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| Click on either of the small maps above to view a larger version. The map on the left shows the location of the areas from which the census material comes. The map on the right shows the topography of the Carpathian region. | |
Part of the Saint Gabriel Library and the Medieval Names Archive.
Initially I wasn't going to include the names in the 1560 list, especially since the spellings from that source were standardized, but I then noticed there was very little overlap with the list from 1574. It is possible that this is a result of sampling from different classes, but it could also be evidence for regionalism. There is certainly regionalism in dialects today, such that natives can recognize local accents.
The most notable characteristic of the names was the comparatively small number of given names relative to surnames. Specifically, in the 1560 census there are nearly 800 surnames, but only 72 given names. Of these 72 given names, only 41 occur more than 10 times in the census. There was apparently a rather small pool of given names from which to draw, so that many people had the same given name.
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| Click on either of the small maps above to view a larger version. The map on the left shows the location of the areas from which the census material comes. The map on the right shows the topography of the Carpathian region. | |
The topographical map above was modified from one generated by Earth Viewer in Switzerland. The other map is modified from the Hungarian home page, where you can find several nice additional sources of information including a list of important dates in Hungarian history.
For more information on the Magyar language and pronunciation, try A Hungarian Language Course or Hungarian for Travellers, which includes an interactive dictionary.
There are very few women's names in the list. Nearly all of the women are recorded as "Mrs. so-and-so" by taking the husband's name and adding -ne to the end of his given name. This practice of using a husband's name in formal and official comunication is still used today, though it is beginning to fall out of favor. Obviously women had given names of their own and likely used them among family and close friends, but they are not found in public records. The logical extrapolation is that names of saints and Biblical characters were also used by women, however there are a few names in the list whose endings may indicate that they are feminine forms: Anderja, Berta (Byrta), Bodis, Vitáris. I am by no means certain that all of these are feminine.
Names in both sources have the basic form of:
Both elements are usually a single word, though there are a few surnames which consist of two, such as in the name Kerik garto balynth. In many cases, a surname is identical or very similar to a given name elsewhere in the list and presumably is being used as a patronymic.
For more information about the construction of Hungarian names, see my article: Hungarian Names 101.
| 1453 | 1522 | 1554 | 1574 | |||||
| 609 names | 4000 names | 16,000 names | 1278 names | |||||
| 1. | János | 7.55 | János | 7.05 | János | 8.95 | János | 7.82 |
| 2. | Péter | 6.23 | Péter | 5.90 | Péter | 6.66 | Pál | 6.33 |
| 3. | István | 6.23 | György | 5.31 | István | 6.08 | Mihály | 5.79 |
| 4. | Gergely | 4.76 | Mihály | 5.23 | Mihály | 5.90 | István | 5.71 |
| 5. | Balázs | 4.59 | István | 4.80 | György | 5.50 | Péter | 4.85 |
| 6. | Benedek | 4.43 | Gergely | 4.77 | Benedek | 4.68 | Benedek | 4.69 |
| 7. | László | 4.26 | Pál | 4.21 | Pál | 4.17 | András | 4.61 |
| 8. | Pál | 3.61 | Benedek | 3.95 | Gergely | 4.08 | György | 4.61 |
| 9. | Mihály | 3.61 | Balázs | 3.87 | Máté | 4.01 | Gergely | 4.46 |
| 10. | Miklós | 3.44 | András | 3.51 | Balázs | 3.97 | Máté | 3.91 |
| 11. | Tamás | 3.28 | Tamás | 3.41 | András | 3.86 | Tamás | 3.61 |
| 12. | Antal | 3.11 | Máté | 3.26 | Tamás | 3.70 | Bálint | 3.44 |
| 13. | Mátyás | 2.79 | Miklós | 3.07 | Ferenc | 3.50 | Balázs | 2.97 |
| 14. | Bálint | 2.79 | Imre | 2.82 | Miklós | 2.80 | Ambrus | 2.81 |
| 15. | András | 2.62 | Bálint | 2.80 | Imre | 2.79 | Márton | 2.50 |
| Ferenc | 2.62 | |||||||
| Jakab | 2.62 | |||||||
Vowels
The 1560 material does not list all the names from the original source, but rather a compiled list in which each name element appears but once. This latter list is therefore consistent in its placement of markings. By contrast, the 1574 list is not consistent in placement of accents over vowels, so that there is both a Janos and a János.
The 1574 volume also contains two additional vowels which do not occur in the modern language nor in the 1560 work: ÿ and a u with a dot over it. I have dropped these, again because of formatting difficulties, though I have uncertainty in the author's omission of of the "umlaut" on his pages -- in several places it is clear that characters or markings were intended to be added later which could not be created with the typewriter, such as item #705 on page 101: Maÿlat I twan, which should presumably have an elongated s in the given name (Istwan). Additionally, some spelling variants replace the ÿ with i or, in the 1560 list, with ij. For this reason, I have generally listed these together rather than following a strict alphabetical sequence.
I have generally written the u with a dot over it as u, since the mark appears over a small fraction of forms in which it occurs, and it is not possible to create such a character here.
Consonants
In addition to its unusual vowels, the 1574 work includes two consonantal forms which I have chosen to transcribe: an elongated s and a cursive z. This was done partly for ease of formatting, but also because variants occur in which the former is converted to s, and because where the latter character occurs it is in a position which would be occupied by z in modern East European languages (mostly following c or s).
Differences from the printed version
The primary difference is in the name list itself. Simple accents over vowels are not indicated in this electronic version because of formatting difficulties. Such accents were generally rare in period documents, in any case. Umlauts and double accents are indicated by colons or quote marks where they would occur over a u or an o, but not over y.
This electronic version includes some background material, as well as maps and a list of electronic resources such as the Hungarian Language Course, which obviously cannot be included in a printed version without considerable difficulty.
Abraham 1560 Abran 1560 Adam 1560, 1574 Agoston 1560 Akacs 1560 Akacsas 1560 Alberd 1560 Albert 1574 Alberth 1574 Albertus 1574 Ambrosius 1574 Ambrud 1574 Ambrus 1574 Anbrus 1560 Anderja 1560 Andras 1560, 1574 Andreas 1574 Antal 1560, 1574 Anthonius 1574 Antonius 1574 Augustinus 1574 Azzony 1574 Balas 1560, 1574 Balind 1560 Balinth 1574 Balynth 1574 Baltasar 1574 Barabas 1560 Barnabas 1574 Bartolomeus 1574 Bede 1574 Bencse 1560 Benedek 1560, 1574 Benedictus 1574 Berecske 1560 Bernad 1560 Berta 1560, 1574 Byrta 1574 Bertalan 1560, 1574 Berto 1560 Bertok 1560 Bertolom 1574 Blasius 1574 Bodis 1560 Boldysar 1574 Boldyszar 1574 Boldizsar 1560 Bolrobas 1574 Borbas 1560 Borlobas 1574 Boso 1574 Cato 1574 Clemens 1574 Czeller 1574 Cziriak 1574 Damjan 1560 Dawyth 1574 Demeter 1560, 1574 Demeto:r 1560 Demetre 1560 Demetri 1560 Demetrius 1574 Demjen 1560 Dionisius 1574 Dionysius 1574 Dyak 1574 Dyenes 1574 Dyeno"s 1560 Dominicus 1574 Domokos 1560, 1574 Domonkos 1574 Eged 1574 Egyed 1560 Egyo:d 1560 Egyu:d 1560 Elek 1560, 1574 Elijas 1560 Emericus 1574 Emre (Imre) 1574 Estwan (Istwan) 1574 Fabianus 1574 Fabyan 1560, 1574 Ferencs 1560 Ferencz 1574 Feri 1560 Filep 1560 Fylep (Philipus) 1574 Foris 1560 Franciscus 1574 Gabor 1560 Gal 1560, 1574 Gasi 1560 Gaspar 1560, 1574 Gecsi 1560 Gelerd 1560 Georgiues 1574 Georgius 1574 Gergel 1560, 1574 Gergely 1574 Gergo:l 1560 Gergo"r 1560 Gyenes 1560 Gyeno"s 1560 Gyo:rgy 1560 Gregorius 1574 Gregory 1574 Gurgy 1574 Gyugy 1574 Helias 1574 Illes 1574 Imre 1560, 1574 Istok 1560 Istvan 1560 Istwan 1574 Jacobus 1574 Jakab 1560, 1574 Yakab 1574 Jakobus 1574 Jancsi 1560 Jani 1560 Janos 1560, 1574 Joannes 1574 Kalman 1560 Kalmanka 1560 Kelemen 1560, 1574 Keresztes 1560 Kereszto"s 1560 Kolos 1560 Konrad 1560 Kowacz 1574 Kristof 1560, 1574 Ladislaus 1574 Lajos 1560 Laos 1560 Laurentius 1574 Laurentus 1574 Laszlo 1560 Lazlo 1574 Lazar 1560 Leonardus 1574 Loryncz 1574 Lo"rincs 1560 Lucas 1574 Lukac 1574 Lukacs 1560 Lukacz 1574 Lu:kacz 1574 Lukas 1574 Markus 1560 Martin 1560 Martinus 1574 Marton 1560, 1574 Mate 1560 Mati 1560 Matey 1574 Matyas 1560, 1574 Mattheus 1574 Matthias 1574 Melchior 1574 Menhar 1560 Meniherta 1574 Menyerth 1574 Michael 1574 Mihal 1560 Myhaly 1574 Miklos 1560 Myklus 1574 Nicholaus 1574 Oramus 1574 Orban 1560, 1574 Oremus 1574 Osualdus 1574 Ozsvard 1560 O"dimo:s 1560 Pal 1560, 1574 Pali 1560 Palko 1560 Paulus 1574 Peter 1560, 1574 Peto"r 1560 Petre 1560 Petri 1560 Petrus 1574 Philipus 1574 Philippus 1574 Sebestianus 1574 Sebestyen 1560, 1574 Sebo"s 1560 Sigismundus 1574 Simon 1560, 1574 Simonis 1574 Symon 1574 Stephanus 1574 Tamas 1560, 1574 Tami 1560 Thomas 1574 Tomas 1560 Valentinus 1574 Vallentinus 1574 Vid 1560 Vincentius 1574 Vincse 1560 Vyncze 1574 Vitaris 1560 Vitaros 1560 Vrbanus 1574 Vtalyus 1574 Wytalyius 1574 Zsigmond 1560
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