Smiljan is a South Slavic masculine given name. Its origin is usually associated with the common name for plants which produce "everlasting"-type blooms, many of which are known as and , 'immortelle' (that is, 'everlasting'

lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

South Slavic languages The South Slavic languages are one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches (West Slavic la ...

. The plant species generally associated with the personal name are ''

Antennaria dioica ''Antennaria dioica'' (mountain everlasting, stoloniferous pussytoes, catsfoot or cudweed) is a Eurasian species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a perennial herb found in cool northern and mountainous regions of Europe and nort ...

'' ( or , the 'bald–' or 'mountain–everlasting'), and '' Helichrysum arenarium'' (, the 'sand–everlasting'). The

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

-region town,

Smiljan, Croatia Smiljan () is a village in the mountainous region of Lika in Croatia. It is located northwest of Gospić, and fifteen kilometers from the Zagreb-Split highway; its population is 418 (2011). Smiljan is the birthplace of inventor and engineer Nikol ...

, traditionally shares its name's etymology with the anthroponym—both the placename and personal name being arrived at through the botanic association. An alternative derivation has, however, been suggested for the town: The Croatian linguist and onomatologist,

Petar Šimunović Petar Šimunović (19 February 1933 – 5 August 2014) was a Croatian linguist, onomastician, dialectologist, lexicographer, and academic member of HAZU. He was considered as the most prominent Croatian Onomastics, onomastician (since the second ...

believed that the town was named as a

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

of Smiljan, which over time was abbreviated, losing the patronymic word-element. In Slovenia, the incidence of baby boys being registered with the name ''Smiljan'' has declined from a peak of 105 instances in the 1970s, when it ranked as the 195th most frequently-given boys' name for that decade, to fewer than five boys given the name between 2001 and 2010—and none for the years 2011–2022. According to the

Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) ( Slovene: ''Statistični urad Republike Slovenije'', ''SURS'') is an independent Slovenian state institution in charge of official statistical surveying. It reports directly to the prime mi ...

, the number of male inhabitants of Slovenia with the name Smiljan, , was 283, amongst a population of 2,116,972. This places it as the 402nd most frequent male name in the country. Notable people with the name include: * Smiljan Pavič (born 1980), Slovenian basketball player * Smiljan Radic (born 1965), Chilean architect of Croatian heritage * Smiljan Rozman (1927–2007), Slovene writer

References

{{given name Serbian masculine given names

See also

References