The most common Czech surnames. The most unusual Czech surnames

One of the notable features in the field of surnames is female ending"OVA". This extension is automatically added to the surname in Czech if the carrier is a woman. This means that, that in marriage with Mr. Novak Woman's last name Novakova the Bears. Some Czech women find the naming tradition humiliating. IH Feminine suffix indicates the type of possession to a person's eyes. Frieda Mann is therefore also in Czech for Frieda Mannová. The goal is again and again to eliminate this discreditable expansion in the context of homogenization. But there are exceptions, such as Krejci, where there is no female name suffix.

German influence on Czech family name

German surnames are also quite common in the Czech Republic. The country was 1918 part of the Austrian Empire. Thus the share of Germans in the population was relatively high before the First World War. Some of them were normalized phonetically, about Müller as Miler, Stone Štajn, Smith, converted to Šmid. Some have kept their original German names, z.B. : Berger, Koller, Ebermann, Lendl, Gebauer, Kaberle and VOG. If you know someone, or maybe even yourself, is German hot, then this indicates German origin or origin.

List of the most common surnames in the Czech Republic showing fifty

1. NOVAK
"FREEDOM"
NOVOTNY
DVOŘAK
ČERNY
PROKHAZKA
KUČERA
FUNNY
HORAC
10. KREJČI
MAREK
HUMBLE
POSPIŠIL
HAJEK
JELINEK
KRAL
RŮŽIČKA
BENEŠ
FIALA
20. SEDLAČEK
DOLEŽAL
ZEMAN
KOLAŘ
NĚMEC
LIED
ČERMAK
URBAN
VANĚK
BLAŽEK
30. KŘIŽ
KRATOCHVIL
KOVAŘ
BARTOS
KOPECKI
VLČEK
POLAC
MUSIL
ŠIMEK
KONEČNY
40. SMALL
ČECH
KADLETS
ŠTĚPANEK
HOLUB
STANĚK
ENOUGH
SOUKUP
ŠŤASTNY
MAREŠ
50. MORAVEN

Detailed presentation of the ten most popular Czech surnames

We present here still in more detail the ten most popular ones. The figures come from the year 2008 and something may therefore differ from the current one. But the stock must have a major trend.

Nováks are the winners

This surname ranks first among almost 70,000 Manufacturers in the Czech Republic. NOVAK means that someone new town or new house, built. This name was quite popular after the Thirty Years' War as it moved many people to new places.

Second place:’ and thus goes to the silver Svoboda family

At 52.000 "Freedom" of the piece landed on the Silver podium. Liberty means liberty and stems from the many citizens who were free in the Middle Ages. You were the king directly subordinate and freer than most inhabitants of the Czech Republic.

Bronze goes to Novotny

The meaning of the surname Novotny is the same as Nováks. Someone was new to the village, a person who came from another place. There are 49,600 Czech people with this name.

Dvorak grabs the fourth

Also Dvorak was originally free man, owned a farm. People, they were personally free, they were, perhaps, very proud. There are 45,600 Czechs with this surname.

The fifth is the family name Černy

One of the oldest surnames of all, which is based on a person's appearance. Černy means black, so someone with black hair and dark skin appears. These were, as a rule, people who were tanned from the sun, Gypsy about. There is this surname 36.000 Residents of the Czech Republic.

Procházkas placed sixth

Roads meant walking and had the meaning of a traveling apprentice in the Middle Ages. Many artisans have left their ancestral homes, Learn more from a distance, their knowledge to expand, and their experience to expand. 32,700 Czech non-combatant citizens have these surnames today. Through his walks, this surname also spreads abroad, about in.

In seventh place: Kuchera

Additional name, It testifies to the property of a person. Coachman means Locke, usually someone with curly hair. There are about 30,900 people in the territory of the present Czech Republic who bear this surname.

The eighth member of the group - the surname is Vely

Vesely means, mutatis mutandis, that someone is happy and in good mood. Just a man, That always has a smile on his lips. This name is a little surprise in the Czech name space, Currently there are not many happy people. The distribution will however be quite large and with 26.600 Veselýs on the leaders the Czechs come to play in
eight.

The ninth are Horak

The Khorak originally came from the hills or mountains. Because “Mountain” means hill or mountains, Thus Har is a version name for a mountaineer. Today there are about 25,000 family members with the same names.

