Croatian names and surnames. Croatian surnames: distribution, formation, pronunciation rules. And also our blogs

Traditional Croatian girl names: origin

Croatian national female names date back to the Middle Ages and have Slavic roots. Before the adoption of Christianity, the Croatian religion was paganism. Pagan traditions of worshiping various deities and natural phenomena left their mark on the personal names of the people. The girls were called beautiful names plants, fruits, flowers (for example, Dzhurzhitsa - “lily of the valley”, Dunja (Dunya) - the Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian name for the quince fruit), in honor of the seasons (Spring), Slavic gods (Morena (Morena) - the name of the Slavic goddess of winter and of death).

Sometimes the name meant an attractive “feminine” character trait (Tihana - “quiet”). Often sonorous Croatian names for girls had the character of a wish - Moika ("beloved"), and from the Slavic root -drag ("dear") several feminine forms of names were formed with the same value- Draga, Dragana, Drazhenka. The ancient Croats chose affectionate, soft names for their daughters - Milica (“fragrant”), Ljubica (from the word “to love”).

Often Croatian female names were formed from male forms names, preserving their meaning: for example, Jasenka (Ash) - the female form of the male name Jasen (Ash) - “deciduous tree”, Gordana “proud” - from the male Gordan, etc.

Borrowed female Croatian names

Over time, the list of Croatian female names was constantly replenished - first with Christian names, then with names borrowed from other languages ​​and countries.

Since the 7th century, Christianity has spread in Croatia, and with it the religious names of Catholic saints. Moreover, female names were borrowed both in a “ready-made” form (for example, the Greek name Clara - “bright, clear”), and were formed from male ones: for example, Filipa (Filipa) - from the male name Philip (Croatian version Greek name Philip - “horse lover”), Josipa (Josipa) - from the masculine Joseph. Biblical Christian names also changed (for example, Estera - the Croatian version of the biblical name Esther - Esther, Esther).

The period of the conquest of part of the country by the Ottoman Empire also did not pass without a trace for the anthroponymy of the people: along with Islam (now there are approximately 1.5% of Muslims in the country), they also came to Croatia Muslim names(for example, the Turkic name Alma (Alma), meaning “apple”). Also often used by Croats Slavic names, common in Serbia - for example, Mirna (derived from the word “peace”).

Croats actively borrow foreign names, while sometimes changing their sound: for example, the most popular in Croatia female name Mia is derived from the Hebrew name Maria, and in neighboring Italy it is considered Italian and translates as “mine, belonging to me.” The name Nadezhda, which came from Russia, changed to Nada, Nadica (Nada, Naditsa).

New female names in Croatia

The list of Croatian female names is regularly updated thanks to borrowings from other languages ​​and cultures, as well as the peculiarities of the Croatian formation of proper names.

Recently, short names have become especially popular in the country - borrowed names or full names shortened to 3-4 letters. So, Iva (Willow) is a short form of the name Ivanka (Ivanka), Lara (Lara) - Larisa, etc. Often newly formed names are the endings of borrowed foreign names (Ena, Eni are independent names derived from the ancient Greek name Irena - “peace, tranquility”).

Among Croats, national names with Slavic roots and Catholic Christian names are still relevant. At the same time, the naming of the people is very similar to the European system: in recent years, borrowed foreign and European names have been most in demand (German Karla - “courageous”, Spanish Dolores, etc.).

Male and female Croatian names have much in common with the European naming system. It is impossible not to note the great similarity of the naming. In general, modern Croatian names for boys and girls are very diverse. Among them there are many both traditional and quite exotic, borrowed from other languages ​​and cultures.

Origin of male and female Croatian names

Most traditional male and female Croatian names are of Slavic origin. They began to appear as early as the seventh century. The significance of traditional Croatian first and last names is still very high. They continue to be actively used in our time. However, there are popular Croatian names for girls and boys, borrowed from the Catholic calendar. The tradition of naming children according to the calendar is quite common in Croatia.

