Translated and polymorphous names

Inoslav Bešker
All the Adriatic ecumene, particularly eastern Adriatic coastal area
(from Monfalcone/Tržič to Vlora/Valone), is a space of multiple
confrontations and permeation of cultural models and especially
languages1. It has always been reflected in human names: personal,
family, and tribal.
Mutual influences and interactions were not only linguistic but also
socio-anthropological, and generally cultural in the widest sense of the
term2.

Cultural interactions and their influence on names

Ethnic movements (settlements, immigration, invasions, frequent
visits) and various prevarications can be mentioned as some of the
reasons of influence and interactions. They could have been (and
could still be) political (through imposition or change of political
authority), economic (for example, mediation by trade that often
requires a lingua franca which facilitates cultural influence), and
cultural (linguistic, beginning with the import of terminology, literary,
from thematic to stylistic features, religious, musical, etc.).
Croatian cultures, arrived and developed on non homogeneous
substrates in the areas of immigration (in nowadays Croatia) or in the
1
This notorious fact was, in various ways, explored, illustrated and interpreted by
Skok, P., Slavenstvo i romanstvo na jadranskim otocima, Zagreb: JAZU, 1950 ;
Matvejević, P., Mediterranean: a cultural landscape, Berkeley: California Press, 1999;
Cabanes, P. et al, Histoire de l'Adriatique, Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2001; Zorić, M.,
Književna prožimanja hrvatsko-talijanska, Split: Književni krug, 1992; ----, Dalle due
sponde, Roma: Il Calamo, 1999; Ivetic, E., Un confine nel Mediterraneo. L'Adriatico
orientale tra Italia e Slavia (1300-1900), Roma: Viella, 2014; and many others.
2
About the modes of operations of these influences and interactions cfr. Bešker, I.,
Bilingual and multilingual toponymy. Documents of the Catholic Church: Annuario
Pontificio, Information Technology and Journalism, Dubrovnik, May 26th, 2006.
territories of their homogeneous displacement (such as Burgenland in
Hungary and Austria, or Molise in Italy), found themselves at the
crossroads of the East and West, at the junction of Catholicism,
Christian Orthodoxy, and Islam, at the mercy of various prestigious
languages.
Besides the Croatian language (or Croatian languages, because
Croatian speeches, and then literary languages from the 15th to the
19th centuries, belonged to different systems and diasystems, although
they generally kept the same ethnic adjective), more prestigious
languages coexisted or even dominated some domains of life in
Croatian lands.
After all, Croatian speeches - and within them Croatian onomastics
and, in particular, toponomastics - preserve in lexica the legacy of the
Dalmatic and other Balkano-Roman substrata3, then loanwords from
learned Greek and Latin, from Italian, Austrian, Hungarian, and
Turkish languages from the Ukrainian through ecclesiastical
terminology, etc. In other examples, it could be found as a rule rather
than the exception. The succession of Celtic, Latin and Frankish was
competing, for instance, in the emergence of the Neoromance French.
Latin conquered and curbed former languages in Italy and Hispania,
but newly emerged Neo-roman speeches were highly influenced by
Arabic from toponymy to the navy and science; prior to that Gothic
military terms had largely exterminated Latin military terminology
(including key terms such as bellum or gladius), despite centuries of
Roman military dominance around the Mediterranean. English is a
lexical mixture of Germanic Saxon and French, which was, as
prestigious, introduced by Normans, though native Germans from
Scandinavia.
For a long period in Croatia Latin was a legal or "diplomatic"
language, while it was also the language of many Croatian literary

3
Author’s family name is an example
works. In Croatia Proper (or Ban’s), it was the language of the state
administration, but the same role was occupied by Hungarian, Italian
or Turkish in some other areas in Croatian lands. The judicial and
especially notary documents, by their own use closest to the spoken
language, documented also Dalmatic, for example in Zadar; in the
late Middle Ages in Zagreb the court hearings could have taken place
in four different languages (Latin, Croatian, Hungarian, and Italian).
All this influenced the names too, and not only personal ones: while in
the most of the Croatian territory Grecophone Isus was worshiped, in
the northwest Jezuš was invoked, Latinophone indeed, but with the
Hungarian phonetic seal4.
For millennia, human names were the expression of belonging to faith
and the denomination of origin, but were not observed as a sign of
national identification at the time. Therefore, it was not a rare case
that, when translating from one language to another - whether the
speech or the text - names were translated as completely different
terms. This has happened in Croatian lands, especially in Dalmatia.
From the diachronic point of view, it is easy to see how the same
language can take different roles at different times. Let us assume, as a
superficial case study, the function of Latin in Southeast Europe,
starting from the eastern Adriatic hinterland. The Latin was first the
language of conquerors (during the centuries 1st BC - 1st AD) then of
settlers (1st - 3rd century), and for a long time language of inhabitants
(1st-7th century), more and more broken up in local (native) idioms.
From early Middle Ages, these Latin idioms became the linguistic
bases of Romance native languages (evolved from Vulgar Latin) on
the eastern Adriatic coast and in its hinterland: Tergestic (until the
14th century), Istriot5, still noticeable in traces in the Istrian-Venetian
4
Which personal names were taken to Croatian language from Greek (as an origin or
often as an intermediary) and which from Latin (in same roles) is clearly illustrated in
Šimunović, P., Hrvatska prezimena, Zagreb: Golden marketing, 1995: 21.
5
“Istria was originally ‘Dalmatica’ and then it would have received a not irrelevant ‘Ladin’ painting; to get
something Italian it had to wait for the work of Venice”, says Crevatin, F., Gli appunti sulla storia del dialetto di
idiom of Rovigno, Dalmatic languages (Vegliot, Jadertinian, Labeatic)
until 19th century, "Walachian" languages (Aromanian, Megleno-
Romanian, Romanian, Moldavian) until today. Latinism survives as a
substrate in Albanian (Vlora, kangë, Shqa/Shkja, gërshërë etc), South
Slavic languages (Poljud, jarbol, račun, sapun etc.), Hungarian
(flaska, pohár, lestyán etc.). Finally, Latin functioned as a lingua
franca (in literature and politics until the 19th century, in Roman
Catholic Church ceremonies up to the 20th century, even today in the
Canon law of the Catholic Church).
Similar case studies would not be difficult to improvise for Germanic
languages and cultures (from Gothic to American English), some
Asian, and traces of Finnish (bitva6), Aztec (čikara7). Cultural porosity
is far more pervasive and far more reaching than one would thought at
first glance.
The Adriatic area was analysed, both diachronic and synchronic, from
the comparative linguistics standpoints. A particular attention was
paid to toponomastics (from Maver8 and Skok to Skračić and
Marasović Alujević), while the onomastic aspect remained marginal to
certain extent, although it was not neglected (Šimundićć9 focused on
personal names, Šimunović10 on family names, before them Maretić11
on both, then Muljačić, Marasović Alujević, Juranić, etc.).

Rovigno, in: Benussi, L., Grammatica del dialetto di Rovigno d’Istria, Rovigno: Comunità degli italiani, 2014: 12.
6
Cro. bitva or bita ← Ven.It. bitta ← Mid.Fr. bitte ← Old low Ger. biti ← Old
Scand.Ger. biti ← Fin. piitta (beam; boat bench).
7
Cro.dial. čikara ← It. chicchera ← Sp. jícara ← xícara (Las Casas, 1540) ← xícalo
(Fernández de Oviedo, 1535) ← Nahuatl xīcalli.
8
The autor, thanks to Riccardo Picchio and Anjuta Lo Gatto, had, in the nineties, an
opportunity to examine and partially analyze the dictionary cards of Giovanni Maver
in the manuscript.
9
Šimundić, M., Rječnik osobnih imena, Zagreb: NZMH, 1988.
10
Šimunović, P., Hrvatska prezimena, op. cit.
11
Maretić, T., O narodnim imenima Hrvata i Srba, Rad JAZU 81 (1886): 81-146; Rad
JAZU 82 (1886): 69-154.
As Šimunović notes, "personal names and family names are created in
a family environment and shaped by a native language idiom"12.
Although the name is established as an undisputed sign and a
guarantee of identity, and it is even somewhere considered as God's
seal that outlives a person and the memory of her or his offspring,
because it remains permanently in the eternal memory of God.
Nevertheless, in areas of confrontation and interrelationships of
linguistic and religious cultures the interlinguistic polymorphism of
personal and even family names in some periods is no exception but
rather a norm.
The surname (family name) is an appellative that contains historical
cultural elements. Šimunović specifies:
"Family names are constant milestones of our linguistic and ethnic
stretch in the past. They are guardians of older linguistic
phenomena, repositories of semantic characteristics and features
of the form, witnesses of the former worldview. Family names are
credible monuments of material and spiritual culture of the people
who created them and who keep them as expressions of
uninterrupted memory.”13