On a good tithe: Served

To complete the top 10 is one of the few Czech surnames where there is only one form for men and women. Krejci means Schneider, so the first owners were professional tailors. About 24,000 inhabitants of the Czech Republic are called Krejci.

When born, he immediately receives a surname. It would seem that there is only one word, sometimes two, but it plays big role in the continuity of family generations, family history. They can be simple or elaborate, funny or majestic, but one way or another they are a subtle hint (and often a rough indication) of the mystery of why the ancestor was called that way. All this is in Czech surnames. Now about this in more detail.

In the depths of centuries

To understand the peculiarities of the diversity of Czech surnames and names, it is necessary to plunge at least a little into the history of this amazing Slavic state.

In the ninth century, during the period of the spread of Christianity, trade relations developed in the Czech Republic and wars took place. Jewish, Greek, Latin and Germanic names began to appear along with Slavic ones. Since they were difficult to pronounce and write for the Czechs, they did not hesitate to modify them for their convenience.

Also, thanks to Jan Hus, the Czech alphabet was reformed for convenience. Previously, short-pronounced Czech words were lengthened fourfold through Latin transliteration. Writing the same business documents took much longer.

In the sixteenth century, names were chosen based on social status. The nobles called their children Vilem, Yaroslav, Friedrich, the soldiers - Hector or Alexander. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, simpletons received names such as Dorota, Barbora, Katarzyna.

The first Czech surnames appeared around the fourteenth century. Initially, their owners were representatives ruling families, which is completely natural. It was beneficial for the Czech nobility to consolidate and pass on their noble origins to their descendants in this way. One of the oldest noble Czech families is Cherninov.

More often, the second name of ordinary Czechs without a noble pedigree came from a nickname. It was given according to occupation, distinctive body structure or its individual parts, character traits, and sometimes bad habits. There were even abusive versions.

In the case of “professional” Czech surnames, it happened that not all family members bore it. If the father was a carpenter, he could be called, for example, Jan Bednar, and his son, a carpenter, could be called Vaclav Tesar. So representatives of the same family received different surnames.

With development feudal system surnames for ordinary people in the Czech Republic have become mandatory. This was due to simple practicality. During the collection of taxes, there was no longer much confusion as before.

Czech children were often given common names. It is difficult not to make a mistake about which Ian paid the tax in full and which did not. And with last names, it has become much easier to assign payment to a specific person.

The list of Czech surnames could have expanded, becoming more vibrant and diverse, if not for the reforms carried out in the state at the end of the eighteenth century, which approved the existing list.

The most common surnames: Novotny or Novak, Dvorak, Horak, Svoboda.

Metaphors of nature

There is a large list of Czech generic names derived from words associated with natural phenomena. For example, Ivan Glinka, hockey player. There is no need to guess that his ancestor was named after clay.

Perhaps it was a clay miner, or maybe this is an indication of weak character, pliable, like clay. The surname Mraz (frost) is very common. This is clear evidence of the severity of the character of the Czech who was given such a surname.

Geneticist from Gincice

Among Czech surnames there are many foreign ones, which is explained by geopolitical changes in the country. Since the times of Austria-Hungary, surnames have spread throughout the Czech Republic German origin.

Anyone who studied biology well at school is well aware of the name of the Czech geneticist - Mendel.

A native of the Moravian town of Gincice, he came from a Slavic-German family. Yes, this is the same scientist, the abbot of the Augustinian order, who observed green peas and deduced the laws of heredity.

He was ahead of his time with his research. Contemporaries did not hesitate to make fun of him scientific work, based only on changes in legume crops. But twenty years after his death, the scientific world was noisy, studying his achievements in the then new science of genetics. Mendel is also called the “Czech Darwin.”

Only “-ova”!

While in the Czech Republic, representatives of the fair sex should not be surprised if, when completing documents, they see their last name greatly changed.

There is a state feature of the formation of female Czech surnames. They are formed from any masculine, but with the obligatory addition of the suffix “-ova”. This indicates historically established patriarchy national culture Chekhov. There are no exceptions even for foreigners.

