Sambunjak

CATEGORY: SURNAMES

The surname "Sambunjak" originates in the Adriatic island area, namely that of the small island of Silba, part of Croatia. If one were to parse the word into two parts, "Sambun" most closely approximates the word "sand" or "sandbar"; and "jak", or "strong", comes from the Russian patronymic "jakov", which means "of the strong". In English, if "sand" and "strong" are fused, we may come up with the word "strong sand", "sandstone", or just plain "stone". Therefore, its best, cleanest translation into English is "Stone".

The Familija Sambunjak, or Sambunjak Family, was famous in the Adriatic for its maritime involvement. It has been recorded in Petar Staresina's text, "'Pomorstvo Silbe" 'Zadar, 1971., 18, 76, bilj. 33., that the first genealogical record of this surname dates to 1679. And every single father and his son, on down the line to the present Sambunjak family in Northeastern Ohio, has been involved in maritime affairs -- sailors, captains, and fishermen by trade -- who were friends and rivals of the Portuguese navigators, and who also made generous contributions from the proceeds of their ship journeys to the church for the well-being of the native people.

This purpose of this short explanation of a surname is to use it as an example of how European surnames were formed, as part of European history and culture. After conquering England in 1066, William of Normandy created the DOMESDAY BOOK (a.k.a., the DOOMSDAY BOOK) in order to differentiate one individual from the next, e.g, John the Taxpayer "One" from John the Taxpayer "Two" or "Three", for the collection of taxes. Before this major historical event, under the manorial system, people in Medieval Europe only went by their first names. There were three major ways surnames were formed:

I. THE PATRONYMIC - ("patro", for father; "nymic", for name) The surname is derived from the father's first name. e.g., Adams, Adamson, Adamovic, Adamovitz.II. THE OCCUPATION - e.g, Butcher, Baker, Mercer, Potter, Sawyer.

III.PHYSICAL FEATURES - e.g., PLACES: Hill, Ford, Lake, Sand. - e.g., PERSONAL: Stout, Pettit, Sharp, Barbarossa("the Red Beard").

"SAMBUNJAK" is an example of a surname based on physical features of the land.

[Category:Croatian_culture]