Yep - I have heard "kruta" for female turkey. I speak so little Czech these days, so I have forgotten a lot of the voabulary. I spoke Czech at home all the time and English when out. My only Czech was within the family and as they die off, the only ones I have left are my older half-brother and sister, and it is usually easier to speak English to them.
My grandmother's parents were from Moravia. One from a place, which in 1903 was referred to as M. Ostrian, which I believe is today known as Ostrava. The other's family was from a town called Zabreh, near Sumperk in central Moravia. Their names were: 1)Opela and 2)Capik I cannot add the accents, but anyone familiar with the names will recognize them. Capik, I believe is fairly common, but Opela is not--although my skeptical Czech friend found several listed in the phone book on Seznam.cz. If anyone can tell me the meaning of either name, I would appreciate it. Thanks.
My last name is Hrazanek. They came from Chemnitz, Germany and there are still some there today. There are also some Hrazaneks in Prague as well, but I'm not sure if we are related. Does anyone know anything about this name?
* Moravská Ostrava, now part of Ostrava ** Zábřeh na Moravě *** Opěla: frequency 160 in 5mln **** Capík 15 Cápík 26 Čapík 41 in 5mln
I have a little bit of a name dilemma as well.... My grandmother's maiden name was Polášková, which I understand is a fairly common Czech last name, but i was wondering what "Polášek and Polášková" meant, I haven't been able to find any help on the internet! But this is the thing that's really confusing... My grandfather's last name was "Winterlik", and he was Czech, yet I haven't been able to find a single thing on that last name. Half of my family spells Winterlik with a V, because of the Czech pronounciation of a W I'm assuming, but I've searched the internet and haven't found anything on the last name Winterlik. It almost seems like it's not a last name at all, let alone not a Czech last name. If anyone knows any information about this, I would be greatly appreciative!
Germans pronounce Ws as we pronounce Vs winterlich is German for Wintry, maybe you're looking in the wrong country there? Did you try: http://landing.ancestry.com/intl/ Boris Johnston (Lord Mayer of London) recently went tracking his relatives in Germany for a TV program and I got the impression they keep extensive historical records of people there.
I mean Czechs, as well as Poles, pronounce words that start with "W" as "V", my family says "Winterlik" as "Vinterlik", and they were from Bohemia. I haven't been able to find any "Winterliks" in Germany as well as in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Not really anywhere for that matter
The thing is though.. I haven't been learning Czech for very long, but I have yet to come across a word beginning with a V that was pronounced like a W... Oh! maybe it just works one way round.. I don't know. Maybe one of the natives could give more details of what the rules for it are, or maybe it's a certain dialect/accent (close to the German/Austrian boarders? ) If you could find out who pronounces it that way it might give you a clue as to the exact location. But seeing as how it's a German word I would imagine it's a German or Dutch name? Just not one that's around anymore. My surname is French (ish) because my great great great etc. grandfather was from France about 700 years ago. But everyone since has been Irish. That is difficult that the name is so rare, but at the same time it could be a huge help, if you only knew where to look, because you have this one name for one family. If you're serious about this don't just rely on the Internet!
I think you might be getting what I'm saying backwards-- for example: Warsaw = Varšava (Waršawa) the W is written, but the V is said same with the last name Winterlik, the W is written but the V is said not the other way around : ) thank you for your help though, I appreciate it.
Ladis, I tried clicking on that site you linked but it says it cannot be found. It directs me to the parent page: http://www.mvcr.cz/ but since I don't know Czech (well, not to any level worth mentioning) I can't figure out where to go.
If you google "Vinterlík" (for more speed try google.cz) you can find some of them in the Czech republic. The name could originated from German word "winter, winterlich" and could domesticate. -ík in the end of the name makes it kind of dimunitive. It's only my guess. Here's another Winterl http://www.botany.cz/cs/alcea-biennis/
Just to add some more to the Winterlík discussion, the Czech Statistics Bureau has listed the following surnames listed with frequencies in parentheses (Masculine variant + Feminine variant): Winter/Winterová (469 + 503) Winterblum/Winterblumová (9 + 7) Winterling/Winterlingová (9 + 11) Winternitz (9) Winterstein/Wintersteinová (5 + 6) Wintr/Wintrová (27 + 52) Winterle/Wintrlová (5 + 6) Vinter/Vintrová (257 + 576) Vintera/Vintrová (60 + 576) Vinterlík/Vinterlíková (166 + 184) Vintrocha/Vintrochová (17 + 18 ) Vintrych/Vintrychová (9 + 9) Vintrich/Vintrichová (24 + 25) Also: Polášek/Polášková (2988 + 3138) Some ideas as to the possible origin of the surname (although this is coming from a native English speaker, so take it with a grain of salt ). 1) derived from Poláček (diminutive of Polák, "Polish"). 2) derived from půl (meaning "half"). Note the stem vowel "ů" often changes to "o" in derived words. 3) derived from polára ("polar").
Wow thank you so much....! So does that mean Vinterlík/ová is originally a Czech name? It doesn't seem too common
The Alena's explanation was quite precise. The first part "Winter" is of German (resp Germanic) origin and the suffix "-lík" is either a Slavicized German suffix or a totally new Slavic suffix added to the originally German name. The "V" vs "W" issue is not very important, for Czechs these are just two different letters for the very same sound. "V" is the proper letter for the sound in modern Czech, "W" is used only in foreign words or in old Czech transcription. That means that the letters are practically interchangeable in all the Czech names of German origin.
My last name is Kacerovsky.. My Grandfather and Grandmother still speak Czech fluently, but never taught us because they wanted to be able to speak around us without us knowing what they were talking about.. I know that Kacerovsky means... Blue Billed Duck??? Any help would be great..
Kačer is male duck (female - kachna) There is town named Kačerov and also one metro station in Prague is named Kačerov. I suppose Kačerovský means somebody from Kačerov or from place where is lot of ducks. 116 people with name Kačerovský live in CZ and also 108 ppl with name Kacerovský (it can have different meaning) btw. Duck Tales - is translated as "My z Kačerova" (We from Kačerov)
