a '''-t-''' before adding the '''-ová'''. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Bechyně |Bechyňová |- |Vlčiště |Vlčišťová |- |'''''but''''' | |- |Ditě |Ditětová |- |Hrabě |Hrabětová |} 4. Surnames that end in '''-ec''' or '''-ek''' (or rarely '''-ev''' or '''-el''') drop the '''-e-''' before adding the '''-ová'''. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Moravec |Moravcová |- |Šálek |Šálková |- |Horáček |Horáčková |- |Broškev |Broškvová |- |Mandel |Mandlová or Mandelová |} 5. Uncommon surnames ending with '''-ĕk''' or '''-ĕc''' may or may not drop the '''-ĕ-'''. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Danĕk |Daňková or Danĕková |- |Bartonĕc |Bartoňcová or Bartonĕcová |} 6. In many cases, even German and Hungarian names are subjected to the '''-ová''' ending. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Wagner |Wagnerová |- |Nagy |Nagyová |} ===Surnames Historical Development=== *Before record keeping began, most people had only one name, such as John. *As the population increased, it became necessary to distinguish between individuals with the same name. The problem was usually solved by adding descriptive information. John became John the smith, John the son of Matthew, John the short, or John from Prague. *At first surnames applied only to one person, not to the whole family. After a few generations, these names became hereditary and were passed on from generation to generation. *Surnames developed from several sources. For example: **'''Occupational''' **'''Geographical''' **'''Patronymic''' **'''Descriptive''' or '''nickname''' *The '''nobility and wealthy land owners''' were the first to begin using surnames. *'''Merchants and townspeople''' then adopted the custom, as did the '''rural population'''. This process took two or three centuries. <br> While Czechs share relatively few given names — roughly 260 names have a frequency above 500 in Czechia — there are tens of thousands of Czech surnames (singular and plural: ''příjmení''). These are similar in origin to English ones and may reflect: * a personal characteristic of someone's ancestor (such as ''Malý'' – "small", ''Veselý'' – "cheerful", ''Železný'' – "iron") * occupation (''Kovář'' – "blacksmith", ''Kolář'' – "wheeler", ''Sedlák'' – "landowning farmer", ''Kočí'' – "coachman") * the first name of a relative (''Marek'' – "Mark", ''David'', ''Eliáš'' – "Elias") * animals (''Liška'' – "fox", ''Zajíc'' – "hare", ''Jelínek'' – "little deer", ''Ježek'' – "hedgehog", ''Kocourek'' – "little tomcat") * especially birds (''Sokol'' – "falcon", ''Čermák'' – "black redstart", ''Kalous'' – "asio", ''Sýkora'' – "titmouse", ''Holub'' – "pigeon", ''Čáp'' – "stork") * plants (''Konvalinka'' – "lily of the valley", ''Růžička'' – "little rose", ''Fiala'' – "violet", ''Javor'' – "maple") * especially fruits and vegetables (''Jahoda'' – "strawberry", ''Hruška'' – "pear", ''Cibulka'' – "little onion") * food (''Oliva'' – "olive", ''Makovec'' – "poppy cake", ''Slanina'' – "bacon") * places of origin (''Slezák'' – "Silesian", ''Moravec'' – "Moravian", ''Němec'' – "German") ** also in a form of adjectives (''Rosický'' – "of Rosice", ''Nepomucký'' – "of Nepomuk") * actions, usually in past simple (''Musil'' – "(he) had to", ''Pospíšil'' – "(he) hurried up", ''Zdražil'' – "(he) raised the price", ''Hrabal'' – "(he) raked") * things (''Procházka'' – "stroll", ''Chalupa'' – "cottage", ''Svačina'' – "snack", ''Kučera'' – "a curl of hair") * and many others<ref name="Czech"/> ====Alias Surnames==== Some families, especially in Southern Bohemia and Moravian Wallachia, used alias surnames. You may find these families listed under both surnames in the parish registers or one or the other. Sometimes some children are listed under one surname, and others under the original. Aliases were used to differentiate between branches of a family that are all living in the same village, or to differentiate between unrelated families with common