Among male and female Croatian names, there are also those that were taken from other cultures and languages. Many of them appeared quite recently, under the influence of globalization processes. Among those that are completely contrary to Croatian naming traditions.

Top most beautiful Croatian names for boys

• Bronislav. Translated into Russian = “fighter for glory”
• Branimir. From the Old Slavic “protecting world”
• Goran. Translated into Russian, this Croatian name means “high” / “mountainous”
• Casimir. From Old Slavonic "preacher of peace"
• Lubomir. The name is of Slavic origin. Meaning = "loving world"
• Marco. Form of the Latin name Mark
• Miroslav. Derived from “peace” and “glory”
• Mladen Translated into Russian, this Croatian name for a man means = “small”
• Radomir. From the Old Slavic "peace fighter"
• Tihomir. Croatian name for a boy, created from the words "quiet" and "peaceful"
• Tomislav. From Old Church Slavonic “tormented by glory.”

List of the most beautiful Croatian names for girls

• Bogdana. The name is of Slavic origin. Meaning = "given by God"
• Borislava. Means "she who fights for glory"
• Vlasta. from Slavic "homeland"
• Dragana. Translated into Russian, this female Croatian name means = “dear”
• Dubravka. From Old Slavonic “strong as an oak”
• Zlata. Croatian girl name meaning "golden"
• Ivana. Translated from Hebrew, this Croatian girl's name means = "given by God"
• Kvita. From Slavic "flower"
• Militsa. South Slavic version of the name Melisa = "honey"
• Mirka. Derivative from Mir or Miroslav = “famous throughout the world”
• Slavika. From Old Church Slavonic "glorious"
• Stanislava. Name of Slavic origin = "to become glorious"

The most popular female and male Croatian names

Today, the most common male and female Croatian names are Ivan, Marko, Josif, Stepan, Tomislav, Maria, Anna and Ivana. However, in recent years, Croatians are increasingly naming newborns in a foreign manner. In this regard, in the near future we can expect a sharp increase in the number of names borrowed from other languages.

To the question “What do we know about names Slavic peoples? you need to answer honestly - nothing! Meanwhile, there is something to learn from the “Slavic brothers”: caring for their names Slavic ancestors, and to the names of Christian saints, and to the ability to adopt the names of neighboring peoples, doing it easily and very organically. So let's get started...

Part 1. What names do Croats have? General review.

On this page you will see not some “lists of Croatian names” taken from nowhere, but the names of living people who live in today’s Croatia, and you will be able to get a first idea of ​​the degree of their popularity.

Croats are southern Slavs. Croatia has a population of 4.2 million people, of which 90% are Croats, approximately 5% Serbs and a few Italians (0.4%, mainly in Istria, in the north). Catholics in the total population are 86% (usually Croats), Orthodox 4.5% (mostly Serbs), Muslims 1.5% (usually immigrants from Bosnia).

The official language is Croatian. Writing based on the Latin alphabet (unlike Serbia, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet). The Croatian Latin alphabet is called "gajica" (gajica, hrvatska abeceda), in honor of its creator, Ljudevit Gaj. There are no letters Q, W, X, Y in the Gaevitsa, but there are several “special” letters: Č, č (hard), Ć, ć (soft), Dž, dž (j), Đ, đ (j), Lj, lj (l), Nj, nj (nn), Š, š (w), Ž, ž (f). Croatian female names Ljuba, Lerka, Ruza, Zeljka and Stefanija, for example, are written like this: Ljuba, Ljerka, Ruža, Željka and Štefanija, and Djordje Marjanović (a famous singer) is written as Đorđe Marjanović.

The name of the country in Croatian is Republika Hrvatska, and in English it is Republic of Croatia. The capital is Zagreb (800 thousand people). Other large cities are Split (170 thousand people), Rijeka (130 thousand people) and Osijek (85 thousand people).

The head of the government is Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković.

