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→Surnames Historical Development
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*The '''nobility and wealthy land owners''' were the first to begin using surnames. | *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. | *'''Merchants and townspeople''' then adopted the custom, as did the '''rural population'''. This process took two or three centuries. | ||
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While Czechs share relatively few given names — roughly 260 names have a frequency above 500 in the Czech Republic — 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 (surname)|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 (surname)|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 | |||
==Given Names== | ==Given Names== | ||