I had similar blog post (web page) on my old website. As I think this overview is quite useful, I decided to add it to this blog as a specific post. So - how did the names look like in registries? Here is a selection of most common first names as I collected them few years ago for my Czech personal genealogical website. It shows names in three different time periods and two or three different writing styles.
| Name |
pre 1750
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1750-1784
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after 1784
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| Alžběta Elisabetha |
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| Anežka Agnes |
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| Anna |  |
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| Antonín Antonius |
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| Bartoloměj Bartholomaus |
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| František Franciscus |
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| Jakub Jacobus |
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| Jan Joannes |
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| Jiří Georgius |
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| Josef Josephus |
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| Kateřina Catharina |
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| Marie Maria |
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| Matěj Mathias |
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| Matouš Mathaus |
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| Ondřej Andreas |
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| Pavel Paulus |
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| Václav Wenceslaus |
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| Vavřinec Laurentius |
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| Vojtěch Adalbertus |
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| Voršila Ursula |
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|
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OM! This is FANTASTIC! Bob was also in awe over this. This was one of my possible retirement projects, but you freed me! :) But of course we can now collect additional ones and add to it, somehow.
ReplyDeleteI had this one on my own website, but it doesn't work anymore - so I decided to publish it at least here. I'll try to add more names, any suggestions are welcomed. :)
DeleteIs there a list of last names?
DeleteThe website https://www.kdejsme.cz/ lists them. Click on Seznamy at the upper right.
DeleteNice post :-) How about Dorota, Barbora, Petr or Karel?
ReplyDeleteWill take a look on them and add them. :)
DeleteGood post! How about Ludmila or your name Blanka? Judy from Canada
ReplyDeleteWill add Ludmila - but my name wasn't common in the past (well, I think I haven't seen anyone baptised with this name before 1900). :)
DeleteThanks very much! I greatly appreciate your help. Judy from Canada
DeleteThat's a great resource. Definitely like the 1750 handwriting best! The more modern stuff just looks like lines. :)
ReplyDeleteMy great grandfather was born Jan Nep. Valter near Milevsko in South Bohemia. Do you know what the Nep. might mean? Thanks Barb in Cleveland Ohio
ReplyDeleteNep. stands for Nepomucký - Jan Nepomucký (John of Nepomuk) is Czech saint, see more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Nepomuk
DeleteI also have a couple of ancestors with the name of Jan Nepomucky. Would Nepomucky be their middle name? I was told that it was only written in the register and never used, is that so? Thank you for this great blog!
DeleteNepomuk was entered to clarify which St. Jan is the patron saint for the child's baptism. Since Jan is John, it could have been St. John the Baptist, St. John the Apostle, St. John Sarkander... But in this case, St. John Nepomucene. (English version.)
DeleteWould you consider a posting on Czech nicknames? An ancestor named Terezie signed her name as Terezyze; is that a common nickname? What about Hynek?
ReplyDeleteBlanka, it would be nice to see the same graphical comparison for occupations. Many thanks in advance :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://czechgenealogy.nase-koreny.cz/2012/12/occupation-dictionary-updated.html
I would also be grateful for a blog about nicknames. Are Matunka, Maruska and Marenka nicknames for Marie? Tonda for Anton? Milka for Miloslava? Mila for Miloslav?Honzik/Honza for Jan? Vasa for Vaclav? Franta for Frantisek? Pepik for Josef? Thanks in advance
ReplyDeleteMy name is actually Sandy, but Skully is a name that was on my Google account!! I wanted to say thank you again Blanka. I am using the Actipublica records right now, and some of the names are undecipherable!!
ReplyDeleteYour posts regarding kurrent script and naming conventions have been so useful! I am, however, encountering a problem reading the first name of an ancestor. To me, it looks like it could be "bomthol" in kurrent script....or something - but whatever it is, it doesn't look like a first name to me. Oddly, this same name appears on 2 other records of my ancestors' children - one another boy, one another girl - 2 years and 4 years before. I can't imagine what it is. I'm fairly certain these are my ancestors, because the parents' names are the names of a generation I have already established and because they are living in the same house, etc.; I'm also fairly certain that one ancestor is eventually called Anton (because the birth year lines up with his later marriage record). Any ideas what this unidentifiable "name" could be on the birth records? Is it a placeholder?
ReplyDeleteIt is possibly Barthol?? Short for Bartholomew. I see it a lot in my research.
ReplyDeleteThere is a name that I see in the records that I cannot identify. It looks like Blyyana, but I cannot find this name in lists of
ReplyDeleteCzech names.
Here is a link where the name is written twice on the same page: http://www.portafontium.eu/iipimage/30063048/chotesov-01_0470-n?x=39&y=247&w=472&h=192
It is written first on Jan 3 and again on Jan 13.
Thanks for any comments.
Ulyana - Juliana :)
DeleteJust recently started exploring Czech church records. Wow, it's a whole nuther world! The handwriting is so hard to read! And the headings are in German. I have so much to learn before I can tackle this with confidence. My biggest lament is not having enough time to dedicate to it. This is a wonderful site to go to!!
ReplyDelete