Přechylování příjmení v matrikách od konce 18. století do poloviny 20. století ve vztahu k dnešnímu stavu

• Authors: Jana Matúšová

Title variants

EN

Feminization of surnames in the marriage registers from the end of the 18th to the 20th century in the context of the recent law changes

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The surnames of Czech females are traditionally created from the masculine form by adding the suffix -ová (Novák – Nováková). This form was established by law in 1949 as the standard. Today’s law changes permit that females may choose the masculine form of their husband’s surname (Novák) or use the male surname of their husband along with their original feminine form as well (Dvořák Nováková). This development deserves comparison with the historical situation. In this article, we analyze the female surnames entered in the Catholic marriage registers in several towns and villages, especially in the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. There are several possibilities how the scribes wrote down the bride’s name. They identified her by the first name and the relation to her father or former husband (Anna, daughter of…), used the masculine form of the surname, or created feminine forms by using the suffixes -ova (identical with the possessive suffix) or -ová. Even though the recording of female surnames was influenced by the customs of the individual scribes, the rise of using forms with the suffix -ová as an independent feminine surname in the 20th century is evident. The masculine forms of the surnames of brides are relatively infrequent in historical documents, not specific to any particular time period, and dependent on the scribe customs (they were used especially when the bride was of foreign, typically German, origin). The use of two family names (e.g., Dvořák Nováková) was not documented in the marriage registers. Today’s law changes are in opposition to the historical development and do not respect the use of female surnames in daily Czech communication. Masculine forms only make sense for females who are often abroad, and/or have a husband of foreign origin, etc. The future will show whether Czech females will prefer traditional surnames with the suffix -ová or choose the masculine form of the surname for documents. It is probable that the form with -ová will be used in common Czech communication regardless of the form indicated in the documents.

Keywords

CS

přechylování příjmení; přípona -ová; církevní matriky oddaných v 18.–20. stol.

EN

female surnames; suffix -ová; church marriage registers from the18th to the 20th century

• Publisher: Institute of the Czech Language, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Acta onomastica
• Year: 2024
• Volume: 65
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 374-386
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Jana Matúšová

• Ústav pro jazyk český AV ČR, v. v. i., Letenská 123/4, 118 51 Praha 1, Czech Republic