Of course, a nation that keeps a surname is not necessarily a nation

which created it, because the human species are persistent in
migration. Family name, therefore, must not be understood as the
only, and very often nor the most prevalent reference of the speaking
language or language the holder uses, or of his ethnicity, even less
nationality, although it can refer to them.
Over the centuries in Western cultural ecumene neither toponyms
(placenames) nor the anthroponyms (personal names) are considered
to belong only to one language system, albeit original, but have been
very often translated or at least phonetically adapted to the

12
Šimunović, P., hrvatska prezimena, op. cit., 25.
13
Šimunović, P., Hrvatska prezimena, op. cit., 3
surrounding languages, id est in situ (bilingual or multilingual
settlements or regions).
Their identification value, therefore, was not in the orthoepic nor the
orthographic form, but in the semantic sign they wore and which
could be transferred and modified from one idiom to another.
This practice is perfectly preserved in the names of Christian saints
(cfr. in Zadar bilingual forms of St. Krševan/Grisogono), up to the 19th
century (sometimes even later, cfr. Ivan instead of Giovanni Bosco or
Bernardica instead of Bernadette Soubiroux), and the rulers up to late
20th century (with the exception of the rulers' names from completely
unrelated languages, such as Far Eastern), and for the Popes it
continues to be valid even in the 21st century.
After all, in the majority of Christian Europe, until the Reformation,
writing and registration of the names in Latin, in documents and
monuments, was a legal and common practice. However, most of the
local names were Latinized, ie adapted by phonetic and orthographic
apparatus of the Latin language. The name could have been written in
the same way in Latin, but assuming different pronunciation in the
same language14, depending on the local idiom or substrate. In certain
milieus, some names were directly translated, sometimes with
unintended semantic errors15. Simultaneously with the legal form in

14
The reception of the Latin pronunciation varied with respect to the phonetic
substrate in which it was inserted. For example, the highly expanded cognomen
Caesar (ancient pronunciation /ˈkaisaɹ/, with the ancient Greek reception
Καῖσαρ/Kaîsar, antique Hebrew: ‫קיסר‬/qaysar or gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌰𐍂/kaisar can serve as
control groups) already in Middle Ages ushers in Italian as Cesare ie /tʃeːzare/, in
Castile Spanish as César, ie /ˈθesar/, in French also César but phonetically /sɛ.zaʁ/,
Proto Slavic probably Cěsarjь, in the Balkans as Cezar, ie Slavic /'cɛzar/ (cf. Russian
Цезарь), or Romanian /ˈt͡ʃezar/, pronounced as Albanian Çezar, so the phonetically
closest to original is German Kaiser.
15
A typical example is the translation of the name Dragutin as Carolus and vice versa,
although Carolus is not a derivative of the Latin adjective carus (dear, Croatian: drag),
but rather Proto-Germanic basis *karlaz (freeman), therefore close to Croatian
Slobodan.
the Latin, survived the forms in the idioms of local communities – and
so the same name of the same person could be said or written in two
and even three parallel ways in bilingual or multilingual areas.
In Catholic lands, where the family name was fixed thanks to the
decisions of the Council of Trent16, parsons and then registrars
registered surnames and more often personal names congenially
adapting them, from case to case, to the local standard, preferably
linguistic, and sometimes confessional17. This was more common in
border areas, or in the other areas of alloglot immigration18.
The onomastics of the eastern Adriatic coast and the islands also
served as an argument in the era of conflict of national ideologies
since the middle of the 19th century and with particular vigour in the
first half of the 20th century19. Historians with strong nationalist