It is a widely available fact that singer Kylie Minogue did not come to the Czech Republic with a concert after learning that she was “Minogue” on posters in Prague.

For fun's sake

Czechs have a great sense of humor, which is reflected in their family names. Even today, funny Czech surnames are often found, although the laws of the republic long ago allowed them to be replaced.

With great irony, the ancestors of the Czechs, making fun of the nobility, were called by both secular and clergy titles. Among them are Papage (from the Pope) and Biskup (bishop). There are also male Czech surnames of an abusive and accusatory nature: Halabala - a slacker, Smutny - sad, Gnevsa - menacing, angry.

Czech names

At the top of the list of Czech male names for many centuries are: Jan, Petr and Jakub. Therefore, even now you can find famous personalities with such a “nickname”. Many people know or have seen a goalkeeper with a bright male Czech name and surname - Petr Cech. This is where there will be no questions about where he comes from, what football team in the world he would not play for.

Czech names have pre-Christian roots. We all remember the cheerful children's cartoon about the mole, authored by Zdenek Miller. The name Zdenek is believed to come from an old common own name Zdeslav (here + glory).

In addition to the old ones, the list of modern common Czech names was influenced by Catholic Church. Czechs often named their children in honor of saints: Joseph, Jakub (from Jacob), Pavel, Tomas, Marek and so on. Czech names can be divided into two-part ones, derived from participles (Ždan), names of the plant and animal worlds (Kvetoslav), by birth order (Pervak) and in accordance with character qualities (Brave).

Czech names

Czech - Slavic country, and, of course, among Czech female surnames and names there are quite familiar to the Russian ear. One of the influential women in the Czech Republic, a fighter against corruption, an exposer of embezzlement schemes, is Lenka Bradachova.

Along with traditional female names, Czech women are often called by exotic, foreign "nicknames". For example, the director of the Olma company, the Czech company Agrofert, is called Simona Sokolova. From male Jewish name Simon (Shimon).

Often girls are named after beautiful flower, bird or animal.

Pronunciation of names

The Czech language contains diacritics, for this reason many names are pronounced slightly differently than the corresponding Russian ones. As a rule, the first syllable is stressed.

Many Czech names They have a short version, so it can be difficult for a Russian person to understand whose name they are talking about. Like Ukrainian, Czech has a vocative case. To address a Czech correctly, you need to say his name in the vocative case, which means choosing the correct ending. For example, a Czech named Wroclaw is addressed as “Wroclaw!”, and Jan is addressed as “Jano”, and so on.

More than forty thousand different surnames currently exist in the Czech Republic. The first surnames appeared in the fourteenth century. Czech surnames in most cases were formed from the given name. The most common surnames that were formed in this way are the surnames Urban, Lukasz, Urbanek, Lukaszek and Kaspar. Several surnames were formed from famous name Jan. These are Yanak and Yanda, and Yandak, and Yanota.

Many Czechs feel very awkward when they are called Vasek Zigmund, Vaclav Havel or Jakub Piotr, Ota Mikhail and Mikulas Ales. In this case, it is very difficult to guess where the surname is and where the person’s name is. Very often, Czech surnames directly depended on the type of activity in which their bearer was engaged. There are Czechs in the world with the surname Kolář, which translates as wheelwright, and also Truglarz, which translates as carpenter.

There is the surname Tesarzh, which means the profession of a carpenter, the surname Sklenarzh, which is renamed as a glazier. In the old days, you could often find the surname Bednar, which meant cooper, the surname Kovar, which meant blacksmith, and the surname Mlinarz, meaning miller.

When the need arose for better identification of people, then, for the most part, Czech surnames arose. The first similarities of surnames were a reflection of certain character traits and appearance of their bearer. Such names were mocking and ironic, often offensive. Such Czech surnames include the surname Zubaty - toothy, Halabala - slacker, Nebal - careless and many others. they cannot be classified as classic surnames, but rather can be classified as nicknames or nicknames. They could change for one person throughout his life. Father and son could have different surnames. Their surnames depended on their appearance, occupation and typical character traits. Over time, in order to more accurately register citizens, feudal lords began to force their subjects to constantly use their middle name. It was decided that the, which then became future surnames. Thanks to this, it has become possible to avoid confusion during various tax collections in the first place. Joseph II legalized the use of family surnames in 1780. The surnames of both village and city residents differed. This happened because in cities the formation of surnames depended on the social stratum to which the bearers of the surname belonged, as well as on their place of residence.

