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Czech names are composed of a
given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...
and a
family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
(surname). Czechs typically get one given name – additional names may be chosen by themselves upon
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
but they generally use one. With marriage, the bride typically adopts the bridegroom's surname.


Given names

In the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
, names are simply known as ("names") or, if the context requires it, ' ("
baptismal names Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...
"). The singular form is '. A native Czech given name may have Christian roots or traditional Slavic pre-Christian origin (e.g.
Milena Milena may refer to: * ''Milena'' (skipper), a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae * Milena, Sicily, a ''comune'' in the Province of Caltanissetta, Italy * Milena (given name), a popular female Slavic name * ''Milena'' (film), a 1991 ...
, Božena, Jaroslav,
Václav Václav () or rarely Vácslav is a Czech name, Czech male given name. It is among the most common Czech names. The Latinized form of the name is Wenceslaus and the Polish form of the name is Wacław. The name was derived from the old Czech name Vece ...
,
Vojtěch Vojtěch (Czech language, Czech pronunciation: ) or Vojtech is a, respectively, Czech and Slovak Slavic names, given name of Slavic origin. It is composed of two parts: ''voj'' – "troops"/"war(rior)" and ''těch'' – "consolator"/"rejoicing man". ...
). It used to be a legal obligation for parents to choose their child's name from a list that was pre-approved by the government. Special permission was necessary for other names with exceptions for minorities and foreigners. Since the
Velvet revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...
in 1989, parents have had the right to give their child any name they wish, provided it is used somewhere in the world and is not insulting or demeaning. However, in recent years the common practice has been that most birth-record offices look for the name in the book ' (What is your child going to be called?), which is a semi-official list of "allowed" names. If the name is not found there, authorities are unwilling to register the child's name without a professional opinion (') from the Czech Language Institute (').


Popularity

The most popular boys' names between 1999 and 2007 were ''Jan'' (John), ''Jakub'' (Jacob or James), ''Tomáš'' (Thomas) and ''Martin''. Among the most popular girls' names were ''Tereza'' (Theresa), ''Kateřina'' (Katherine), ''Eliška'' (Elise), ''Natálie'' and ''Adéla''. In 2016, ''Jakub'', ''Jan'', ''Tomáš'', ''Filip'' and ''Eliška'', ''Tereza'', ''Anna'', ''Adéla'' were the most popular names.


Grammar

Names, like all nouns in
Czech language Czech ( ; ), historically known as Bohemian ( ; ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 12 million people including second language speakers, it serves as the official language of the ...
, are declined depending on their
grammatical case A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and Numeral (linguistics), numerals) that corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a Nominal group (functional grammar), n ...
. For example, one would say ' ("Paul bites a sandwich"), but ' ("A dog bites Paul") and ' ("The dog bit Pavel's finger off"; literally "The dog bit a finger off for Pavel"(
dative case In grammar, the dative case ( abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a drink". In this examp ...
); "Pavel's finger" (
possessive A possessive or ktetic form (Glossing abbreviation, abbreviated or ; from ; ) is a word or grammatical construction indicating a relationship of possession (linguistics), possession in a broad sense. This can include strict ownership, or a numbe ...
) would be "Pavlův prst"). Unlike the closely related
Slovak language Slovak ( ; endonym: or ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech-Slovak languages, Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script and formerly in Cyrillic script. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is ...
, Czech has a
vocative case In grammar, the vocative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numeral ...
used when calling or addressing someone. For instance, one would say, ' (Pavel, watch out for the dog!).


