- Croatian name
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Part of a series of articles on Croats 
RecognizedSubgroupsCroatian 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.
Contents
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 20th 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]
Traditional Croatian names are mostly Slavic names
Some common Croatian names of Slavic origin include:
Feminine:
Berislava, Biserka, Blaga, Blagica, Blaženka, 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, 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, Svitlana, Svjetlana, Tjeha, Tihana, Tihomila, Tuga, Vedrana, Vera, Verica, Vjera, Vesna, Vjekoslava, Vlasta, Vlatka, Zdenka, Zlata, Zora, Zorica, Zorka, Zrinka, Zrina, Zvjezdana, Zvonimira, Zvonka, Željka, Živka[3]
Masculine:
Berislav, Berivoj, Blago, Bogdan, Bogumil, Bogoljub, Bogomil, 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, Dražan, 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, Siniša, 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[3]
General Christian names widely used by Croats (mainly Greek, Latin or Hebrew by origin)
Ana (Anna), Ante (Anthony), Antun (Anthony), Andrija (Andrew), David, Dominik, Grgur (Gregory), Ilija (Elijah), Ivan (John), Jakov (Jacob), Josip (Joseph), Juraj (George), Katarina (Catherine), Luka, Marko (Mark), Marija (Mary), Matej (Matthew), Luka (Luke), Pavao (Paul) , Petar (Peter), Pero (Peter), Silvestar, Šimun (Simon), Stjepan (Stephen)...
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
Most frequent Croatian family names are Horvat, Kovačević and Babić.
See also
- Slavic names
- Slavic surnames
- Croatia
- Croats
- Name of Croatia
- Croatian language
- Croatian grammar
- Baška tablet
References
- ^ "Sve popularnija kratka imena, najčešća ponovno Lana i Luka" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 2007-01-08. http://www.jutarnji.hr/sve-popularnija-kratka-imena--najcesca-ponovno-lana-i-luka/169264/. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ a b c "U teška vremena roditelji biraju tradicijska imena" (in Croatian). Večernji list. 2010-01-01. http://www.vecernji.hr/zivot/u-teska-vremena-roditelji-biraju-tradicijska-imena-clanak-74243. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ^ a b "Serbian and Croatian names". http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/ser2.php.
External links
- Law about given name in Republic of Croatia (Croatian)
- Croatian given names (Croatian)
- Meaning of some Croatian family names (Croatian)
- Site about Croatian names (Croatian)
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Categories:- Croatian culture
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