For orientation on city streets in the 18th century, not the usual numbers were used, but certain names. There are many examples that can be given. This is the street “At the Two Suns”, the street “At the Black Mother of God”, the street “At the Golden Snake”. This meant that if a person had the surname Vodslon, then he lived in a house called “At the Elephant”; the surname is translated as a person “from the elephant.” Difference between surnames ordinary people and the nobles was quite clear. Thus, noble names consisted of several different godnames, while they included both a surname and nicknames, which in most cases was a designation of the place of residence of the family to which it belonged.

Example: Jan Žižka from Troncov or Krysztof Garant from Polžice. Earlier than among the simplest people, the surnames of nobles began to be inherited. This can be understood, since it was in the interests of the nobles that the children of nobles bear a family name that distinguishes them from other people, indicating their noble origin.. (11th century) Their surname was most often associated with the occupation of ordinary people. The surname Tesarzh was borne by a carpenter, the surname Kozheshnik was borne by a furrier, the peasant bore the surname Sedlak. The plowman was called Vorac, the farm laborer - Nadenik, the forester - Polesny, the footman - Lokay. The surnames of village residents were closely related to the size of their owner’s property. A man named Pulpan was the happy owner of half the field, and Laskin was the owner of the whole field. Bezzemek was a landless peasant. In the Czech Republic there are surnames that are associated with the spiritual sphere of a person. They reflect his religion. The surname Krzhestyan belongs to a Christian. The surname Pogan is for a pagan. Mocking names did not escape the spiritual sphere. For example, the surname Picart was borne by a representative of the Czech brothers, who later became Protestants. This is how representatives of non-Catholic religions were scolded. These include surnames that were borrowed from the Bible. Surnames were intended to express
certain property

a specific person. The surname Sodomka comes from the name of the biblical city of Sodom. this city, as is known from the Bible, was destroyed by God due to the sins of its citizens. The bearer of the surname Herodes was bloodthirsty, and Pilate was indecisive. Of course, humor also influenced the formation of Czech surnames. Such surnames tell descendants that their ancestors were real merry fellows. Czechs used surnames to ridicule people from high society. They used their names and titles.
IN.

!!!

modern times Slavic names, which fall into three types: 1) names are single-term, simple; 2) complex; 3) abbreviations and derivatives. While complex names Worn primarily by people belonging to government circles and the nobility, single-membered ones belonged to representatives of the common class. Many ancient Slavic names at first glance they seem strange. The origin of many of them can be explained through the prism of the protective function - after all, the names reflect ideas ancient man about the magical power of words. Many single-member names arose from the need to protect a person (especially in infancy) from evil spirits. Hence the names with negation: Nemil, Nedrah, Nelub, Nemoj. The same role was played by the names of animals and plants: Bobr, Kozel, Sobol, Tur, Sokol, Vran, Kalina, etc.

A variety of common nouns were used to form complex names. Here is a small list of them with examples of names:

bor: Bořivoj, Dalibor, Ratibor
buď: Budivoj, Budislav/a
boh: Bohuslav/a, Bohdan, Bohuchval
čest: Čestmír/a, Ctibor/a, Ctislav/a
mil: Miloslav/a, Bohumil/a
mír: Miroslav/a, Jaromír/a, Vladimir/a
mysl: Přemysl, Křesomysl
rad: Radoslav/a, Radomir/a, Ctirad/a
slav: Slavomír/a, Stanislav/a, Vladislav/a
vít: Hostivít, Vitězslav
vlad: Vladislav/a, Vladimir/a
voj: Vojtěch, Bořivoj

Here is a wider list of Old Czech male and female names.