16
Šimunović, P., Hrvatska prezimena, op. cit., 9, 22,
17
Cfr. De Felice, E., Dizionario dei cognomi italiani, Milano: Mondadori, 1978: 10-11.
18
In Friuli, Gorizia and Gradisca, as well in Austrian Littoral it was not rare that writing
system for the surname, also in Latin, depended on the linguistic culture of the
parson, so that the sons of the same father have surnames adapted to different
spellings: eg Slamnik/Slamnig, Ravnik/Raunig, Pauletich/Pauletig, Piriavetz/
Pirjevec/Pirjeveg, etc. When the Fascist Italy was ex officio changing family names,
the same thing happened: indicative is a case of four brothers Covacich whose
surname was "reduced" to everyone differently: Covacci, Covelli, Fabbri, and
Fabbroni (Purini, P., „Censimenti e composizione etnica della popolazione della
Venezia Giulia tra le due guerre“, in: Michieli, R., Zelco, G., Venezia Giulia, La regione
inventata, Udine: Kappa Vu, 2008: 93). It is curious that traditional irredentists, who
have entered the fascist movement, preserved Slavic or Hungarian surnames, eg
Ghiglianovich, Suvich, Krekich or Toth. On the other hand, when democratic Italy
finally allowed (Law No. 114, 28th March 1991) the return of seized surnames (in
1999 prevented names as well), it did not do it ex officio, leaving an eventual
initiative to "reidentified". Similarly, the municipalities did not seek to return the
original toponyms, eg San Felice Slavo (San Felice del Littorio during fascism, San
Felice del Molise since 1949, Filić for the Croats living there), or San Vito degli
Schiavoni (since 1863 San Vito dei Normanni, obviously considering Slavs less
prestigious than Normans, who never settled there).
engagement on the opposite sides, such as Praga or Novak, used an
example of Split's onomastics for that purpose20.
The mentioned fervour, followed by pretensions, provoked fear, which
generated hate, which was then transposed in the collective imaginary,
anachronically, as if it was lasting for centuries21.
Thus, onomastics was under the pressure of political tensions. Their
protagonists were not afraid of changing names and surnames of the
dead and alive, ranging from ridiculous (like Kukuljević Sakcinski,
who econym Meldola,, derived by the homonymous toponym in
Romagna, "Croatised" in Medulić) to a dramatic (as it was in twenties
of the 20th century partly efficient attempt to exterminate identity
violently changing names and surnames of Italian citizens with Slavic
or German family names, relying to Royal Decrees)22. Often under the
excuse of "returning" or "reducing" surname to its presumed "original
form"23.

19
These clashes, enhanced by the opportunities offered by world wars, have also
resulted in tragic ethnic "cleansing", more in: Bešker, I., „Le pulizie etniche in Istria e
nei Balcani“, La guerra è orrore. Le foibe tra fascismo, guerra e resistenza. Atti del
Convegno, Venezia, 13 dicembre 2003, Venezia: ARC, 2004: 101-116.
20
Praga, G., „Testi volgari spalatini del Trecento“, Atti e memorie della Società
dalmata di storia patria, Zara, 2 (1928): 35-36; Novak, G., Povijest Splita I, Split: MH,
1957: 254-259. For a wider insight into the efforts of these historians: Novak, G.:
Prošlost Dalmacije I-II, Zagreb: HIBZ, 1944; Praga, G., Storia di Dalmazia, Milano:
dall'Oglio, 1981.
21
Writers in Romanticism and Modernism stand out on that matter like, in the
Adriatic case, Manzoni or D'Annunzio from the Italian, and Šenoa or Nazor on the
Croatian side. More about this: Bešker, I., „'Ova mržnja stara' : Nazor i stereotipi o
Talijanima u hrvatskoj štokavskoj književnosti“, Croatian Studies Review : Časopis za
hrvatske studije, 7 (2011), 1-2: 31-48. Sydney: Macquarie University.
22
Parovel, P., L'identità cancellata: l'italianizzazione forzata dei cognomi, nomi e
toponimi nella "Venezia Giulia" dal 1919 al 1945, con gli elenchi delle province di
Trieste, Gorizia, Istria ed i dati dei primi 5.300 decreti, Trieste: E. Parovel 1985; Tasso,
M., Un onomasticidio di Stato, Trieste: Mladika, 2010.
23
For instance the Italian Royal Decree no. 17 of January 10 th, 1926.
We are sometimes inclined to observe the existing or recent state as
constant, even invariable, transpose its vectors into history, which can
be the wrong method.
Therefore, if we want to realize how and why, in certain mutually
different periods and because of the different motives, some names
and surnames were translated, or even were genuinely polymorphous,
it should be useful, first, to recall the function of the name in the
collective imaginary over the centuries. Only then would it be possible
to understand a preference to translation of names or their
polymorphism in case studies, in our case: on the eastern Adriatic
coast.