What should I say first? The number of personal names - both female and male - is impressive: it is simply huge. The thing is that in modern Croatia, any diminutive or abbreviated (truncated) form of a name can be recorded on a birth certificate and even on a passport. No one is surprised there that a woman member of Parliament is called, for example, Anka, Milanka, Tanja, Željka, and a 60-year-old man is called Saša, Paško, Dubravko.

Look here: Ana, Anja, Anita, Ani, Anka, Ankica, Anica, Ančica, Anna, Anela, Aneli, Aneta(Ana, Anya, Anita, Ani, Anka, Ankica, Anica, Ancica, Anna, Anela, Aneli, Aneta) - Croatian variations of the name Anna are listed here. Please note that all of them are registered by the Civil Registry Office of the Croatian Republic as independent passport names. And a few more examples: Katarina, Katija, Katja, Katica, Kata, Katrin, Katrina, Rina, Kaja(Katarina, Katya, Katitsa, Kata, Katrin, Katrina, Rina, Kaya); Tatjana, Tajana, Tanja (Tatyana, Tayana, Tanya); Štefanija, Štefani, Štefa, Fani(Stefania, Stefanie, Stefa, Fani); Terezija, Tereza, Tesa, Tessa (Teresia, Teresa, Tesa, Tessa); Draga, Dragana, Dragica, Draženka(Draga, Dragana, Dragitsa, Drazhenka), Nediljka, Neda (Nedilka, Neda).

With male names - the same picture: Arsen, Seno, Senko (Arsen, Seno, Senko), B ožidar, Božo, Bože, Božen, Boško, Darko(Bozidar, Bozho, Bozhe, Bozhen, Boshko, Darko); Vladimir, Vlado, Vlatko (Vladimir, Vlado, Vlatko), Stjepan, Stipe, Stipo, Stjepko, Stijepo, Stevo(Stepan, Stipe, Stipo, Stepko, Stepo, Stevo).

And now we can continue. The review is based on the age principle. And we will get acquainted with the names of the inhabitants of Croatia step by step, following from one age group to another: older age (40-50 years or more) - youth (20-25 years) - newborns (0-5):

1) Names of members of the Parliament of the Croatian Republic

151 deputies, of which 121 are men and 30 women,

age range from 30 to 70 years, average age 50 years

Men - Anđelko / Angelko, Andrija / Andria, Ante / Ante, Antun / Antun, Arsen / Arsen, Blaženko / Blazhenko, Boris / Boris (2), Božo / Bozho, Branimir / Branimir, Branko / Branko (3), Damir / Damir (4), Darinko / Darinko, Dario / Dario, Darko / Darko (2), Davor / Davor (3), Domagoj / Domagoj, Domagoj Ivan / Domagoj Ivan (double name), Drago / Drago, Dražen / Drazhen (3 ), Franio / Franio, Franko / Franco, Furio / Furio, Giovanni / Giovanni, Goran / Goran (3), Gordan / Gordan (2), Igor / Igor, Ivan / Ivan (11), Ivica / Ivica, Ivo / Ivo , Jaroslav / Yaroslav, Jasen / Yasen, Josip / Josip (6), Joško / Yoshko, Juro / Yuro, Ladislav / Ladislav, Leon / Leon, Lucian / Lucian, Marijan / Marijan, Mario / Mario, Marko / Marco, Maro / Maro, Mihael, Mile, Milivoj, Milivoj, Milorad (2), Miodrag, Mirando, Mirko, Miro (2), Miroslav (2), Nenad , Orsat / Orsat, Peđa / Peja, Pero / Feather, Petar / Petar, Predrag / Predrag, Radimir / Radimir, Rajko / Raiko, Ranko / Ranko, Robert / Robert, Silvano / Silvano, Siniša / Sinisha (2), Stevo / Stevo, Stipe, Stjepan, Stepan, Šandor, Sandor, Tihomir, Tihomir, Tomislav (6), Tulio, Vedran, Veljko, Vladimir, Vladimir, Zdravko, Zoran (2 ), Žarko / Zharko, Željko / Zeljko (5).

