Hungarian name
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Hungarian names follow the "western" custom, using given name and family name. However, Hungary is the only European country to place the family name before the given names, i.e. it uses the eastern name order. So the terms "first name" and "last name" are potentially confusing and should be avoided, as they do not in this case denote the given and family names respectively.
This usage doesn't apply to non-Hungarian names, e.g. "Tony Blair" will remain "Tony Blair" also in Hungarian texts. However, rulers' names are always translated, if they have a Hungarian equivalent, e.g. Elizabeth II becomes II. Erzsébet, Pope Benedict XVI becomes XVI. Benedek pápa. (In some older – pre-20th century – texts foreign names were Magyarized, the best known example is Jules Verne, whose name was often translated to Verne Gyula.)
By law every person can have a maximum of two surnames (most people have only one; thos e who have two have to hyphenate them) and a maximum of two given names (religious names not included, see below). The given names have to be chosen by the parents from an officially approved list of several thousand names; if the chosen name is not on the list, the parents can apply to get the chosen name approved. The names get approval if they aren't derogatory, can be written and pronounced easily and can be recognised as either male or female. Foreign names have to be written following Hungarian spelling, e.g. Jennifer becomes Dzsenifer.
Those who belong to an officially recognized minority in Hungary, can also choose names from their own culture, even if the name is not included on the official list.
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[edit] Middle names and religious names
Hungarians usually do not use middle names (more properly called second given names because of the Eastern name order) or their corresponding initials.
When baptised, a child can get an additional name (baptismal name), especially if there is no saint who bears their name so they need a name with which a patron saint is associated. In another Catholic ritual called confirmation, children receive another given name, but it is not used. Both the baptismal and the confirmation names have religious significance only, and they aren't on any official records.
[edit] Orthography
Modern Hungarian orthography is slightly different (simpler) than that of 18th or 19th century, but many Hungarian surnames retain their historical spelling.
[edit] Married names
There is a wide range of selection of a married name. In the past (up to about the 18th century) noble women kept their names at marriage and children received their father's name. (Non-nobles usually did not have a last name at all; it became compulsory only under the reign of Joseph II.) When Hungary was under Habsburg rule and became influenced by Western traditions, women became known by their husbands' names, e.g. Szendrey Júlia, marrying Petőfi Sándor, became Petőfi Sándorné (the -né suffix approximately means "wife of", this is the Hungarian equivalent of "Mrs. John Smith"). This was both the law and the tradition until the 1950s. During the Communist era of Hungary, great emphasis was put upon the equality of women and men, and from that time women could either choose to keep their birth names or took that of their husbands in the aforementioned form. Still, most women took their husbands' names; most of the exceptions were artists.
Currently, the alternatives for a woman when she marries are the following (using te example of Szendrey Júlia and Petőfi Sándor – Júlia and Sándor are their given names, respectively):
- Júlia can keep her birth name Szendrey Júlia (now very popular, especially among more educated women)
- Júlia gives up her name, adds the suffix -né to her husband's full name, and will be called Petőfi Sándorné (rare among young brides)
- Júlia adds the suffix -né to her husband's family name, adds her full name and will be called Petőfiné Szendrey Júlia
- Júlia adds the suffix -né to her husband's full name, adds her full name and will be called Petőfi Sándorné Szendrey Júlia
- Júlia takes her husband's family name, keeps her given name and will be called Petőfi Júlia (the Western custom – somewhat rare)
Since January 1, 2004 there is one more possibility: the hyphenation of names; also, now men can take their wives' surname too, since the law which gave this opportunity only to women was declared sexist and thus unconstitutional. (Men still have fewer alternatives to choose from, though.) Thus Júlia can become either Petőfi-Szendrey Júlia or Szendrey-Petőfi Júlia while Sándor either keeps his own name or hyphenates in either order. Sándor can also become Petőfi-Szendrey Sándor, Szendrey-Petőfi Sándor or Szendrey Sándor, while Júlia either keeps her name or hyphenates, but changing names to each other's names (e.g. Petőfi Sándor and Szendrey Júlia become Szendrey Sándor and Petőfi Júlia) is forbidden.
The law that one can have a maximum of two last names still applies, if one or both of the partners already have a hyphenated name, they have to choose a maximum of two names or keep their birth names.
Both the bride and the bridegroom has to declare before the wedding which name will she and he use; also, they have to declare which surname will their children get (this can be changed up till the birth of their first child). Children can get either parent's surname if that parent kept her or his surname in the marriage, but children born in the same marriage must have the same surname. Since 2004 they can also get a hyphenated name, but only if both parents kept their birth names at least as a part of their new name (e.g. if they kept their own names, or if one or both of them have hyphenated). Currently children usually get their father's surname; hyphenating names is a rising trend.
The marriage of same sex partners is still not allowed in Hungary, so they cannot legally use each other's names, unless going through the formal name change process.
[edit] Women's names in everyday life
When the woman took her husbands' name in the traditional way, as in Petőfi Sándorné, her female first name does not form part of her official name anymore, yet this is the name she will be called also after her wedding in all but the most formal contexts. Thus, Hungarian radio speakers and others often resort to a compromise like Kovács Jánosné, Juli néni (Mrs. János Kovács, aunt Juli) to indicate how the woman should be called by others. ("Aunt" and "uncle" are traditional polite forms to address older people, and, for children, to address all adults; it doesn't indicate a family relationship.)
Some women who officially bear the -né form will nevertheless introduce themselves with their husband's family name and their own Christian name (in our example, Kovács Júlia, rather than Kovács Jánosné), in order to avoid confusion about how to address them.
If the woman took the husband's full name, the couple can easily be referred to as Petőfi Sándor és neje (Sándor Petőfi and wife), similar to the English form "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith". This can be seen on older tombstones in Hungarian cemeteries.