Men's

Bezděd, Bezprym, Bohuň, Bohuslav, Boleslav, Bořiš, Bořivoj, Božata, Břetislav, Budislav, Budivoj, Bujín, Ctibor, Ctirad, Čajka, Černín, Dlugoš, Drahoš, Holáč, Hostislav, Hostivít, Hovora, H roznata, Jaromír, Jaroslav, Jaroš, Jurata, Kazimír, Kocel, Kochan, Kojata, Koša, Křesina, Květek, Lestek, Lešek, Měšek, Mikuš, Milhošt, Miloň, Miroslav, Mnata, Mojmír, Mstiš, Mulina, Načerat, Nakon, Neklan, Nerad, Nezamysl, Ojíř, Oneš, Ostoj, Prkoš, Přemysl, Přibík, Příbram, Přibyslav, Přivitan, Radek, Radim, Rastislav, Ráž, Rostislav, Rozroj ,Sezema, Slavek, Slavibor, Slavitah, Slavník, Slopan, Soběbor, běslav, Spytihněv, Stanoslav, Stojan, Strojmír, Stromata, Střezimír, Svatobor, Svatopluk, Svojen, Svojslav, Svojšek, Vacek, Vacena, Václav, Vít, Vítek, Vitislav, Vladislav, Vladivoj, Vladoň, Vladota, Vlastislav, Vojen, Vojtěch, tislav, Vražek, Všebor, Zbyhněv, Zderad, Zlatoň, Zlatoslav, Znanek

Women's

Blažena, Bohuna, Bohuslava, Bořena, Božena, Božetěcha, Bratruše, Bratřice, Ctěna, Černice, Dobrava, Dobroslava, Doubravka, Drahoslava, Dúbrava, Hněvka, Hodava, Jelena, Kvašena, Květava, Lubava, Ludmila Mlad, a, Nětka, Pluhava, Radoslava, Svatava, Třebava, Václava, Vendula, Vlastěna, Vojtěcha, Vratislava, Zdislava, Zořena, Žizňava

In the 9th century, when the Christian religion began to spread in the Czech lands, international trade relations developed, and various wars took place, names of origin other than Slavic began to appear. So, on the territory of the Czech Republic, Jewish names began to be used more and more often, as Adam, Jan, Jakub, Tomas, Josef, Michal, Daniel, Anna, Eva, Greek like Filip, Stepan, Jiri, Barbora, Irena, Katerina, Lucie, latin like Marek, Martin, Lukasz, Pavel, Klara, Magdalena, German (these names were brought, first of all, by the German wives of the Przhemyslids, German monks and knights), as Jindřik, Oldřich, Vilem, Karel, Otakar, Gedvika, Amalie and others. Many of these names in original language were written and pronounced differently, but the Czechs adapted them to their requirements.

In the 14th century, during the Gothic era, Christian churches spread greatly in the Czech Republic. church names. Parents gave their children the names of saints so that they would protect them. Saints also became patrons of various professions, for example, Barbora - miners, Hubert - hunters. Vaclav becomes the patron of the Czech people. The penetration of Christian names into the Czech Republic ended during the Baroque era in the 18th century. Then, under the influence of the cult of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, these two names became quite popular among the Czechs, just like Frantisek and Antonin - the names of saints who were canonized precisely in the Baroque era.

Each name, naturally, has its abbreviations or diminutive forms. For example, a very popular name Ian also used as Jenik, Jenicek, Jenda, Jenya, Janek, or Gonza, Gonzik, Gonzicek(following the German example from the home kit Hans).

In the 16th century, the choice of name depended on belonging to a certain social class. For example, counts and nobles had names like Wilem, Yaroslav, Friedrich, soldiers - Hector, Jiri, Alexander. Village girls from the 14th to the 18th centuries most often had names like Katerina, Anna, Barbora, Dorota, Marketa, common names for urban girls from high society were Philomena, Eleonora, Anastasie, Euphrosyne and others.

During the communist era, parents had to obtain permission if they wanted to give a name that was not on the Czech calendar. Since 1989, parents have the right to give the name whatever they want, as long as it is used elsewhere in the world and is not offensive or derogatory. However, a common practice is to look up the name in the book "Jak se bude vaše dítě jmenovat?" (“What should I name my child?”), which is a semi-official list of “allowed” names. If the name is not found there, the registry office does not want to register this child's name.

Throughout history, names have been subject to a variety of influences - church, educational, socio-political, they were used in honor of prominent personalities - actors, athletes, politicians, or simply adapted fashion trends at this time.

