Croatian name

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Croats

Croatian names have considerable similarities with most other European name systems, and with those of other Slavic peoples in particular. Croatian names usually consist of a given name, followed by a family name.

Croatian given names

Since their 7th century arrival in today's homeland, Croats have used Slavic names. Through the following centuries, foreign names were also accepted, especially those that mark Christian faith. However, Slavic names remained dominant until the Council of Trent (1545–63) when the Catholic church decided that every Christian should have Christian name instead of native one. This lasted until the 19th century, when Croats again started to use neglected traditional names—especially those of mediæval Croatian kings and dukes. More recently, as a result of globalization, unusual and exotic names of various cultures have also to gained in popularity.

Frequency

The most frequently occurring Croatian given names are Ivan (John), Josip (Joseph), Marija (Mary) and Ana (Anne).

In newborns, the trend is to use short names, with some foreign names being more popular than native ones. In Zagreb in 2006, the most common were Luka (Luke), Ivan, Lana and Lucija (Lucy).[1] In 2009, Zagreb birth registrar listed Luka, Marko (Mark), Lana and Petra (feminine form of Petar—Peter) as the most common for newborns.[2] In Dubrovnik in 2008, the most common were Ivan, Luka, Ana, Petra.[2] In Zadar in 2008, the most common were Roko (Roch), Luka, Lana, Petra.[2]

According to 2011 Census in Croatia, the most frequent male names are Ivan, Marko, Josip, Stjepan and Tomislav, and the most common female names include Marija, Ana and Ivana.[3]

the most frequent Croatian family names by county

Traditional Croatian names are mostly Slavic names

Some common Croatian names of Slavic origin include:

Feminine:

Berislava, Blaga, Blagica, Bogdana, Bogomila, Bogumila, Borka, Borislava, Božena, Božica, Božidarka, Branimira, Branka, Buga, Cvita, Cvijeta, Danica, Davorka, Divna, Dragana, Dragica, Draženka, Dubravka, Dunja, Hrvoja, Hrvojka, Jasenka, Jasna, Ljuba, Ljubica, Mila, Milica, Miljenka, Mislava, Mira, Mirjana, Mirka, Mirna, Mojmira, Morana, Nada, Neda, Nediljka, Nevenka, Ognjenka, Ranka, Rašeljka, Ratka, Ruža, Ružica, Sanja, Slava, Slavica, Slavenka, Smiljana, Spomenka, Srebrenka, Stanislava, Stana, Stanka, Snješka, Snježana, Sunčana, Sunčica, Tjeha, Tihana, Tihomila, Tuga, Vedrana, Vera, Verica, Vjera, Vesna, Vjekoslava, Vlasta, Vlatka, Zdenka, Zlata, Zora, Zorica, Zorka, Zrinka, Zrina, Zvjezdana, Zvonimira, Zvonka, Željka, Živka[4]

Masculine:

Berislav, Berivoj, Blago, Bogdan, Bogumil, Bogoljub, Bogomil, Bojan, Boris, Borislav, Borna, Božetjeh, Božidar, Božo, Bratislav, Budimir, Branimir, Brajko, Branko, Braslav, Bratoljub, Cvitko, Cvjetko, Časlav, Častimir, Čedomir, Dalibor, Damir, Darko, Davor, Desimir, Dobroslav, Dobrovit, Domagoj, Dragan, Drago, Dragoslav, Dragutin, Dražen, Držiha, Držislav, Godemir, Gojko, Gojislav, Gojslav, Goran, Grubiša, Hrvatin, Hrvoj, Hrvoje, Hrvoslav, Kazimir, Kažimir, Jasenko, Klonimir, Krešimir, Krševan, Lavoslav, Ljubomir, Ljudevit, Milan, Mile, Milivoj, Milovan, Miljenko, Mirko, Miroslav, Miroš, Mislav, Mladen, Mojmir, Mutimir, Nediljko, Nedjeljko, Nenad, Ognjen, Ostoja, Ozren, Predrag, Pribislav, Prvan, Prvoslav, Prvoš, Radimir, Radomir, Radoš, Rajko, Ranko, Ratimir, Ratko, Rato, Radovan, Radoslav, Slaven, Slaviša, Slavoljub, Slavomir, Smiljan, Spomenko, Srebrenko, Srećko, Stanislav, Stanko, Strahimir, Svetoslav, Tihomil, Tihomir, Tješimir, Tomislav, Tomo, Tvrtko, Trpimir, Vatroslav, Većeslav, Vedran, Velimir, Veselko, Vidoslav, Vjekoslav, Vjenceslav, Višeslav, Vitomir, Vjeran, Vladimir, Vlado, Vlatko, Vojmil, Vojnomir, Vuk, Zdenko, Zdeslav, Zdravko, Zorislav, Zoran, Zrinko, Zrinoslav, Zlatko, Zvonimir, Zvonko, Žarko, Želimir, Željko, Živko[4]

General Christian names widely used by Croats (mainly Greek, Latin or Hebrew by origin)

Aleksandar, Ana (Anna), Ante or Antun (Anthony), Andrija (Andrew), Danijel, David, Dominik, Edvard, Filip, Franjo (Francis), Fridrik, Grgur (Gregory), Henrik, Ilija (Elijah), Ivan (John), Jakov (Jacob), Josip (Joseph), Juraj (George), Karlo (Charles), Katarina (Catherine), Kristofor, Lav (Leo), Ljudevit (Lewis), Lovro (Lawrence), Luka (Luke), Marko (Mark), Marija (Mary), Matej (Matthew), Mihael or Mihajlo (Michael), Nikola (Nicholas), Pavao (Paul), Petar (Peter), Pero (Peter), Rikard, Sebastijan, Silvestar, Šimun (Simon), Stjepan (Stephen), Toma (Thomas), Vasilije, Vilim (William), Vinko (Vincent)...

Croatian borrowed or foreign names

Dora, Denis, Karlo (Charles), Mario, Nataša, Robert, Vanja, Viktor...

Popular or uncharacteristic Croatian names

Uncharacteristic names are generally not declined in the Croatian language, but include: Dolores, Ines, Nives, Doris...

Croatian family names

Family names started to appear among Croats in the 12th century. Since the Council of Trent, both the given and family names would be written down.

Origins

Croatian family names have five different origins:

Given names, matronymics and patronymics 
Anić, Blažević, Ivanec, Marić, Stipanov...
Professional names 
Kovač (blacksmith), Klobučar (hatmaker), Lončar (potter), Tkalčić (weaver), Stolar (carpenter)...
Nicknames 
Debeljak, Crnić, Obad...
Toponyms 
Duvnjak (from Duvno), Kuprešak (from Kupres), Bosanac (Bosnian), Posavec (from Posavina), Zagorec (from Hrvatsko Zagorje), ...
Ethnic designation 
Hrvat, Horvat, Hrvatin, Horvatinčić... (Croat), Čerkez (Circassians), Čeh (Czech), Mađar (Hungarians)...

Frequency

The 2011 Croatian census registered the following as the most frequent Croatian family names:[5]

  1. Horvat
  2. Kovačević
  3. Babić
  4. Marić
  5. Jurić
  6. Novak
  7. Kovačić
  8. Knežević
  9. Vuković
  10. Marković

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sve popularnija kratka imena, najčešća ponovno Lana i Luka". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "U teška vremena roditelji biraju tradicijska imena". Večernji list (in Croatian). 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  3. ↑ http://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/najcesca-imena-hrvatskoj-ivan-marija-a-prezime-horvat-clanak-589970
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Serbian and Croatian names".
  5. ↑ "Most frequent surnames, Census 2011". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012. Retrieved 2013-09-06.

External links