Surnames

While Czechs share relatively few given names—roughly 260 names have a frequency above 500 in the Czech Republic—there are tens of thousands of Czech surnames (singular and plural: '). These are similar in origin to English ones and may reflect: * a personal characteristic of someone's ancestor (such as '' Malý'' – "small", ''
Veselý Veselý (feminine: Veselá) is a Czech and Slovak surname meaning "merry" or "cheerful". Notable people with the surname Veselá include: * Alena Veselá (1923–2025), Czech organist and music teacher * Hana Veselá, Czech figure skater * Jana Ve ...
'' – "
cheerful Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...
", ''Železný'' – "iron") * occupation (''
Kovář Kovář (; feminine Kovářová, ; anglicized as Kovar) is a Czech surname Czech names are composed of a given name and a family name (surname). Czechs typically get one given name – additional names may be chosen by themselves upon baptism but ...
'' – "blacksmith", '' Kolář'' – "wheeler", '' Sedlák'' – "landowning farmer", '' Kočí'' – "coachman") * the first name of a relative ('' Marek'' – "Mark", ''
David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
'', '' Eliáš'' – "Elias") * animals ('' Liška'' – "fox", '' Zajíc'' – "hare", '' Jelínek'' – "little deer", '' Ježek'' – "hedgehog", '' Kocourek'' – "little tomcat") ** especially birds are very common ('' Sokol'' – "falcon", '' Čermák'' – "black redstart", '' Kalous'' – "owl", '' Sýkora'' – "titmouse", '' Holub'' – "pigeon", '' Čáp'' – "stork", including foreign species like ''Sup'' - "vulture" and '' Papoušek'' - "parrot") * plants ('' Konvalinka'' – "
lily of the valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' ), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...
", '' Růžička'' – "little rose", '' Fiala'' – "violet", '' Javůrek'' – "young maple") ** especially fruits and vegetables ('' Jahoda'' – "strawberry", '' Hruška'' – "pear", '' Cibulka'' – "little onion") * food (''
Oliva Oliva (, ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Safor in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting t ...
'' – "olive", '' Makovec'' – "poppy cake", '' Slanina'' – "bacon") * places of origin ('' Slezák'' – "Silesian", '' Moravec'' – "Moravian", ''
Němec Němec (, feminine: Němcová ()) and Nemec (feminine: Nemcová) are common Czech surname, Czech and Slovak surname, Slovak surnames. It literally means 'Germans, German', but it also meant 'mute person' (figuratively "a person who does not speak (S ...
'' – "German", '' Hanák'' - from the region of "
Haná Haná or Hanakia ( or ''Hanácko'', or ''Hanakei'') is an ethnographic region in central Moravia in the Czech Republic. Etymology The region was named after the Haná (river), Haná River. Description Its core area is located along the ep ...
") ** also in a form of adjectives ('' Rosický'' – "of Rosice", '' Nepomucký'' – "of
Nepomuk Nepomuk (; ) is a town in Plzeň-South District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,600 inhabitants. It is known as the birthplace of Saint John of Nepomuk, who was born here around 1340. Administrative division Nepomuk ...
") * actions, usually in
past simple The past is the set of all events that occurred before a given point in time. The past is contrasted with and defined by the present and the future. The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience ...
(there are hundreds of these surnames, e. g. '' Musil'' – "(he) had to", '' Pospíšil'' – "(he) hurried up", ''Zdražil'' – "(he) raised the price", '' Hrabal'' – "(he) raked") * things ('' Procházka'' – "stroll", ''
