Translation of Czech first names into English is often discussed topic. There are some name which are easy to translate, as Anna, Jan or Zuzana, but there are also other names where translation is not so clear – the most common example is the name Václav, which is widely discussed (there are currently four different names used for translation of name Václav – all of them are based on the immigration records).
Sometimes our ancestors themselves were those who brought the confusion into the usage of different translations of first names. They had a common Czech name but used unusual English translation which led to misunderstanding. If you find out such case, don't hesitate to contact me for explanation.
If you are directly researching Czech parish registries, it must be taken into account that the forms of names used there are often different from those which were used in common language. Czech registries were written in three different languages – Czech, Latin and German. This leads to another risk of confussion, even in case where Latin or German version is very similar to the English one. That's why the Latin and German translation was added to all names.
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Czech
|
English
|
German / Latin
|
Alois
|
Aloysius
|
Aloisius / Aloisius
|
Alžběta
|
Elizabeth
|
Elisabeth / Elisabetha
|
Anežka
|
Agnes
|
Agnes / Agnes
|
Anna
|
Ann, Anne
|
Anna, Anne / Anna
|
Antonín
|
Anthony
|
Anton / Antonius
|
Antonie
|
Antonia
|
Antonia / Antonia
|
Barbora
|
Barbara
|
Barbara / Barbara
|
Bartoloměj
|
Bart, Bartolomew
|
Batholomeus / Bartholomaeus
|
Blažej
|
Blasius
|
Blasius / Blasius
|
Daniel
|
Daniel
|
Daniel / Danihel
|
Eliška
|
Elisa, Elizabeth
|
Elizabeth / Elisabetha
|
Filip
|
Philip
|
Phillip / Phillipus
|
František
|
Frank, Francis
|
Franz / Franciscus
|
Františka
|
Frances
|
Franziska / Francisca
|
Havel
|
Gallus
|
Gallus / Gallus
|
Helena
|
Helen
|
Helene / Helena
|
Ignác
|
Ignatius
|
Ignaz / Ignatius
|
Jáchym
|
Joachym
|
Joachym / Joachimus
|
Jakub
|
Jacob, James
|
Jakob / Jacobus
|
Jan
|
John
|
Johann / Johannes
|
Jiljí
|
Giles
|
Egidius / Aegidius
|
Jiří
|
George
|
Georg / Georgius
|
Johana
|
Jane
|
Johanna / Johanna
|
Josef
|
Joseph
|
Joseph / Joseph
|
Josefa
|
Josephine, Jennifer
|
Josepha / Josepha
|
Karel
|
Charles
|
Karl / Carolus
|
Karolina
|
Caroline
|
Karolina / Carolina
|
Kašpar
|
Casper
|
Kaspar / Casparus
|
Kateřina
|
Catherine
|
Katharina / Catharina
|
Klára
|
Clara
|
Clara / Clara
|
Kryštof
|
Christopher
|
Christoph / Christophorus
|
Lucie
|
Lucy
|
Lucia / Lucia
|
Ludvík
|
Louis, Lewis
|
Ludwig / Ludovicus
|
Lukáš
|
Lucas
|
Lucas / Lucas
|
Magdaléna
(Mařena) |
Magdalene
|
Magdalene / Magdalena
|
Marek
|
Mark
|
Markus / Marcus
|
Mariana, Marie Anna
|
Mary Ann
|
Marianne / Maria Anna
|
Marie
|
Mary
|
Marie / Maria
|
Markéta
|
Margaret
|
Margarethe / Margaretha
|
Martin
|
Martin
|
Martin / Martinus
|
Matěj
|
Matthias
|
Matthias / Mathias
|
Matouš
|
Matthias / Mathew
|
Matheus / Matheus
|
Matyáš1
|
Matthias
|
Matthias / Matthias
|
Michal
|
Michael
|
Michael / Michael
|
Mikuláš
|
Nicholas
|
Nicholas / Nicolaus
|
Ondřej
|
Andrew
|
Andreas / Andreas
|
Pavel
|
Paul
|
Paul / Paulus
|
Petr
|
Peter
|
Peter / Petrus
|
Rozalie
|
Rose, Rosalie
|
Rosalie / Rosalia
|
Rozina
|
Rose, Rosine
|
Rosina / Rosina
|
Rudolf
|
Rudolph
|
Rudolph / Rudolphus
|
Řehoř
|
Gregory
|
Gregor / Gregorius
|
Růžena
|
Rose
|
Rosina / Rosina
|
Salomena
|
Salome
|
Salome / Salome
|
Šebestián
|
Sebastian
|
Sebastien / Sebastian
|
Šimon
|
Simon
|
Simon / Simeon
|
Štěpán
|
Steven, Stephen
|
Stephan / Stephanus
|
Terezie
|
Theresa
|
Theres / Theresia
|
Tomáš
|
Thomas
|
Thomas / Thomas
|
Václav
|
Wenceslas, James, William, Walter
|
Wenzl / Wenceslaus
|
Vavřinec
|
Lawrence
|
Laurenz / Laurentius
|
Vincenc
|
Vincent
|
Vinzenz / Vincentius
|
Vít
|
Vitus
|
Veit
|
Vojtěch
|
Albert, Adalbert
|
Adalbert
|
Voršila
|
Ursula
|
Ursula
|
Zuzana
|
Susan
|
Susane / Susana
|
Žofie
|
Sophia
|
Sophia
|
1Matěj, Matouš and Matyáš are originally one single name, Matthias. It developed into three different names during the centuries, nowadays all three forms are used.
