Hungary Naming Customs

Naming Customs

• surname (or a family name) is used first, followed by the first or given name

NAGY János John Nagy KOVÁCS Mária Mary Smith

This rule is also followed in Hungarian parish registers.

• there is usually just one given name
• surnames are generally a single names
• patronymics were usually not used

• surnames were usually derived from common sources such as trades, qualities, ethnic origins, place names etc.

SZABÓ Ferenc Frank Taylor MOLNÁR Lajos Louis Miller KIS Mihály Michael Little FEHÉR Erzsébet Elizabeth White TÖRÖK Katalin Catherine Turk

• titles of nobility are put before the surnames

gróf NAGY János Count John Nagy

• the equivalent of Mrs. is the particle né (wife) which is added to a husband=s name.

NAGY Jánosné Mrs. John Nagy

Names of Hungarian married women take on special forms. Pócsiné Munkcási Gabriella means that Gabriella Pócsi married a man named Munkcási. The né means wife of. Treat the name as a regular double surname.