Women - Ana, Anka, Božica, Dragica, Ermina, Gordana (2), Ines, Irena, Jasna, Josipa, Ljubica, Margareta / Margareta, Marija / Maria (3), Milanka / Milanka, Nada / Nada (2), Nansi / Nancy, Ružica / Ruzica, Sabina / Sabina, Sandra / Sandra (3), Sanja / Sanya, Štefanija / Stefania, Tanja / Tanya, Vesna / Spring

The number of people with this name is indicated in parentheses.

(copy the name and paste it into the “Search for word” box)

Note: At the time of writing this article (August 2016), the Parliament of the 8th convocation was in force, elected on December 28, 2015. The names of the deputies, indicating their dates of birth, were posted on the website (Hrvatski sabor - Parliament of Croatia, www.sabor.hr).

2) Names of the artists of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb

270 people, of which 125 men and 145 women,

age range from 25 to 65 years, average age 45 years

Men - Adam (2), Alan, Alen (3), Andrija, Ante (2), Antonio, Bojan, Božidar, Božimir, Damir (4), Danijel, Danko (2), Darijan, Dario (2), David, Davor (2), Davorin, Domagoj, Dragan, Dubravko, Dušan (2), Filip, Franjo, Goran, Gordan, Hrvoje (2), Igor, Ivan (10), Ivica (3), Ivo (2), Jerko, Josip (2), Jurica, Krešimir, Kristian, Kristijan (2), Kornel, Leonard, Livio, Ljubomir, Luciano, Luka, Marijan, Mario (3), Marko (2), Matija, Milan, Miljenko (3), Miroslav , Mislav, Nenad, Neven, Nikola, Nikša (3), Ninoslav, Petromil, Renko, Robert, Roko, Romeo, Saša, Sebastian, Silvio, Siniša (5), Slavko, Srđan, Stjepan (3), Svebor, Tin ( 2), Toma, Tomica, Tomislav (4), Tvrtko, Vjekoslav, Vladimir (2), Zlatko, Zvonimir (2), Željko (2), Žorž

Orašar (Nutcracker)

Romeo i Julija (Romeo and Juliet)

Women - Adela, Aleksandra, Alma, Ana (4), Anastasija, Andreja, Antonija, Anželika, Barbara (3), Bernardina, Blanka, Blaženka, Bojana, Božica, Branka (2), Cecilija, Danijela, Danjela, Daria (2 ), Darija, Diana, Dijana, Dora, Dorotea, Dubravka, Dunja (2), Eleonora, Ema, Emilija, Eva, Gorana, Gordana (3), Helena, Henrijeta, Ida, Irena, Iva (4), Ivana (2 ), Ivančica, Ivanka, Jadranka (2), Jelena, Katarina, Katija, Kristina, Ksenija (3), Lana, Lidija (3), Ljerka, Lovorka, Luca, Lucija, Lujza, Magda, Maja (3), Marija, Marijana (2), Marta (2), Martina (3), Mateja, Mia, Mihaela, Milka, Minja, Mira, Mirela, Mirna, Mirta, Mojca, Nadežda, Natalija, Nensy, Nina (3), Olga, Olja, Orijana, Pavla, Petra (3), Sanda, Sandra, Sanja (2), Silvana, Slavica, Snježana (6), Sofia, Suzana (2), Štefa, Tajana, Tamara (2), Tatjana (4), Tihana ( 2), Valentina, Vanja, Verica, Viktorija, Višnja, Vladimira, Vlasta, Vlatka, Zrinka (2), Željka (2)

Note: Data as of August 2016. The names of the theater troupe (opera, ballet, drama, choir and orchestra) are given on the website of Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu, www.hnk.hr

3) Names of the artists of the Croatian Folk Dance and Song Ensemble LADO

40 people, of which 22 men and 18 women,

age 35-50 years

Men - Alan, Alen, Andrija, Antun (2), Bojan, Boris, Branimir, Dubravko, Dražen (2), Igor (2), Josip, Mario, Matej, Mladen, Nenad, Pavo, Saša, Željko (2)

