Switzerland Naming Customs

Online Tools

 * Register of Swiss Surnames
 * Given Names in Swiss Records (1525-1850)

Register of Swiss Surnames
Swiss citizenship is kept on three levels: the nation, the canton, and the "Heimatort, or home community. For most people, citizenship was inherited, and residency was not a requirement. The home community was charged with keeping track of its citizens. Therefore, if a birth, marriage, or death of a citizen took place in another parish, notice of the event was often sent to the Heimatort. The information may have been entered in the regular parish register or a special section reserved for “auswärtige Bürger” [out-of-town citizens].

Because Swiss citizenship was time-consuming and costly to move, most kept their ancestral citizenship no matter where they moved. The Register of Swiss Surnames is a list of all surnames in Switzerland as of 1962 and where they held citizenship. This registry is invaluable in locating towns of origin.

To learn how to use the Register of Swiss Surnames, check out the "How to" Guide. First, read through the [[Media:1-Register_of_Swiss_Surnames-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]]; Then test your knowledge with the short [[Media:2-Register_of_Swiss_Surnames-Assignment.pdf|Assignment]] - the [[Media:3-Register_of_Swiss_Surnames-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]] is provided to check your answers. Suisse Naturalisation et la citoyenneté

Common Name Endings
With family names originating locally, many names display particular characteristics of the local dialects, such as the south German, Austrian and Swiss diminutive endings -l -el, -erl, -le or -li as in Kleibl, Schäuble or Nägeli (from 'Nagel', nail).

Given Names in Foreign Languages
'''Switzerland has French, German, and Italian speaking regions. Early records can be in Latin.'''

Some given names are often very different when translated into different languages, as shown by the following table.

The following online source contains given names translated into 23 different European languages, including English:


 * Janowowa, Wanda, et al. Słownik imion (Dictionary of names). Wrocław, Germany: Zakład Narodowy im Ossolińskich, 1975. (FHL book Ref 940 D4si; film 1181578 item 2; fiche 6,000,839.) Names are listed alphabetically by the Polish name, as the author is Polish. An index at the back gives the Polish form of each name. Use that name to find the 23 translations in the main list.