Name as a consecrated key of essence

The name is commonly defined as a word by which something is
called, named. In the philosophy of language, the name is a word that
names or signifies something, a language sign for an individual object
or genus of objects. In law, name is a word or group of words used to
mark and distinguish between persons and things. Therefore, in each
case, the name determines the identity.
Unlike a noun that represents a term covering what is general for some
genus of objects or phenomena, the name is directed to individual. Not
to what is common to everything in the same genus, but to the
respective, which differentiates between the members of the same
genus, individual beings. The name serves to anchor the entity in
being, for its determination as a phenomenon and worthiness. In that
sense, the name has a threefold function: it is the act of displaying in
the consciousness of the one who pronounces it or thinks about it,
awakening the conscious meaning in the listener (reader, etc.), and the
act of identifying being with the image of him contained in the name.
In our present culture, the Torah already brought the name not only as
a sign but also as an instrument of the power to invoke God:
 “And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there
on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God." (Gen. 21,33)
Indeed, that God revealed himself to Moses (Exodus 3: 6) as "the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob" (El Avraham, El
Jitchaq, El Ja'aqov) and later declares himself as being. Namely, Ex. 3,
13-15 reads:
“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your
fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What
is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto
Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, I AM [‫ יהוה‬- IHVH - Yahweh] hath sent me
unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, The LORD [‫ אֲ דֹנָי‬- Adonai] God [‫אל‬-
El] of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for
ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.“ (Exod. 3,
13-15)
Without the name, the communication of God with His (Chosen)
people is neither complete nor has a full meaning.
First, what God has to bespeak and command (Exod. 20: 2-3) is also
marked by his name:
 „I am the LORD [IHVH] 24 thy God [El] 25, which have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou
shalt have no other gods [elohim] before me.“ 26
The name of God is so sacred to Jews that they avoid saying or
writing it - they use metonyms: HaShem (Name), El Shaddai (God
Almighty), Ts’vaot (Armies, common in Europe: Sabaoth), Adonai
(My Lord) and so on.
The attitude of the Biblical God regarding His name is also apparent
in Ezekiel (36: 22-23):
„Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine
holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen,
whither ye went.

And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among

the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and
the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD,
when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes..“
It is equally evident in Nehemiah (1, 11):
„O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the
prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who
desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant

24
Abbreviation: Jah (or Yah, or Yahu, found as a component in several names: Isai-ah,
El-i-Jah, Jeremiah; or in interjections: hallelu-Jah), or: Jeho (Jeho-shua, Jeshua: gr.
Ἰησοῦς [Isús]; Jeho-anaan, Johanaan, gr. Ιωάννης, sl. Iván).
25
General noun:  ‫ אל‬El (in personal names: mi haEl? Invocation: Elì; Elohai (My God):
Elohai Avraham, Elohai Yitzchak ve Elohai Yaʿaqov; Elohai Sara, Elohai Rivka, Elohai
Leah ve Elohai Rakhel. Plural (general and pluralis maestatis): ‫_ אֱֹלהִים‬Elohim, singular
is: ‫אֱֹלַּה‬ Eloah → ‫هللا‬, Allāh
26
‫אנכי יהוה אלהיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים‬
‫לא יהיה־לך אלהים אחרים על־פני‬
 this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was
the king's cupbearer.“
Christianity took over this relationship, so the prayer whose author is
Jesus begins with the words: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name27… The formula of blessing in the Roman ritual begins
with the invocation: "Blessed Lord's name28…“
This relationship was also taken over in Islam, where, according to
one hadith, Muhammad's du’a (supplication) reads like this:
„YA ALLAH i invoke and call you by all your beautiful names You
have called yourself, or You have revelated in Your Book, or
taught names to any of your slaves, or left them secret and
hidden from Your slaves…“29
Those names are, by tradition, 9930.
One of the hadiths mentiones that Allah has brought down among his
people his greatest name (ism-e'azam), and that he will yield anything
to anyone who addresses Him by this name. The Prophet did not
specify what name it was, but, according to Sunna, it would have to be
one of the 99 mentioned names. Some islamists (Islamic scholars)
state that it is the name Allah. Some sufis, and separately, but parallel
to them, Bahai’s, believe that the most divine is hundredth name of
God, hidden to profanes.
On the other hand, the biblical God overpowers either a person or an
entire nation invoking them by name, according to Isaiah (43: 1):

27
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
28
Sit nomen Domini benedictus.
29
The basis for this is the Quranic sura al Israh, 17:110
30
Sahih Bukhari, one of the collections of Muhammad's sayings during the life,
namely hadiths, brings it in St. 8, book. 75, in hadith 419, and in St. 9, book. 93, in
hadith 489.
 “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and
he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed
thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.“
Votive occupation by the name is not limited to the Biblical age, nor is
unidirectional. In Christianity there is a belief that a baptized person
takes part in God's grace by his name. Croatian Catholic Bishops'
Conference, as part of one of the alternative funeral prayers in the
Roman ritual also mentioned this invocation:
“Dear Lord, remember their names that they received from
their parents. By that names they were known to us and we
loved them. And their names have been left to us after their
death, and you have forever written them on the palm of Your
benevolent, father's hands.“31
Accepting the elections, Roman Pope selects the name by which he
will be called from then on, and under that new name he enters
history32. Usually they say that the Pope changes the name because
Jesus personally changed the name of the first one of them, saying to
Shimon Bar Yonah that he is the Rock, Kefa in Aramaic, which was
translated in Greek as Pétros (Greek name phonetically adapted as
Peter). Nevertheless, for centuries Peter's heirs normally kept their
31
Here is a full text of the prayer in the Croatian original: „Braćo i sestre, da bismo
ovom čovjeku iskazali posljednju počast, da bismo počastili njegov život i smrt,
stojimo ovdje pored mrtvog tijela koje nam je od njega ostalo. Upravljamo svoje oči
na križ Isusa Krista, i vjerom koja traga govorimo: ovo nije svršetak. Naš Bog je Bog
živih. Mrtvo tijelo odlazi, a ostaje nam ime ovog čovjeka, i to ime ovdje izgovaramo: I.
Spominjemo ga s poštovanjem i molimo: Gospodine, Bože, sjeti se njegova imena što
ga je od ljudi primio, po kojem ga prepoznajemo i nakon njegove smrti, imena što si
ga ti upisao u dlan svoje ruke. U znak naše nade da će Bog ovom čovjeku i svima
nama dati novi i besmrtni život, i za svjedočanstvo naše vjere u uskrsnuće
blagoslivljam ovo mrtvo tijelo u ime Oca i Sina i Duha Svetoga.“ Cfr. Rimski obrednik.
Obnovljen prema odluci svetoga općeg sabora drugog vatikanskog, proglašen vlašću
pape Pavla VI. Red sprovoda, Kršćanska sadašnjost: Zagreb, 2003: 132.
32
Already mentioned in: Bešker, I., Iza vatikanskih zidina, Zagreb: EPH Media, 2013:
128.
name until year 532, when Mercurius (Mercury) was chosen; he did
not seem worthy of the Pope to bear the name of the polytheistic deity,
and renamed it to John (II) in honor of the previous Pope. Others were
using their names, with some exceptions (Catalino in 561 became
John III, Ottaviano from Tuscolans Counts in 955 became John XII).
Finally, in 983 Pietro from Pavia was elected. He considered it
inappropriate to have the name of the first Pope, so he called himself
John (XIV). Then on a new, different name was taken by almost all of
popes. The only exceptions were the two who, becoming the Pope,
retained their given name: Hadrian VI (1522) and Marcellus II (1555).
Now they say that Pope changes his name because he enters a new
life, as the monks do.
Popes have never taken a dual name until 1978, when Albino Luciani
became John Paul I. Until then it was mandatory for Popes to take one
name, mostly already used as a papal. It was a norm from 882, when
Marinus was the last one who brought a new name, until 2013, when
Jorge Mario Bergoglio introduced new name in the list of Popes - that
of St. Francis of Assisi. Yet until the late 20th century, the ritual of
determining the death of Pope was based on his name given through
baptism, and not on his assumed papal name. The ritual provided that
the cardinal camerlengo33 knocks gently with a silver hammer three
times on the forehead of deceased and calls him three times by his
given name. The Holy See's vacancy could be proclaimed only after
the deceased Pope did not respond to invocation of his name given
through baptism.
Anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski considered empirically correct
the "belief that knowing name of something means mastering it ¨34.
33
The cardinal who administers the Catholic Church in the interregnum between
Popes.
34
„[…] mastery over reality, both technical and social, grows side by side with the
knowledge of how to use words. […] The right word for an action, for a trick of trade,
for an ability, acquires meaning in the measure in which the individual becomes
capable to carry out this action. The belief that to know the name of a thing is to get a
After all, in many cultures, from the Balkans to Japan, it was believed
that the name not only indicates essence of the person, but also
controls the person, as (in certain historical cultures) a magical
identifier of existence. That is the purpose, in many languages, of
commendatory names. They can be theophoric, ie by god, or
hagiophoric by saints, or propitious or aspirational by features, or
prophylactic by something that frightens, eg Wolf/Lope/Vuk (with both
propitious and prophylactic names capable of carrying substrate of
obscured totemism35), and finally pseudonyms. Even a deity,
according to Homer, to the Bible etc., answers if invoked by the name.
In some cases, it is considered that the name is not only a symbol, but
also a separate manifestation of the deity (something is asked for or
expelled in the name of God). Thus it is avoided to pronounce the
name of the deity (and the deified ruler), or it becomes a taboo (so
Hades, fearful because he was a chthonic God of underworld and the
lord of the dead, was rather metonymically called Rich, which is the
meaning of hypocoristic name Pluto).
In China, the name of the ruling emperor was not allowed to be
pronounced nor was any other word, which was part of the name.
There were rulers who had some understanding of the problem: Xuan
(91-49 BC), who spent his youth as a common servant, in 64 BC.
changed his name to Xun so that people no longer suffer, because the
ideograms that form the name Xuan were very common. During Jin
dynasty (1115-1234) it was forbidden to pronounce and write the

