First Names
COMMON FIRST NAMES of Southern Croatia
These are some common first names as found in church documents around Dubrovnik.
This information can be put to good use after you have found the original record book. For example, the first name of Boz"o (often Bob or Robert in the States; sometimes Ed or Edward or Ned) is Natale in many church records. If you did not know this, you could look right at your ancestor's church record and not know it. Charles or Charlie in the States is often Vlaho. Cvijeto is often shown as Florio in Croatian church records. John is Ivo or Giovanni.
Hr = Hrvatski = Croatian (bold examples are the most common variants found today)
Nk = nadimak = nickname (in Croatian)
It = Italian (as used in church documents in the 1800s)
Lt = Latin (as used in church documents in the 1800s)
En = English
To see how the Croatian alphabet is presented on this site, click here.
For spelling and pronunciation of Croatian, click here.
If you have corrections or additions, please send an e-mail
| Hr: Ana, Ane Nk: Jane, Janica, Janka, Anka It: Anna Lt: Anna En: Ann, Anna |
Ana = AH' NAH Jane = YAH' NEH Janica = YAH' NEET SAH |
| Hr: Anastasija Nk: Stos"e It: Anastasia Lt: ? En: Anastasia, Stacy |
|
| Hr: Andreja, Andrija, Andro It: Andrea Lt: Andreas En: Andrew |
masculine name AHN' DREH YA |
| Hr: Antun, Ante Nk: Tonc'i, Tonko It: Antonio Lt: Antonius En: Anthony, Tony |
Antun = AHN' TOON Tonc'i = TONE' CHEE Tonko = TONE' KOH |
| Hr: Baldo It: Baldassar Lt: ? ??: Balthassar En: no equivalent |
Baldo = BAHL' DOH Sometimes became Barney in the States. |
| Hr: Boz"o Nk: Bos"ko It: Natale Lt: Natalis En: Nat, Nate, Nathaniel, Nathan |
Z" in Boz"o is pronounced as S in treasure. Boz"o often became Bob or Robert in the States. But some became Edward or Ed or Ned. |
| Hr: Cvieto, Cvijeto It: Florio Lt: Florius En: no equivalent |
masculine of Florence Cvieto = TSVEE YEH' TOH |
| Hr: D'uro, Djuro, Gjuro, Jure It: Giorgio Lt: En: George |
D'uro = JEW' ROH (rolled R) |
| Hr: Elena, Jele, Jelena It: Ellena Lt: Helena En: Helen |
Jele = YEH' LEH |
| Hr: Gas"par It: Lt: Gasparius En: Gaspar, Casper |
GAH' SHPAR G as in good |
| Gjuro -- see D'uro | |
| Hr: Grgur It: Lt: Gregorius En: Gregory, Greg |
GR' GER (rolled R's) both G's as in good |
| Helena -- see Elena | |
| Hr: Ivo It: Giovanni Lt: Ivan En: John, Jack |
Ivo = EE' VOH |
| Hr: Jakov, Jako It: Lt: En: Jacob, Jake |
Jako = YAH' KOH |
| Jane -- see Ana | |
| Jele -- see Elena | |
| Hr: Josip, Jozip Nk: Jos"ko, Jozo It: Giuseppe Lt: En: Joseph, Joe |
Josip = YOH' SIHP |
| Jure -- see D'uro | |
| Hr: Kate Nk: Katica It: Caterina, Cattarina, Catta Lt: Katarina En: Catherine, Katherine, Kathy, Cathy, Kate, Katie, Katy, Kay, etc. |
Kate = KAH' TEH |
| Hr: Kristo It: Christoforo, Christo Lt: En: Christopher, Chris |
Kristo = KREE' STOH |
| Hr: Luce, Lucija It: Lucia Lt: En: Lucy, Lucille, Louise, Lois |
Luce = LOOT' SEH |
| Hr: Luka Nk: Vuka, Vuko It: Lt: Lupus, Vukislav En: Luke, Louis |
The old name roots of Vuk- and Lup- have become intertwined with the Christian name of Luke. Vuk- and Lup- = wolf. |
| Hr: Mare It: Maria Lt: En: Mary, Maria |
Mare = MAH' REH (rolled R) |
| Hr: Marko It: Lt: Marcus En: Mark, Marc, Marcus |
Sometimes became Mike or Michael. |
| Hr: Mato It: Matteo Lt: Mattheus En: Matthew, Matt, (Martin) |
Mato often became Martin in the States even though Matthew and Martin are unrelated linguistically. |
| Hr: Miho, Mijo It: Michele Lt: En: Mike, Michael, Mitchell, Mitch |
MEE' HOH |
| Natale -- see Boz"o | |
| Hr: Nike It: Nicoleta Lt: Nicolaa En: Nickie (not common) |
Feminine of Niko; no common English equivalent; Nike became Nellie in the States. Nike = NEE' KEH |
| Hr: Niko, Nikola It: Nicolo Lt: Nicolas En: Nick, Nickolas |
Niko = NEE' KOH |
| Hr: Pasko It: Pasquale Lt: En: Pasqual |
PAH' SKO |
| Hr: Pave, Paola Nk: Pavica It: Paula Lt: En: Pauline, Paula |
feminine of Paul Pave = PAH' VEH |
| Hr: Pavo, Paval It: Paulo Lt: En: Paul |
PAH' VOH |
| Hr: Pero, Petar It: Pietro Lt: Petrus En: Peter, Pete |
PEH' ROH (rolled R) |
| Petar -- see Pero | |
| Hr: Rade It: Raffaella Lt: En: Rafaela |
feminine of Ralph Rade = RAH' DEH |
| Hr: Rado It: Lt: En: Ralph |
Rado = RAH' DOH |
| Hr: S"ime It: Simone Lt: En: Simon |
S"ime = SHEE' MEH |
| Hr: Stane It: Stanislava Lt: Stanislaa En: no equivalent |
feminine of Stanley Stane often became Stella in the U.S. Stane = STAH' NEH |
| Hr: Stiepo, Stijepo, Stepan It: Stefan Lt: En: Stephen, Steven, Steve |
Stiepo = STEE EH' POH |
| Stos"e -- see Anastasija | |
| Tonc'i, Tonko -- see Antun | |
| Hr: Vicko, Visko, Vinko It: Vincenzo Lt: Vincentius En: Vincent, Vince, "William" |
Vicko = VEETS' KOH Vicko often became William in the States. |
| Hr: Vlaho It: Biagio Lt: Blasius En: Blas, "Charlie," "Ed" |
For some reason, Vlaho often became Charles or Charlie in the States. A few became Ed or Edward or Ned. Vlaho = VLAH' HO |
| Vuko -- see Luka |