The most beautiful Croatian names for a child. Croatian surnames: distribution, formation, pronunciation rules Our new book "The Energy of Surnames"
Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks, Macedonians, Montenegrins - Balkan Slavs, who once made up one large country called Yugoslavia. These peoples, separated from each other in different countries, have in common historical events, neighboring territories, have a lot in common in culture and traditions. Despite belonging to different faiths, Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian surnames are often difficult to distinguish by affiliation.
Who are Croats
Croats - Slavic tribes, who settled the Balkans around the 7th century, after the collapse of the empire. Presumably they came from Galicia. In their genetic structure, Croats are related to the Slavs and the North Germans, or Goths. Croatian tribes were divided into white, black and red Croats. Whites are the ancestors of the population of Galicia (Western Ukraine), blacks (Czech Croats) are immigrants from Moravia and Slovenia. Red Croatia is the name given to the area of what is now Dalmatia and some areas of neighboring Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most people of this nationality live in the territory of the current surname and are often found in all former republics Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Hungary. Small groups of Croats can be found in many parts of the world.
Pre-Christian names
The ancient tribes - the ancestors of the Croats - were pagans, like all Slavs. The Slavs preferred naming a name great importance. It was believed that a name gives a person the quality that it carries. Yes, this is how it is in modern times: “Whatever you call the boat, that’s how it will float.” Croatian surnames, like other peoples, arose only with the advent of the need to document citizens. An interesting belief existed among pagan tribes regarding naming. Very often, a permanent name was given to a child when he was already growing up, and his character traits and inclinations became clear, then they called him Slavko (glorious), Goran (mountain man), Vedrana (cheerful). Girls were often given names of plants and flowers. Thus, Croatian women often have the names Cherry, Yagoda, and Elka. Before receiving a permanent name, in order to hide the child from evil spirits, he was simply called Naida, Momche (boy) or given an affectionate name for an animal, a pig, for example (Gushyu).
Religion and surnames
The need to add surnames to the name appeared among the Slavs with the adoption of Christianity, as records were made of church books of births, deaths, and population censuses. Croatian first and last names form a full-fledged personal name. Patronymics, like the Serbs, are not accepted. Actually, most of the original surnames are changed names of the fathers, which later began to be passed down through the family. This type of surname is akin to patronymics Eastern Slavs: Petrovich, Markovich, Yakovich.
Forms of Croatian surnames
Surnames derived from the father's name or occupation, ending in -ich, rank first in prevalence among Serbs, and only second among Croats. The pronunciation of Croatian surnames, like Serbian surnames of this kind, is practically no different, because they have the same language - Serbo-Croatian. Kovacevich, Vukovich, Shumanovich - this form is also common among Poles and Western Ukrainians. Mostly townspeople and merchants in these regions called themselves this way. Russians formed patronymics with a similar ending, but the emphasis in Croatian surnames, unlike Russian patronymics, is on the first syllable in most cases, or on the third from the end for long surnames.
Popular surnames
Without being particularly modest, the surname Horvat leads the list of the most common ones. The second most popular Croatian surnames with endings - ich, of which the championship belongs to the Kovacevics. The following are surnames ending in -a To: Novak, Dvorak, and educated from diminutive name father's ending - IR Jurek, Michalek. Next on the list of popularity are family endings - uk: Tarbuk, Biyuk. Less common are the groups - rts, -nts, -ar, -sh (Khvarts, Rybar, Dragosh). There are individual surnames that are characteristic only of certain regions or that form two-root combinations (Krivoshiya, Belivuk). There are also Oresanin, Gracanin, and Tsvetanin in Croatia. About 5 thousand people in the country have surnames with such endings.
Geography in surnames
Croatian anthroponymic experts have done a tremendous job of describing the surnames of their region. IN scientific works on this topic it is described not only how Croatian surnames are pronounced, how they were composed and what they mean. Linguists have collected and classified the prevalence of their native surnames by region of Croatia and beyond. Knowing these patterns, it is possible to determine approximately from which region the ancestors of a particular clan originated. Thus, the most numerous surname Horvat, it turns out, is concentrated in the area of a small northern territory that once belonged to Austria-Hungary; apparently, foreigners once called the indigenous inhabitants that way.
There are many Croats in Gorni Kotar, in these areas also greatest number group names - k, -ets, -ats, -sh. In Slavonia the predominant forms are -ich, -ats. Dalmatia is characterized by a regional form of surnames, with the ending - itza(Kusturica, Pavlitsa, Cinnamon).
Famous Croats
Many Croatian outstanding people glorified the names of their ancestors throughout the world. The first of them was the famous geographer and traveler Marco Polo. The parachute was invented by Faust Vrančić, the “Theory of Natural Philosophy” was compiled by the physicist, mathematician and astronomer Ruđer Bošković, and the fingerprinting method was introduced to the world by Ivan Vucečić. The architect and sculptor Juraj Dalmatinets, the artist Juliv Klovic, and the politician Joseph and physicist Nikolai Tesla are widely known outside the country. This is just a small list of illustrious Croatian families who made a significant contribution to the development of world history.
Most common surname in Croatia Wordcloud
Der most widely used surname in Croatia This H, which translates as “Croatian” means. It's so nice to have a patriotic name appear that makes sense in the naming context. Because why are there names? Simply put, to distinguish between families. This constellation in Croatia is When in Germany the most not Muller However, “German” as a surname will carry.
Why ending with “ić” is so common in Croatia
What's on our list of the best popular surnames in Croatia jumps right into the reader's eyes, many names end with “ić”. This follows from the fact that here patronymischer or matronymischer Last name based. So the surname, He is from the name of the father (Fr.) or mother (mater) stems. This extension can also be found in Bosnian, Serbian and Montenegrin language. These forms are found in , where the patro- or matronyme extension “Seine” is located.
Patronymes are examples:
–Filipovic-> Child Filip
–Stjepanic-> Child Stipe
Matronyme name:
–Babich-> Child b (Old woman)
–Marušić-Baby Marya (Maria)
Professions were used as a basis for naming
In Croatia, some families were named after the parents' occupation.
Notable examples include:
–Ribar-Fishing Ribarević - fisherman's child
–K-Forge Kovacevic, Kovacic - child blacksmith
The name is known to Kovac in Germany through the former Croatian football player Niko Kovac, Today's coach. As a player, he has been in the city of his birth since Hertha, at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, active at Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich.
Also known as their clever meanings: Here Čolak
Colak or Kolak is originally a surname found among Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and mid-Dalmatia. By internal migration from Herzegovina to the Croatian capital Zagreb and. the name is now also often from Dalmatia in the Croatian cities of Split and Zadar (as regards total number) to satisfy. The surname is also found among Bosniaks and Serbs.
The surname was Čolak in the 18th century to the reign of the Ottoman Empire in South-Eastern Europe. He was a man to characterize accordingly. Added distinction to existing personal name. The name jhunlipps comes from a Turkish word that refers to "a person with a scrub hand or a crippled hand". The hand is probably hand or fingers crippled or completely missing. It can simply be used for left-handed people. Campbell is still a boy's name. Lived in Croatia in the year 2012 about 820 people with last name Colak.
List of 20 AM meisten verwendeten Familiennamen in Kroatien
1. H
2.K
3. Babich
4. M
5. Novak
6. J
7. K
8. Vukovich
9. K
10. Markovich
11. Petrovich
12. M
13.T
14.K
15. Pavlovich
16. Christmas
17.B
18. Grgich
19.P
20. Radic
Traditional Croatian girl names: origin
Croatian national female names date back to the Middle Ages and have Slavic roots. Before the adoption of Christianity, the Croatian religion was paganism. Pagan traditions worship of various deities and natural phenomena left their mark on the personal names of the people. Girls were called beautiful names of plants, fruits, flowers (for example, Djurzhitsa - “lily of the valley”, Dunja (Dunya) - the Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian name for the quince fruit), in honor of the seasons (Spring), Slavic gods(Morena (Morena) is the name of the Slavic goddess of winter and death).
Sometimes the name meant an attractive “feminine” character trait (Tihana - “quiet”). Often sonorous Croatian names for girls the wishes were in the nature of Moika (“beloved”), and from the Slavic root —drag (“dear”) several feminine forms of names with the same meaning were formed — Draga, Dragana, Drazhenka. The ancient Croats chose affectionate, soft names for their daughters - Milica (“fragrant”), Ljubica (from the word “to love”).
Often, Croatian female names were formed from masculine forms of names, preserving their meaning: for example, Jasenka (Jasenka) is a feminine form male name Jasen (Ash) - “deciduous tree”, Gordana “proud” - from the masculine Gordan, etc.
Borrowed female Croatian names
Over time, the list of Croatian female names was constantly replenished - first with Christian names, then with names borrowed from other languages and countries.