Great to see this new blog! Wish you all the best! Scott Phillips
ReplyDeleteI thought I had seen Vojtěch as James in Chicago on some records. Is there another name for James?
ReplyDeleteVaclav
DeleteMy father's name was Vaclav Karel but in English it was James Charles.
DeleteScott, thanks!
ReplyDeleteJen, I think most common translation of James is Jakub. However the translations are sometimes so unclear that even Jan could be translated as James instead of John and so on.
I think as it depended only on people coming to U.S. which name will they choose as a "translation" to their original name, there is a huge mess in these translations...
My great-grandmother listed her father's name on her marriage record in the U.S. as Albert, so I knew I had the correct record when her birth record gave her father as "Votech". I am now searching for another of my great-grandmothers who came from Bohemia.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the new perspective on Czech first names. I always assumed Vaclav was "James" and Jakub was "Jacob", Alois became "Louis" because that is how OUR families translated the Czech names when they immigrated to the U.S. from many areas in Bohemia. Your posts have opened my eyes. A name frustration for me is how to figure out the rules for the feminine endings on surnames. -- mgk
ReplyDeleteIn our family, the english version of Vojtech was Albert...and for Vaclav, is was James.
ReplyDeleteMy fathers birth certificate has Vaclav and he was called James. Was that the Bohemian name for James?
DeleteA tradition developed among Czech immigrants to America to replace Vaclav with James, despite the fact that there is no historical or lingusitic connection between those two names. It was just that Vaclav was preceived as unusual in America and had no ranslation used as a firstname by Americans (the equivalents are Wenceslaus of the Christmas carol or Wendel, from the Germanized Wenzel). And James was very acceptable in America but did not already correspond to any Czech firstname. So it was a convenient substitution. James was available, because it is a uniquely English name, becoming common when the creators of the King James Bible substituted the king's name for the original Jacob everywhere in the text.
ReplyDeleteAlbert/Vojtech is very different. It derives from an early Christian missionary named Adalbert, the Germanic form of the Enlish/French Albert. A protege of his had the very Slavic name Vojtech. When Adalbert died, Vojtech took his name to honor him. Vojtech eventually became one of the first bishops of Prague and carried on Adalbert's missionary work, converting the boy who would become King St. Steven of Hungary. So the Adalbert/Vojtech name is common throughout Central Europe. Interestingly, among the Magyars of today's Hungary the same name is Bela.
ReplyDeleteMatous is usually transcribed as Matthew. Matthew and Matthias were two different Apostols, Matthias being selested to replace Judas Iscariot.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think it is only misreading and the name is Jirzik (Jiří, George). Capital J (often replaced by G) could be a very tricky letter.
Delete(Sorry for the confused postings. My first attempt to post returned a "503 Service Unavailable" message so I posted again. Then, when I saw that both posts succeeded, I deleted the first, but not before you had replied. My goodness, you are quick!)
DeleteThanks for the reply. I had considered every other letter except G.
Congratulations on your blog. I just discovered it today and it is a great resource. Congratulations also on your new daughter.
In researching my ancestors from Loštice, I came across the name Birzik, which was a common name for men in that town in the mid-1600's. Later it seems to disappear altogether. In what I think is the marriage record of his daughter, his name is listed as Jirzik, which I presume translates as George. Could Birzik be another form of the name Jirzik?
ReplyDeleteHow about the name Ludmilla?
ReplyDeleteLillian is often used or sometimes Millie.