The Czech Statistical Office has posted data on the most frequent names on its website since 1999. At the beginning of the year, these are the first ten names, then a list of the first fifty names is added (separately for male and female newborns). At the same time, only names are given that were registered in the month of January, which cannot but cause some surprise. After all, the Czech Republic is a country in which the positions of various types of calendars are strong (Catholic, in the communist period there was also a mandatory calendar of names). That's why big picture for a year, obviously, is somewhat different from the picture for one month. However, these statistics show the dynamics of changes in the choice of names from year to year well. In addition, the website of the statistical office provides statistics on the names of fathers and mothers of newborns. You can also find summary data for several years, and the names of the parents of newborns are added to the names of grandparents.

I will give official statistics of the most common 50 male and female names of newborns in the Czech Republic in 2009.

Male names Jakub Tomáš Lukáš Filip David Ondřej Matěj Vojtěch Martin Dominic Matyas Daniel Marek Michal Stěpán Václav Josef Šimon Patrick Pavel František Kryštof Antonin Tobiáš Samuel Miroslav Tadeáš Sebastian Richard Jaroslav Karel Alexander Matouš Oliver Radek Michael Milan Nicoias Christian Victor Denis Mikuláš Nikolas Roman Jachym

Female names Tereza Natalia Eliška Karolina Adela Kateřina Barbora Kristýria Lucie Veronica Nikola Clara Michaela Victoria Marie Aneta Julie Zuzana Marketa Vanesa Sofie Andrea Laura Amalia Alžběta Daniela Sabina Denisa Magdalena Nicol Linda Valérie Yendula Simona Anežka Rosalie Gabriela Petra Adriana Dominica Lenka Martina

As in other countries, in the Czech Republic there are some differences in the popularity of certain names between regions. As an example, here are the five most common names in all fourteen administrative regions of the country in 2007. At the same time again we're talking about about data only for January.

Women's

Liberec region: Tereza, Natalie, Anna, Eliška, Karolina
Usti region: Tereza, Anna, Kateřina, Lucie, Karolina
Central Bohemian Region: Tereza, Adela, Anna, Eliška, Natalie
South Bohemian Region: Kateřina, Tereza, Anna, Natálie, Adela
Pilsen region: Tereza, Adéla, Natálie, Kristýna, Anna
Vysocina: Tereza, Karolina, Natalie, Nikola, Barbora
Pardubice Region: Tereza, Adela, Karolina, Kateřina, Nikola
Kralove Hradeck region: Karolina, Kateřina, Adela, Anna, Eliška
South Moravian region: Veronika, Karolina, Tereza, Natalie, Anna
Olomouc Region: Tereza, Adela, Eliška, Anna, Karolina
Zlín region: Eliška, Tereza, Barbora, Veronika, Karolina
Moravian-Silesian region: Tereza, Karolina, Natalie, Kristina, Eliška
Karlovy Vary region: Natalie, Karolina, Tereza, Adela, Anna
Prague: Anna, Eliška, Tereza, Karolina, Marie

Men's

Liberec region: Filip, Tomáš, Adam, Jan, Lukáš
Usti region: Jan, Jakub, Lukáš, Adam, Matěj
Central Bohemian Region: Jan, Jakub, Adam, Tomáš, Martin
South Bohemian Region: Jakub, Jan, Matěj, Tomáš, Lukáš
Pilsen region: Jakub,Lukáš, David, Adam, Daniel
Vysocina: Jan, Jakub, Tomáš, Ondřej,Adam
Pardubice Region: Jan, Matěj, Jakub, Ondřej, Filip
Kralove Hradeck region: Jan, Jakub, Adam, Ondřej, Vojtěch
South Moravian region: Jakub, Jan, Ondřej,Martin, Matěj
Olomouc Region: Jakub, Jan, Tomáš, Adam, Vojtěch
Zlín region: Jakub, Tomáš, Adam, Jan, Ondřej
Moravian-Silesian region: Jan, Jakub, Adam, Ondřej, Filip
Karlovy Vary region: Jan, Jakub, Ondřej, Adam, František
Prague: Jan, Jakub, Vojtěch, Ondřej, Adam

Sources for writing this article:

Koporsky S. A. On the history of personal names in Old Czech and others Slavic languages(review) // Bulletin of Moscow State University. Series X, Philology, No. 3, 1967. Pp. 67–71.