Switzerland Naming Customs

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Switzerland

Personal Names

Online Tools

Surnames

Register of Swiss Surnames

Swiss citizenship is kept on three levels: the nation, the canton, and the "Heimatort, or home community. For most people, citizenship was inherited, and residency was not a requirement. The home community was charged with keeping track of its citizens. Therefore, if a birth, marriage, or death of a citizen took place in another parish, notice of the event was often sent to the Heimatort. The information may have been entered in the regular parish register or a special section reserved for “auswärtige Bürger” [out-of-town citizens].

Because Swiss citizenship was time-consuming and costly to move, most kept their ancestral citizenship no matter where they moved. The Register of Swiss Surnames is a list of all surnames in Switzerland as of 1962 and where they held citizenship. This registry is invaluable in locating towns of origin.

To learn how to use the Register of Swiss Surnames, check out the "How to" Guide. First, read through the Instruction; Then test your knowledge with the short Assignment - the Answer Key is provided to check your answers.

Given Names

Given Names in Foreign Languages

Switzerland has French, German, and Italian speaking regions. Early records can be in Latin.

Some given names are often very different when translated into different languages, as shown by the following table.

German	Latin	French	Polish
Albrecht	Adalbertus	Adalbert	Wojciech
Anna	Anna	Anne	Hannah
Elisabeth	Elisabetha	Isabelle	Elżbieta
Franz	Franciscus	François	Franciszek
Georg	Georgius	Georges	Jerzy
Gottlieb	Bogumilus	Bogomil	Bogumił
Johann (Hans)	Joannes	Jean	Jan
Karl	Carolus	Charles	Karol
Katharine	Catherina	Catherine	Katarzyna
Lorenz	Laurentius	Laurent	Wawrzyniec
Ludwig	Ludovicus	Louis	Ludwik
Margareta	Margarita	Marguerite	Małgorzata
Marie	Maria	Marie	Marja
Wilhelm	Guilielmus	Guillaume	Wilhelm

The following online source contains given names translated into 23 different European languages, including English:

Janowowa, Wanda, et al. Słownik imion (Dictionary of names). Wrocław, Germany: Zakład Narodowy im Ossolińskich, 1975. (FHL 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.