Croatia Naming Customs

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 * Behind the Name: Croatian Surnames
 * Behind the Name: Croatian Given Names

Surnames

 * Croatian names follow complex and unique lettering, structuring, composition, and naming customs that have considerable similarities with most other European name systems, and with those of other Slavic peoples in particular.
 * In the early 7th century, Croats used Slavic names and corresponding naming customs.
 * Although given names vary from region to region in Croatia and can be heavily influenced by other countries' names, surnames tend to be Slavic.

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 (geographic)--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), Vlahović (Vlachs) ...

Given Names

 * Slavic names remained dominant until the Council of Trent (1545–63) when the Catholic church decided that every Christian should have a 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.

Traditional Croatian 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, Dragomirka, Dragomira, Draginja, Dragina, Draga, Draženka, Dubravka, Dunja, Hrvoja, Hrvojka, Jasenka, Jasna, Ljuba, Ljubica, Mila, Milica, Miljenka, Mislava, Mira, Mirjana, Mirka, Misirka, 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[3] 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, Dragomir, 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[3] Christian Names 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, Mihovil, Mihajlo (Michael), Nikola, Nikša, Niko, Mikula (Nicholas), Pavao (Paul), Petar (Peter), Pero (Peter), Rikard, Sebastijan, Silvestar, Šimun (Simon), Stjepan, Stipan, Stipe (Stephen), Toma (Thomas), Vasilije, Vilim (William), Vinko (Vincent).

Naming Patterns
In selected regions of Međimurje and Šibenik, the following tradition is followed:
 * 1) The oldest son is named after the father's father.
 * 2) The oldest daughter is named after the father's mother.
 * 3) The second oldest son is named after the mother's father.
 * 4) The second oldest daughter is named after the mother's mother.
 * 5) Other offspring of father are either named after favorite aunts or uncles or, sometimes, after the saint of the day they were born.

FamilySearch Library
Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: