Czech common lastnames??

Discussion in 'Culture' started by Kozoroh, Jul 5, 2005.

  1. Kozoroh

    Kozoroh Member

    What are some Czech common lastnames? Any un-common ones also welcome :) I know here in America (In Spanish and English) most lastnames are derived from an occupation or object... sort of like "Smith", "Taylor" etc etc. In my case "Flores" (Flowers) shut up :oops: :lol: děkuji vám
     
  2. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    The most common Czech surnames with approximate meanings:

    1. Novák (newman)
    2. Svoboda (freedom)
    3. Novotný (new)
    4. Dvořák (coming from a farmyard)
    5. Černý (black)
    6. Procházka (walk)
    7. Kučera (curl)
    8. Veselý (merry)
    9. Horák (mountaineer)
    10. Němec (German)
    11. Pokorný (humble)
    12. Pospíšil (hurried)
    13. Marek (Mark - one of the apostles)
    14. Hájek (grove)
    15. Jelínek (little deer)
     
  3. Kozoroh

    Kozoroh Member

    Very interesting. Thank you very much!
     
  4. rhenium3

    rhenium3 Active Member

    Czech last names are interesting to me because they sound like last names in American children's books. A lot of them have meanings. Examples are Kočka (cat), Fialová (Ms. Purple), Polák, etc... There are some German last names as well that have no meaning in Czech whatsoever...
     
  5. Qcumber

    Qcumber Well-Known Member

  6. Bodast

    Bodast New Member

    Does Šmicer mean anything? :)
     
  7. Zeisig

    Zeisig Well-Known Member

    Šmicer (= Schmitzer) is a German surname with Czech spelling. Maybe Passauer Mravenec could answer.
     
  8. Jeff

    Jeff Well-Known Member

    There is a listing of some Czech last names and their meanings in the September issue of the My Czech Republic newsletter that went out last week.
     
  9. Bodast

    Bodast New Member

    Aha, German origins you say... Well, Vladimir Šmicer was born almost in Germany. Looks like it's a variant of Schmit/Schmidt then: http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/surnames.htm

    Thanks for your help!
     
  10. Qcumber

    Qcumber Well-Known Member

    Is the surname Bajčík derived from báje “fable, myth”?
     
  11. bassgirltx

    bassgirltx New Member

    Hey i am new and my last name happens to be Novak. Thanks to whoever put Novak on there because I never knew that it had and accent or what ever you call it in czech over the letter a. If any one has any info on the last name Novak or has any info on Czech culture, landforms and/or economics and can put on here by tonight that would be great! I am doing a history project on in in school and i need some more info. And there isn't much on the web.

    Thanks a lot

    bassgirltx
     
  12. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    The "accent" is called a "čarka" (pronounced "char-ka"), and only serves to lengthen the sound of the vowel, rather than place the stress on the syllable (in Czech, the stress is invariably on the first syllable). "Novák" by the way means "the new person."
     
  13. bassgirltx

    bassgirltx New Member

    Thanks a lot for your reply on the information on my last name that is a lot of help understanding that.

    Thanks again to Sova!

    Bassgirltx
     
  14. T'om

    T'om Active Member

    How about Hosahova? Does anyone know of this last name?
     
  15. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    As near as I can tell, the original surname was probably "Hošáková" (pronounced "Ho-sha-ko-va"). I'm guessing that the "k" somehow became an "h." Incidentally, there are 99 Hošáková's and 96 Hošák's (the masculine variant of the surname) in the Czech Republic, according the Czech Interior Ministry statistics' page.
     
  16. jenny

    jenny Member

    i love czech last names!

    i know each language has their on share of funny names but i always have a bit of a giggle when i think of two of my friends last names..... one being Nohavica=trouserleg and the other Holá=bald

    hello there šarka bald

    so good! x
     
  17. T'om

    T'om Active Member

    How about the name Tatana Hosakova? How would you pronounce this name in English? I know that Hosakova would sound like Hoshahova... how would the T's sound in Tatana. Is Jana short for Tatana?
     
  18. T'om

    T'om Active Member

    ....and thank you so much for your quick reply too!!!! :D
     
  19. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    "Ta-tya-na." No, Jana is not short for Tat'ana. It is a separate name.
     
  20. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    "Jana" is Czech form of "Joan".
     

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