Women - Adrijana, Ana, Anita, Dijana, Iva, Ivana, Irena, Jasenka, Klara, Kristina, Mateja, Nataša, Snježana, Tamara, Verica, Vlatka (2), Zrinka

Note: Data as of August 2016. Roll names

listed on the website of Ansambl narodnih plesova i pjesama Hrvatske LADO, www.lado.hr

4) Names of members of the Croatian delegation at the 2016 Olympic Games

in Rio de Janeiro - athletes, coaches and medical staff

total 157 people, of which 130 men and 27 women,

average age 25 years

Men - Alan, Aleksandar, Andrej, Andro, Anđelo, Antonio, Bojan (2), Borna, Božo, Dalibor, Dario (2), Damir (5), Darko, Davor, Dejan, Dinko, Domagoj, Dražen (2), Edis, Edo, Edvard, Filip (5), Franjo, Goran, Hrvoje (2), Igor (5), Ilija, Ivan (9), Ivica (3), Jakov, Jurica, Josip (4), Joško, Jozo, Karlo, Krešinir, Kristijan, Krunoslav, Leonard, Luka (6), Manuel, Marin (3), Mario (3), Marko (8), Maro, Martin, Matija, Miran, Miro, Miroslav (3), Mladen, Nikica , Nikola, Pavle, Pero, Petar, Renato, Rok, Roko, Sandro, Seno, Siniša, Srećko, Stevo, Stijepo, Stipe, Šime, Tomica, Tomislav, Tonči, Toni, Valent, Valter, Velibor, Vladimir (2), Zlatko, Zoran (2), Zvonimir, Zeljko (3)

Women - Ana (4), Andrea (2), Barbara, Blanka, Iva, Ivana, Lucija, Maja, Manuela, Marija (2), Marcela, Matea (2), Petra, Sandra (2), Sara, Snježana, Tanja , Tina, Valentina, Zdenka

Note: The information was published on the website of the Croatian Olympic Committee www.hoo.hr: Odluka o sastavu hrvatske olimpijske delegacije na Igrama XXXI. olimpijade Rio 2016).

5) List of names of players of the football club "Dinamo", Zagreb

total of 90 people, age from 15 to 30 years,

average age 19.4 years

Adrian (3), Alen (1), Ante (2), Antonijo (2), Antonio (1), Arijan (1), Bojan (1), Borna (3), Bruno (2), Damir (1), Dario (2), David (1), Dinko (1), Dino (1), Davor (1), Domagoj (5), Dominik (2), Eugen (1), Filip (4), Hrvoje (2), Ivan (3), Jakov (3), Josip (2), Juraj (1), Jurica (1), Karlo (2), Kristijan (1), Kruno (1), Leon (1), Lovro (1), Luka (4), Marijan (1), Mario (5), Marko (8), Martin (1), Matej (1), Matija (1), Matteo (1), Mihael (1), Neven (1), Nikola (1), Oliver (1), Petar (2), Renato (1), Tin (1), Tom Alen (1), Tomislav (3), Vinko (1), Vitomir (1), Zvonko (1)

Note: Club Dinamo, city of Zagreb (Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb, http://www.gnkdinamo.hr), as is known, consists of several divisions: GNK Dinamo Zagreb (main team), GNK Dinamo Zagreb II and three youth - GNK Dinamo Zagreb U19 (players from 17 to 19 years old), GNK Dinamo Zagreb U17 (16 - 17 years old), GNK Dinamo Zagreb Jugend (15 year olds). In the 2016/2017 season they had a total of 90 field players with Croatian surnames (players of other nationalities were not taken into account), age range 15 - 30 years, average age 19.4 years. Information about the players was published on the famous football website Transfermarkt.