hold on it is thus empirically true.” Cfr. Malinowski, B. (1965 [Orig. ed., 1935]). Coral
Gardens and Their Magic, 2 vols. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p. 233
Malinowski recognise magical aetiology of the name as a sign in children, and
attributes the source of magic to ontogenesis of using the sign: “The child exercises a
quasi-magical influence over his surroundings. He regards childhood language as the
sources of magical meaning in man. Within this frame of reference it is not difficult to
see how childhood magical thinking and the problem of stuttering can become
related.” Ibid.
35
Smailović, I., Muslimanska imena orijentalnog porijekla u Bosni i Hercegovini,
Sarajevo : Institut za jezik i književnost, Odjeljenje za jezik, 1977: 36).
name Kong because Kǒng (Fu) Zǐ (in the West: Confucius), was
honoured. Lexicographer Wang Xihou in 1777 wrote the full name of
emperor Qianlong and was punished by the most severe variant of
capital punishment: he and nine other members of his close family
were executed and all their possessions were confiscated.
In Japan, taboo of the name is now reduced only to the emperor.
While alive, he is there called as Tennō Heika (Heavenly Sovereign
Majesty) or Kinjō Heika (present Majesty), and posthumously by the
propitious name of his period, so Hirohito is now Shōwa Tenno
(Majesty of the Enlightened Peace, although his period was marked by
wars, war crimes and atomic bombs).
And where no strict taboo exists, para-taboo can be created with
metonymy for the ruler: Pharaoh (Big House) in ancient Egypt, Holy
See for Pope in Catholic Church, Sublime Porte for the Turkish
Sultan, once Mikado (Honourable Gate) for the Japanese Emperor, the
Highest Place for the Austro-Hungarian Emperor and King etc.
Outside the domain of names as taboos, in the everyday life, naming is
always an act of initiation. The initiation can occur in the religious
framework, for instance a circumcision, a baptism and so on. Giving
the spiritual name to regenerated (warrior name in Native Americans,
spiritual name in Hinduism, a monastic name in some Catholic
mendicant orders or in Orthodox monks) is an act of initiation too. It
often occur as the act of substantial initiation by giving nicknames
within the group. A kind of initiation occur also in the areligious
anagraphic procedure, not only in assigning of a personal name, but
also, in many European cultures, by a change of bride’s surname (as a
"seal" of possession) at the wedding36.
The seal of possession is avoided in Italy, where wife keeps her surname, but the
36

children usually take the paternal surname. In Spanish-speaking countries, a wife

adds the spouse's paternal surname to her paternal surname, and the children carry
both surnames, paternal and maternal, but only of the parents' fathers. It is
becoming more and more common to add groom's surname instead of changing a
bride's, or simply keeping the bride's surnames as a sign of gender emancipation,
“Possession and with that social dependence of women was
emphasized by grammatical means” - as Šimunović recalls37.