Chalupa A chalupa () is one of several specialty dishes of south-central Mexico, including the states of Hidalgo, Puebla, Guerrero, and Oaxaca. Description Chalupas are made by pressing a thin layer of masa dough around the outside of a small mold, i ...
'' – "cottage", '' Svačina'' – "snack", '' Kučera'' – "a curl of hair") Some Czech surnames have a descriptive, colorful nature, such as '' Brzobohatý'' (soon to be rich), ''Volopich'' (pricking an ox), ''Urvinitka'' (tear a string), ''Rádsetoulal'' (liked wandering around), '' Stojaspal'' (slept standing), ''Vítámvás'' (I welcome you), '' Tenkrát'' (back in those days), ''Schovajsa'' (hide yourself!), ''Nebojsa'' (fearless man), ''Skočdopole'' (jump in a field!), ''Vozihnoj'' (transport the manure), ''Osolsobě'' (salt for yourself!), ''Ventluka'' (knocking outward), '' Nejezchleba'' (don't eat bread!), '' Potměšil'' (taunting man), ''Přecechtěl'' (he wanted anyway), ''Drahokoupil'' (he bought costly), ''Nepovím'' (I'm not going to tell). Similar surnames exist in Ukrainian, e.g., Perebiynis, literally "break the nose", Skorobogatko from the nickname "soon to be rich" and in Russian: Skorobogatov, from "soon to be rich".
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
surnames are also quite common in the Czech Republic; the country was part of the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
before 1918 and had a large German population until
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Some of them got phonetically normalized and transcribed to Czech: ''Müller'' (miller) as well as ''Miler''; ''Stein'' (Stone) as well as ''Štajn'', ''Schmied'' (Smith) as well as ''Šmíd'' (or ''Šmýd''), Fritsch (Frič), Schlessinger (Šlesingr), etc. Some of them retain their original German surnames e. g. : Gottwald, Feiersinger, Dienstbier, Berger, Koller, Klaus, Franz, Forman, Ebermann, Lendl, Ulihrach, Gebauer, Kaberle, Vogelstanz, Geier, etc. Other ethnic minorities that have been living in Czechia for centuries have retained their original or transcribed names - Croatian (Košulič), Polish (Folwarczny → Folvarčný), French (Lebloch, Chalet → Šalé), Romanian (Colceag → Kolčák), etc. Many of Czech surnames occur in a
diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...
form which was used to distinguish father and son (similar to John → Johnnie), 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 ...
(John → Johnson), or a taller and shorter persons. Almost any surname can have its diminutive version. Examples include PetrPeterka or PetříkPetříček, Václav → Václavek or Václavík or Vašek → Vašinka, Sedlák → Sedláček, Polák → Poláček, Novák → Nováček, Zajíc → Zajíček, Němec → Němeček, Kalous → Kalousek, Havel → Havlík → Havlíček, Štěpán → Štěpánek → Štěpnička, Kovář → Kovařík → Kovaříček, Holub → Holoubek, Kocour → Kocourek, Cibula → Cibulka, Petržela → Petrželka, Chalupa → Chaloupka, Čáp → Čapek, Beran → Beránek, Šmíd → Šmídek, Šnajdr → Šnejdárek, Doležal → Doležálek. The most common Czech surnames are '' Novák'' ("Newman"), '' Svoboda'' ("Freeman," literally "Freedom"), '' Novotný'' (same origin as ''Novák''), '' Dvořák'' (from ', "freehold farm") and ''
Černý Černý (; feminine: Černá) is a Czech name, Czech language surname, which means 'black'. Cognate surnames in other Slavic languages, Slavic-speaking countries include Čierny in Slovak language, Slovak, Czarny in Polish language, Polish and Chyo ...
'' ("Black").