DeleteIt seems to me that Helena and Magdalena were often used interchangeably, probably due to the abreviation Lena/Alena. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteInteresting piece of information, let me tell you, your blog gives the best and the most interesting information. once again hats off to you! Thanks a million once again, Regards, Hindu Boy Names
ReplyDeleteMy Great Grandmother was Born Bozena, in USA they called her Bertha.
ReplyDeleteMy aunt Bozena was Bessie.
DeleteI'm curious if you know of similar translations for town names. The passenger list I have from Bremen, Germany says my ancestors came from "Zugice" (or possibly Lugice) but I can't figure out where this is.
ReplyDeleteThere is a document here that matches the German and Latin names of Moravian towns to their Czech equivalent. Unfortunately, there is no entry for Zugice or Lugice.
DeleteWhat about the name Eva? Would that also be Eva in Czech? I've run into that name a few times in some of the older records.
ReplyDeleteIt would be the same - Eva, sometimes Ewa.
DeleteEve or Evelyn was often used.
DeleteMy gr-grandmother was born Eva but I have records of her going by Emma, Emily, Emilie and Eva.
DeleteI am looking for womens name fininka or something like that is my fathers prenunciation of it would anyone know.
ReplyDeleteFanynka
DeleteSuch a helpful list! I was researching Bohemian ancestors yesterday and found my great-grand-uncle James listed as Vaclav on a passenger list. I thought maybe I had the wrong family and would have to start over from scratch. Your blog came to the rescue! Fascinating stuff. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Amy. James to Václav is a typical change...
DeleteWhat about abbreviated middle names in the Hamry area of Klatovy, Pilsen? I am running across quite a few called Karl Bor. or Karl Borv. or Karl Borg. before the surname. A few are spelled out and looks like Borvenuvs or Borvenre. There are also many called Johann Baptist then the Surname.
ReplyDeleteIt's exactly as Marilyn describes it below. These were not middle names but part of the first name. I'll try to write a blogpost about these names.
DeleteSometimes saints names were given to boys. For Example, Karl Borromeo Aschenbrenner was named after St, Charles Borromeo. Other examples are: Johann Baptist Beierl named for St, John the Baptist, as well as Johann Nepomuk Kollross named after St. John Nepomuk. Those middle names were usually abbreviated to Bor., Nep., and Bap. in the baptismal records of 1800-1850 in and around Eisenstrass (Hojsova Straz) and Hammern (Hamry), in Klatovy Pilzen.
ReplyDeleteWere middle names common? My grandfather born in 1858 in Bohemia had a middle name KŘTITEL. But other family records didn't show a middle name.
ReplyDeleteKřtitel is not a middle name - it's Jan Křtitel, ie. Jan Baptist, one name. :)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIs there an English equivalent of "Jarmil", my father's middle name? He was born in Krucemburk abt. 1910. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThere is no equivalent. The female version of Jarmil is Jarmila, which was my aunt's name. The J is pronounced as the Y sound. In Slavic culture, females usually gain the A at the end of the name (not just names either, that goes for anything feminine) For example if the father's last name was Pivonk, the mother's last name would be Pivonka, of course if you came to The United States that would have to be changed. Many immigrants changed their children's first names to an English version. My Uncle's Czech name was Vaclav, but was changed to James.
DeleteThank you, Blanko, this is very useful.
ReplyDeleteI think that one of the big problems with translating names is obvious: unlike a translation of a word that denotes an object, the name of a person is arbitrarily assigned.
We know that the Czech word "kniha" translates into "das Buch" in German, "book" in English, "le livre" in French, and so on, because that is what the people speaking that language call any object containing bound pages with words on them.
A man whose first name is "Jan" in Czech could be "John" in English. But then again it could be "Ian". Or simply "Jan", pronounced Yahn. Or it could be "James". Or actually any name in the English language. How do we know if a person is a "James" or a "Ian", or an "Andrew?"
(Is a person still a Montague if he falls in love with a Capulet?)
Ladislav often becomes Ladd or Laddie. Bronislav is sometimes Bruce or Brony. Oto is Otto.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, Eva, Anna, Jane or Jean os repeated name in my family. id love to learn the meanings. Privratsky, Semerad- Semeradova as women- are current main surnames. anyone know these meanings and what part of Bohemia they came from? Thanks for info--
ReplyDeleteWendy, snowblizzards at juno dot com.