surnames, such as Novák (which simply means new person in the village). Sometimes a man would take the surname of his wife as an alias surname, or the name of the builder of their house. For a more in-depth discussion of alias surnames, see [http://czechgenealogy.nase-koreny.cz/2012/11/surnames-after-roof.html this article]. If you see one of these terms in between two surnames, it is indicating the use of an alias surname: '''aliter''' ''(Latin) ='' or/else '''jinak''' ''(Czech) ='' otherwise '''neb''' ''(Czech) ='' or '''recte''' ''(Latin)='' correctly '''správně''' ''(Czech) ='' correctly '''subdita''' ''(Latin) ='' substitute '''vel''' ''(Latin) ='' also '''vulgo''' ''(Latin) ='' called ==Given Names== ===Historical Background=== In the Czech lands, the major source of given names was the names of Roman Catholic saints. Many of these were borrowed from foreign sources including names of Greek, Latin, Hebrew and German origin. === Słownik imion (Dictionary of names) === In many Czech records, given names are translated into Latin or German. One of the best resources to identify the Czech (or other language) version of a Latin name is the [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS8L-TQ27-6 '''Słownik imion'''], or dictionary of names. This information has been indexed into a searchable [[Given Name Equivalents in the Austro-Hungarian Empire|'''online table''']]. A digital copy of the book is available [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS8L-TQ27-6 online]. An [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS8L-TQKT-S index] to all variant names is located at the [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS8L-TQKT-S back of the book]. ===Prefix Roots=== For names that are of purely Slavic origin, the most popular were compound names which consist of two Slavic roots joined together. The following list gives the meanings of most of the various Slavic prefixes and suffixes. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |'''Czech Prefix''' |'''Meaning''' |'''Czech Prefix''' |'''Meaning''' |- |style="padding-right: 100px"| Blaho-<br>Bohu-<br>Bole-<br>Bor-<br>Boži-<br>Brani-<br>Breti-<br>Broni-<br>Dali-<br>Dobro-<br>Draho-<br>Hori-<br>Hosti-<br>Hvězdo-<br>Jaro-<br>Krasno-<br>Kraso-<br>Křeso-<br>Květo-<br>Ladi-<br>Libo-<br>Lido-<br>Lubo-<br>Ludo- |style="padding-right:150px"| blessed<br>God's<br>more<br>warrior<br>see Bohu-<br>defense<br>ring out<br>see Brani-<br>further, more<br>good<br>dear, valued<br>mountains<br>guest<br>star<br>strong, fierce<br>beautiful<br>see Krasno-<br>strong<br>flower<br>see Vladi-<br>beloved<br>see Ludo-<br>see Libo-<br>the people<br> |style="padding-right: 100px"| Luti-<br>Milo-<br>Miro-<br>Msti-<br>Radi-<br>Rati-<br>Rosti-<br>Slavo-<br>Sobě<br>Stani-<br>Svato-<br>Sveto-<br>Světlo-<br>Vac-<br>Vit-<br>Vladi-<br>Vlasti-<br>Voj-<br>Vrati-<br>Zby-<br>Zde-<br>Zeli-<br>Zito-<br> | fierce<br>love<br>peace<br>revenge<br>joy<br>soldier<br>increase<br>glory<br>self<br>everlasting<br>strong (or Holy)<br>see Svato-<br>light<br>more<br>live<br>rule<br>homeland<br>warrior<br>return<br>remain<br>here (or do)<br>desire<br>life<br> |} ===Suffix Roots=== {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- | -bor...<br>-chval...<br>-dan...<br>-dar...<br>-mil...<br>-mír...<br>-mysl...<br>-pluk...<br>-rad...<br>-slav...<br>-těch...<br>-voj...<br>-van...<br>-vit...<br> | fight, warrior<br>praise<br>given<br>gift<br>love<br>peace<br>think<br>defense of people<br>joy<br>glory<br>haste<br>warrior<br>individual<br>life<br> |} Thus Vladimir means "rule of peace" and Dalibor means "continue fighting." Of course, not all suffixes are found with all prefixes. In many cases male names had a female version created by adding -a. {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right:100px"| '''''Male''''' | '''''Female''''' |- |Jaroslav |Jaroslava |- |Bohumil |Bohumila |- |Vladimír |Vladimira |- |František |Františka |} Most Czech names (of all origins) end