Female surnames

As in English-speaking countries, Czech women traditionally receive their father's surname at birth and take their husband's name when they marry. However, the names are not exactly the same; the endings differ to fit into the Czech language's systems of gender adjectives. For example, the tennis players Cyril Suk and
Helena Suková Helena Suková () (born 23 February 1965) is a Czech former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and No. 4 in singles. Suková won 14 major titles: nine in wo ...
are brother and sister; ''Suková'' is the feminine form of ''Suk''. In fact, Czech female surnames are almost always feminine
adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
s. There are several ways of forming them, depending on their male counterpart: *If the male surname is a masculine
adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
(ending in ''-ý''), the female surname is simply the feminine equivalent. Thus, a girl whose father's surname is ''Novotný '' would have the surname ''Novotná ''. *If the male surname is a
noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
, the female surname takes the
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
''-ová'', making it a feminine adjective: **''Novák'' becomes ''Nováková'' **''Horáček'' becomes ''Horáčková'' **''Svoboda'' becomes ''Svobodová'' **''Navrátil'' (in the literal meaning of "he returned") becomes ''Navrátilová'', i.e. not ''Navrátila'' ("she returned") A few Czech surnames do not differ for men and women in the
nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...
case (the case used for the subject of a sentence). Those include surnames whose male form is
genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
, (e.g. ''Jirků'', ''Janků'') and those whose male form is an adjective with the suffix ''-í'' (e.g. ''Tachecí'', ''Jarní''). Note that these are only identical in two of the seven grammatical cases; in the other five, the male and female forms differ, as per the soft adjective declension. The woman's surname is also not declined if it is of foreign origin and adding the suffix ''-ová'' would be awkward or unfeasible: Olga Walló, Blanka Matragi. Czechs tend to add a feminine suffix to the surnames of Czech as well as foreign women surnames. Thus, e.g.
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
is referred to as ''Michelle Obamová'' in the Czech press. Science fiction writer
Ursula Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...
appears in Czech translations as ''Ursula Le Guinová''. This phenomenon is not universal, however. In recent years, there has been lively discussion whether or not to change foreign female surnames in public use (such as in media references etc.). Supporters of abandoning this habit claim that adding a Czech female suffix to a foreign surname means deliberately changing a woman's name and is therefore both misleading and inconsiderate, whereas traditionalists point out that only by adding the suffix can the name be used as a flexible feminine adjective within a naturally sounding Czech sentence. Although the discussion continues, the majority of newspapers and other media use the "adopted" versions. Until 2004, every woman who married in the Czech Republic and wanted to change her name had to adopt a feminine surname, unless her husband was a foreigner whose name ended in a vowel or she was a registered member of a Czech minority group. A law passed in 2004 allows all foreign women, and Czech women who marry foreign men, to adopt their husband's exact surname. An amendment proposed to allow women to use male family name versions was approved by the
Senate of the Czech Republic The Senate () is the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague. Structure The Senate has 81 members, chosen in single-seat constituencies through the two-round system. If no c ...
in July 2021. As in English-speaking countries, some Czech women decide to keep their maiden name after marriage or adopt a double surname. A couple can also agree to both adopt the woman's surname, with the husband using the masculine form.


Surnames in the plural

Surnames that are nouns in the masculine singular: *''Novákovi - the Nováks'' *''rodina Novákova - the Novák family'' *''bratři Novákovi - the brothers Novák'' *''sestry Novákovy - the sisters Novák'' All forms of the surname ''Novák'' are
possessive adjective Possessive determiners are determiners which express possession. Some traditional grammars of English refer to them as possessive adjectives, though they do not have the same syntactic distribution as ''bona fide'' adjectives. Examples in Engli ...
s in the plural; their endings depend on the gender and case. Surnames that are adjectives in the masculine singular: *''Novotní - the Novotnýs'' *''rodina Novotných - the Novotný family'' *''bratři Novotní - the brothers Novotný'' *''sestry Novotné - the sisters Novotný'' All forms of the surname ''Novotný'' are adjectives in the plural; their endings depend on the gender and case. The form ''Novotných'' is in the
genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
case.


See also

* Czech declension *
Czech orthography Czech orthography is a system of rules for proper formal writing (orthography) in Czech. The earliest form of separate Latin script specifically designed to suit Czech was devised by Czech theologian and church reformist Jan Hus, the namesake of ...
*
Czech language Czech ( ; ), historically known as Bohemian ( ; ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 12 million people including second language speakers, it serves as the official language of the ...
* Czech name days *
Slovak name Slovak names consist of a given name and surname. Slovakia uses the Western name order with the given name being listed before surname. However, there is a historical tradition to reverse this order, especially in official contexts including admi ...
*
Slavic names Given names originating from the Slavic languages are most common in Slavic peoples, Slavic countries. The main types of Slavic names: * Two-base names, often ending in mir/měr (''Ostromir/měr'', ''Tihomir/měr'', ''Niemir, Němir/měr''), * ...
*
Slavic surnames A Slavic name suffix is a common way of forming patronymics, family names, and pet names in the Slavic languages. Many, if not most, Slavic last names are formed by adding possessive and other suffixes to given names and other words. Most Slavic ...


References


External links


Locator of surnames in the Czech republic

Jana Pleskalová: Hlavní typy českých příjmení
at the Philosophical Faculty of the
Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) (; ) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno, it now consists of ten faculties and 35,115 students. It is named after To ...
{{Names in world cultures
Name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
Names by country