6) The most popular baby names in Croatiain 2012-2016

7) Ten most popular newborn namesin Croatia in 2015

(in total 19,418 boys and 18,141 girls were born)

Note. Croatia is not a very big country. The total number of boys born in 2015 was 19,418. Of these, 919 boys were named after Luka. Calculating the percentage of total number newborns gives:

(919: 19418) * 100 = 5%,

that is, the name Luke was given to approximately five newborn boys out of a hundred. Similarly for the name Mia we get (596: 18141)*100 = 3%. - Not so much! (the names are popular, but, as they say, “without fanaticism”)

A source of information: Tablica2. Deset najčešćih muških i ženskih imena novorođene djece upisane u maticu rođenih u 2015, Tablica 3. Pet najčešćih muških i ženskih imena novorođene djece upisane u maticu rođenih po županijama u 201 5, see Statistical report of the Ministry of State. Department of the Republic of Croatia, Zagreb, February 2016. // Javna uprava vama na usluzi. Statistički prikaz Ministarstva uprave. Broj 1. // Republika Hrvatska, Ministarstvo uprave, Zagreb, Veljača 2016 (pages 6-9)

8) The most popular names of 2015 by administrative districts of Croatia.

Nai more commonnames by year of birth (from 1930 to 2015).

The popularity of names is, on the one hand, a geographical (territorial) concept, and on the other, a historical one. There is no particular need to explain this thesis. And so it is clear that in Rijeka they will never stop calling boys Vito and Vid, girls Vita and Vida, and in Split the names Roko and Duje will always be in the top ten, which cannot be said, for example, about the capital Zagreb. Likewise, it is absolutely clear that the most popular female name of 2015, Mia, was not even heard of 10-15 years ago. In this regard, we provide two interesting information: .

Most common surname in Croatia Wordcloud

Der most widely used surname in Croatia This H, which translates as “Croatian” means. It's so nice to have a patriotic name appear that makes sense in the naming context. Because why are there names? Simply put, to distinguish between families. This constellation in Croatia is When in Germany the most not Muller However, “German” as a surname will carry.

Why ending with “ić” is so common in Croatia

What jumps out at the reader in our list of the most popular surnames in Croatia is that many names end with “ić”. This follows from the fact that here patronymischer or matronymischer Last name based. So the surname, He is from the name of the father (Fr.) or mother (mater) stems. This extension can also be found in Bosnian, Serbian and Montenegrin language. These forms are found in , where the patro- or matronyme extension “Seine” is located.
Patronymes are examples:
–Filipovic-> Child Filip
–Stjepanic-> Child Stipe
Matronyme name:
–Babich-> Child b (Old woman)
–Marušić-Baby Marya (Maria)

Professions were used as a basis for naming

In Croatia, some families were named after the parents' occupation.
Notable examples include:
–Ribar-Fishing Ribarević - fisherman's child
–K-Forge Kovacevich, Kovacich - child blacksmith

The name is known to Kovac in Germany through the former Croatian football player Niko Kovac, Today's coach. As a player, he has been in the city of his birth since Hertha, at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, active at Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich.

Also known as their clever meanings: Here Čolak

Colak or Kolak is originally a surname found among Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and mid-Dalmatia. By internal migration from Herzegovina to the Croatian capital Zagreb and. the name is now also often from Dalmatia in the Croatian cities of Split and Zadar (as regards the total number) to meet. The surname is also found among Bosniaks and Serbs.

The surname was Čolak in the 18th century to the reign Ottoman Empire in South-Eastern Europe. He was a man to characterize accordingly. Added distinction to existing personal name. The name jhunlipps comes from a Turkish word that refers to "a person with a scrub hand or a crippled hand". The hand is probably hand or fingers crippled or missing completely. It can simply be used for left-handed people. Campbell - still male name. Lived in Croatia in the year 2012 about 820 people with the last name Čolak.

List of 20 AM meisten verwendeten Familiennamen in Kroatien

1. H
2.K
3. Babich
4. M
5. Novak
6. J
7. K
8. Vukovich
9. K
10. Markovich
11. Petrovich
12. M
13.T
14.K
15. Pavlovich
16. Christmas
17.B
18. Grgic
19.P
20. Radic