in a consonant (František, Jan, etc.) and female names usually end with '''-a''' (Kateřina) or '''-e''' (Marie). Most names have nicknames or diminutive forms which end in '''-a''', '''-ek''', or '''-ik'''. For example: Franta from František; Maňa or Mařka from Marie; Jarda or Jarek from Jaroslav, Pavlik from Pavel. ===Given Name Language Variation=== Many old documents and certificates that surface when searching through family papers will be written in '''German or Latin.''' Because of the many languages encountered in Czech records, it is not unusual to see '''several variations of an ancestor's name depending on the language of the record'''. An ancestor may appear as ''Wenceslaus'' in his Latin birth record, as ''Wenzel'' in his German marriage record, and as ''Václav'' in the Czech birth records of his children. Another example is the Czech name ''Vojtěch''; in German it is ''Albrecht''; in Latin, ''Adalbertus''. Fortunately, not all names differ so markedly. The Latin ''Josephus'' is easily recognized as Czech ''Josef''. A listing of given names with translations in English, Czech, Latin and German is found on the Wiki. The following '''online''' source contains given names translated into 23 different European languages, including English: *Janowowa, Wanda, et al. ''[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/103656 '''Słownik imion'''] (Dictionary of names).'' Wrocław, Germany: Zakład Narodowy im Ossolińskich, 1975. (FS Library book Ref 940 D4si; film 1181578 item 2; fiche 6,000,839.) Names are listed alphabetically by the Polish name, as the author is Polish. An index at the back gives the Polish form of each name. Use that name to find the 23 translations in the main list. ==Americanization of Names== A serious problem for some researchers is to determine the actual name of their immigrant ancestor. Some ancestors in their eagerness to be assimilated into American culture, traded their difficult foreign names for American names. This occurred often with given names and to a lesser extent with surnames. ===Given Names=== Given names usually were simply translated to their American counterparts: {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right:100px"| ''Jan'' |John |- |''František'' |Frank or Francis |- |''Kateřina'' |Catherine |- |''Alžbĕta'' |Elizabeth |} Because some given names have no English translation, they were frequently changed to almost any similar sounding American name: ''Václav'' = Wenzel, Venceslaus, Wenceslaus, William, Wesley, Wendel, James ===Surnames=== Sometimes the name change was simply a translation: {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right:100px"| ''Jablečík'' |Appleton | |- |''Krejčí'' |Taylor |- |''Procházka'' |Walker |} In many cases the immigrant would choose an American name that sounded similar to foreign name: {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right:100px"| ''Kořista'' |Corrister |- |''Nožíř'' |Norris |- |''Hudec'' |Hudson |- |''Maršálek'' |Marshall |- |''Šimáček'' |Smack |- |''Lapáček'' |LaPache |- |''Vančura'' |Van Cura |} Some immigrants who were sensitive about the pronunciation of their names changed the spelling so that Americans could pronounce their names correctly: {| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" |- |style="padding-right:100px"| ''Kokoška'' |Kokoshka |- |''Kučera'' |Kuchera/Kuczera |- |''Jelínek'' |Yellineck |- |''Chudec''<br> |Hudetz |} ==For Further Reading== *[https://www.fbiic.gov/public/2008/nov/Naming_practice_guide_UK_2006.pdf '''A GUIDE TO NAMES AND NAMING PRACTICES, UK Names Guide'''] *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_name '''"Czech name"'''], in Wikipedia *Other sources are listed in the '''FamilySearch Catalog:''' **{{FSC|442907|subject_id|disp= Czech Republic - Names, Personal}} **{{FSC|1144585|subject_id|disp= Czech Republic - Names, Personal - Dictionaries}} ==References== <references/> [[Category:Czechia|Names]] [[Category:Naming Customs]]