George, Eva, Anna, Jane or Jean os repeated name in my family. id love to learn the meanings. Privratsky, Semerad- Semeradova as women- are current main surnames. anyone know these meanings and what part of Bohemia they came from? Thanks for info--
ReplyDeleteWendy, snowblizzards at juno dot com.
Im trying to learn. New Hradec, Nd cemetary is 99% Bohemian. Semerad as a surname- but wives was listed as Semeradova. Another surname is Privratsky. Anyone have name meanings? George, Eva, and Anna, Jane and Jean's are names so commonly repeated throughout the family, I love to possibly learn the Bohemian meanings then maybe I'd figure why picked over an over in family. ha ha ha... oh my. Much to learn if possible. Im attempting still to learn what region of Czech republic family from so that I can learn how the custom costume was made and why they came here ( which i am grateful for!) snowblizzards at juno dot com. Thanks--Wendy
ReplyDeleteIm trying to learn. New Hradec, Nd cemetary is 99% Bohemian. Semerad as a surname- but wives was listed as Semeradova. Another surname is Privratsky. Anyone have name meanings? George, Eva, and Anna, Jane and Jean's are names so commonly repeated throughout the family, I love to possibly learn the Bohemian meanings then maybe I'd figure why picked over an over in family. ha ha ha... oh my. Much to learn if possible. Im attempting still to learn what region of Czech republic family from so that I can learn how the custom costume was made and why they came here ( which i am grateful for!) snowblizzards at juno dot com. Thanks--Wendy
ReplyDeleteI also have Privratsky family from the 1800's buried in New Hradec, ND. The last name means at some point the family originally came from the village Přívrat in Eastern Bohemia. I will send you an email with more.
DeleteI arrived here by luck. My knowledge of Czech language is 0,00 but it seems to me that the equivalent of Matouš is Mathew, don’t you agree? Greetings from Colombia.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to find out the correct spelling of my grandmother's name as it would have appeared on her birth certificate. Her surname was Kestner - would it have appeared on her birth certificate as Kestner or Kestnerova?
ReplyDeleteI have a female named Tonfill in a Nebraska 1885 census. Could that also translate to Amilla or Millie?
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard about Tonfill before.
DeleteIs there any known English equivalent of Bohumil? My great grandfather went by "Barney" among his American coworkers, but was always Bohumil at home.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is any English equivalent for this name.
DeleteMy great-grandfather used Bohumil (Bo for short), and his oldest son had the same name, so they called him Bruno.
DeleteBohumil name in our family became Benjamin
DeleteHas anyone heard of the Bohemian first name, Vaclav being translated into English as Wesley? I'm working on finding my great grandfather, and what I believe is his tombstone, lists first name of Vaclav, but I can't find any transition to that name.
ReplyDeleteYes - our Vaclav used the name Wesley, sometimes Vesley appears on documents, but Wesley was used multiple times in our lines.
DeleteIs there an English equivalent for Lumir? My father's name. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI have a great uncle named Lumir. He used the same name in English and Czech.
Deletei have a cousin named Lumir...he is czech....lived near dorchester,crete and wilber nebraska...i wish i had found this site years back....
DeleteThank You
mark
my cousin lumir is no longer with us
DeleteThank you for this site! My grandmother's name was Phyllis, but her Czech name was Filipka. It now makes sense given the translation for Phillip.
ReplyDeleteHi! Is there a Czech equivalent for Jarvis?
ReplyDeleteMy great great grandparents lost a child in 1884 at a young age. The first name was Tabebg? Any idea what this might translate to?
ReplyDeleteThanks
where's Benjamin
ReplyDeleteThis is such a helpful list! I have an ancestor who was born in the US but his baptism and marriage certificate (both from churches in Chicago) are in Czech and use the names Vaclav and Wenceslas. His English name was James. I think it odd that they would have used different Czech names on these documents. Any ideas? I have another ancestor named William who turns up on a census record as Vaclav (also born in US) so I had assumed Vaclav meant William. None of the other family names are in Czech. Since census records are often built with data from neighbors, etc., I find it interesting that only one family member was given a Czech name at this time?
ReplyDeleteI have found the given name Jois (sometimes Joes). Could this be an abbreviation for Joseph? This is found many times in records from the 1700s in the area of Nový Jičín.
ReplyDeleteJoes or Jois is a shortening for Joannes/Joannis (John / John's), so Jan/John is the proper form.
DeleteHello Just Found this sight. I viewed the surnames list forJuraj and Joannes is not listed. Juraj is my grandfathers middle name. Thanks for the invite.
ReplyDelete