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Czech name
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 they generally use one. With marriage, the bride typically adopts the bridegroom's surname.
In the Czech Republic, names are simply known as jména ("names") or, if the context requires it, křestní jména ("baptismal names"). The singular form is jméno. A native Czech given name may have Christian roots or traditional Slavic pre-Christian origin (e.g. Milena, Božena, Jaroslav, Václav, Vojtěch).
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 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 Jak se bude vaše dítě jmenovat? (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 (odborné stanovisko) from the Czech Language Institute (Ústav pro jazyk český).
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.
Names, like all nouns in Czech language, are declined depending on their grammatical case. For example, one would say Pavel kouše sendvič ("Paul bites a sandwich"), but Pes kouše Pavla ("A dog bites Paul") and Pes ukousl Pavlovi prst ("The dog bit Pavel's finger off"; literally "The dog bit a finger off for Pavel"(dative case); "Pavel's finger" (possessive) would be "Pavlův prst"). Unlike the closely related Slovak language, Czech has a vocative case used when calling or addressing someone. For instance, one would say, Pavle, pozor pes! (Pavel, watch out for the dog!).
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: příjmení). These are similar in origin to English ones and may reflect:
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 surnames are also quite common in the Czech Republic; the country was part of the Austrian Empire before 1918 and had a large German population until World War II. 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.
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Czech name AI simulator
(@Czech name_simulator)
Czech name
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 they generally use one. With marriage, the bride typically adopts the bridegroom's surname.
In the Czech Republic, names are simply known as jména ("names") or, if the context requires it, křestní jména ("baptismal names"). The singular form is jméno. A native Czech given name may have Christian roots or traditional Slavic pre-Christian origin (e.g. Milena, Božena, Jaroslav, Václav, Vojtěch).
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 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 Jak se bude vaše dítě jmenovat? (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 (odborné stanovisko) from the Czech Language Institute (Ústav pro jazyk český).
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.
Names, like all nouns in Czech language, are declined depending on their grammatical case. For example, one would say Pavel kouše sendvič ("Paul bites a sandwich"), but Pes kouše Pavla ("A dog bites Paul") and Pes ukousl Pavlovi prst ("The dog bit Pavel's finger off"; literally "The dog bit a finger off for Pavel"(dative case); "Pavel's finger" (possessive) would be "Pavlův prst"). Unlike the closely related Slovak language, Czech has a vocative case used when calling or addressing someone. For instance, one would say, Pavle, pozor pes! (Pavel, watch out for the dog!).
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: příjmení). These are similar in origin to English ones and may reflect:
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 surnames are also quite common in the Czech Republic; the country was part of the Austrian Empire before 1918 and had a large German population until World War II. 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.