Since the 7th century, Christianity has spread in Croatia, and with it the religious names of Catholic saints. Moreover, female names were borrowed both in a “ready-made” form (for example, the Greek name Clara - “bright, clear”), and were formed from male ones: for example, Filipa (Filipa) - from the male name Philip (Croatian version Greek name Philip - “loving horses”), Josipa (Josipa) - from the masculine Joseph. Biblical christian names also modified (for example, Estera - Croatian version biblical name Esther - Esther, Esther).
The period of conquest of part of the country Ottoman Empire also did not pass without a trace for the anthroponymy of the people: along with Islam (now there are approximately 1.5% of Muslims in the country), they came to Croatia Muslim names(for example, the Turkic name Alma (Alma), meaning “apple”). Also often used by Croats Slavic names, common in Serbia - for example, Mirna (derived from the word “peace”).
Croats actively borrow foreign names, while sometimes changing their sound: for example, the most popular in Croatia female name Mia is derived from Jewish name Maria, and in neighboring Italy it is considered Italian and is translated as “mine, belonging to me.” The name Nadezhda, which came from Russia, changed to Nada, Nadica (Nada, Naditsa).
New female names in Croatia
The list of Croatian female names is regularly updated thanks to borrowings from other languages and cultures, as well as the peculiarities of the Croatian formation of proper names.
Recently, short names have become especially popular in the country - borrowed names or full names shortened to 3-4 letters. So, Iva (Willow) is a short form of the name Ivanka (Ivanka), Lara (Lara) - Larisa, etc. Often newly formed names are the endings of borrowed foreign names (Ena, Eni are independent names derived from the ancient Greek name Irena - “peace, tranquility”).
Among Croats, national names with Slavic roots and Catholic Christian names are still relevant. At the same time, the naming of the people is very similar to the European system: in last years The most popular are borrowed foreign and European names (German Karla - “courageous”, Spanish Dolores, etc.).
">Male and female Croatian names have much in common with the European naming system. It is impossible not to note the great similarity of the naming. In general, modern Croatian names for boys and girls are very diverse. Among them there are many both traditional and quite exotic, borrowed from other languages and cultures.
Origin of male and female Croatian names
Most traditional male and female Croatian names are of Slavic origin. They began to appear as early as the seventh century. The significance of traditional Croatian first and last names is still very high. They continue to be actively used in our time. However, there are popular Croatian names for girls and boys, borrowed from the Catholic calendar. The tradition of naming children according to the calendar is quite common in Croatia.
Among male and female Croatian names, there are also those that were taken from other cultures and languages. Many of them appeared quite recently, under the influence of globalization processes. Among those that are completely contrary to Croatian naming traditions.
Top most beautiful Croatian names for boys
- Bronislav. Translated into Russian = “fighter for glory”
- Branimir. From the Old Slavic “protecting world”
- Goran. Translated into Russian, this Croatian name means “high” / “mountainous”
- Casimir. From Old Church Slavonic "preacher of peace"
- Lyubomir. Name Slavic origin. Meaning = "loving world"
- Marco. Form Latin name Mark
- Miroslav. Derivative from "peace" and "glory"
- Mladen Translated into Russian, this Croatian name for a man means = “small”
- Radomir. From Old Slavic “peace fighter”
- Tihomir. Croatian name for a boy, created from the words "quiet" and "peaceful"
- Tomislav. From Old Church Slavonic “tormented by glory.”
List of the most beautiful Croatian names for girls
- Bogdana. The name is of Slavic origin. Meaning = "given by God"
- Borislava. Means "she who fights for glory"
- Vlasta. from Slavic "homeland"
- Dragana. Translated into Russian, this female Croatian name means = “dear”
- Dubravka. From Old Church Slavonic “strong as an oak”
- Zlata. Croatian girl name meaning "golden"
- Ivana. Translated from Hebrew, this Croatian girl's name means = "given by God"
- Kvita. From Slavic "flower"
- Militsa. South Slavic version of the name Melisa = "honey"
- Mirka. Derivative from Mir or Miroslav = “famous throughout the world”
- Slavika. From Old Church Slavonic "glorious"
- Stanislava. Name of Slavic origin = "to become glorious"
The most popular female and male Croatian names
Today, the most common male and female Croatian names are Ivan, Marko, Josif, Stepan, Tomislav, Maria, Anna and Ivana. However, in recent years, Croatians are increasingly naming newborns in a foreign manner. In this regard, in the near future we can expect a sharp increase in the number of names borrowed from other languages.