Phases and Reasons of Anthroponomical Acculturation

We can follow several motivationally different periods of using
translated or polymorphic names on the eastern Adriatic coast and its
hinterland (to Pannonia). The same goes for the surnames.
The names, in one way or another, were following the dominant
language. Those of the saints, mediated through Greek or Latin,
ramified their forms on idioms. A good example is the Jewish name
Yōḥānān38. If translated, it may be Deodatus in Latin, Bogdan in
Slavic languages. However, Yōḥānānwas was transferred to Greek as
Ἰωάννης/Ioánnes, and thereafter in Latin as Iohannes, then in Slavic
as Jъvannъ, in the Church Slavic Ivanъ, and then Ivan in most South
Slavic and Eastern Slavic languages (the form Jovan is, in Christian
Orthodox areal, medieval loanword from the Medieval Greek, while
now neglected Dalmatian forms Jovan i Jovana are transferred from
Latin in parallel with the Italian forms Giovanni i Giovanna). Latin
created Romance forms that entered Slavic languages in the same
area: Janež (today: Janez) in Slovenian, Anž in Dalmatic Vegliot (Anž
Frankapan), Žvan, Žvane i Žuva in Dalmatic Jadertinian (parallel
Zuane i Zan u Dalmatovenetian from Venetian), later Žanko, then
Đovo, Đuho, Đivo in Dalmatic Ragusan and in Ragusan Slavic etc.
West Slavic form Jan gave in Zagorje hypocoristic Janžek, German
hypocoristic Hans gave in northwest Croatia Hanžek. Hypocoristic
Ivo gave further hypocoristics (Ivić, Ivica, Ivša, Ipša), Iko gave Ikica,
as well as Ico and so on.

even in anthroponymics.
37
Šimunović, P. Hrvatska prezimena, op.cit., 38.
38
Originally probably Yəhōḥānān, a complex of Yəhō (hypocoristic of Yahweh, ie God),
in the Phoenician and Ugaritic Yevo, and ḥānān (be merciful, generous).
A similar process was with saint’s name coined in the Middle Ages.
For instance, ethnonym Francesco (meaning Frenchman, nickname of
Giovanni from Assisi, who used it as personal name) was transcribed
in Latin as Franciscus, in the Dalmatic Jadertinian confirmed as
Françisc, while Croatian knows only derivate hypocoristics. On north-
eastern Adriatic it was transposed as Fran, in central Dalmatia as
Frane (gen. Franeta, and later Franē), in the hinterland Franas and
Vrane, in Dubrovnik Frano; in the 19th century Franjo penetrated
from Bosnia, and was accepted as a standard in Zagreb (where
hypocoristic is Francek according to German Franz). Most of these
forms now parallelly exist in Croatian onomastics (Franas and Vrane
almost only through surnames Franasović or Vranić).
In the wider eastern Adriatic region surnames emerged after they were
reintroduced39 to Western Europe. Roman cognomen did not remain
in practice (only exception was perhaps Venice, where same surnames
were attested as early as in the 8th century). In Dalmatia a surname
appears occasionally, as a nickname, in the 11th -13th century, mostly
within nobility, where it is stabilized in 14th-16th century. It becomes a
regular practice only after the Council of Trent40 which in 1564,
introduced obligation to priests to keep register of baptized and
married with names and surnames, then status of the souls (which
gives insight into genealogy and further facilitates the prevention of
marriages among the closer blood relatives).

39
Surnames were introduced to distinguish individuals with the same names and
patronymics, in the areas where the density of the population exceeded critical mass.
They were imposed mainly where it was helpful and profitably for the state to collect
taxes (in China, by traditon, the practice was introduced by Fu Xi in 2852 BC, see
Danesi, M., The Quest for Meaning, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007: 48; by
the way, Chinese surnames were matrilineal until the Sheng dynasty).
40
Council of Trent, Session XXIII-XXIV, Canon on Reformation of Marriages, Chapters I
and II, Provisions on the Register of Married or Baptized, cfr. I decreti del Concilio di
Trento. Testo divulgativo con annotazione delle fonti, Rome: Internet Service
(http://www.internetsv.info/), 2005: 117, 118. Cf. too: Šimunović, P., Hrvatska
prezimena, op. cit., 9, 22,
The first phase of the translated names coincides with the use of Latin
as a universal West European religious and legal language. They
testify acculturation into a prestigious culture that uses prestigious
language - but the secondary element is already referring to origin,
territorial or ethnic. The most famous example from the eastern
Adriatic area is Hermannus Dalmata, also registred as Hermannus
Sclavus or Hermannus Secundus (by his own testimony born around
1100, in central Istria, then part of Duchy of Carinthia), translator of
Qur'an, Euclid and Claudius Ptolemy from Arabic to Latin and
therefore an important predecessor of humanism.
In the second phase, two compatible characteristics of humanism
coincide: glorification of classical sources and languages, and
strengthening of people’s idioms that gradually become national
languages. At this stage, the authors of the texts write their names and
surnames in accordance with the language of the script they sign:
Latin in Latin, and in “vulgari eloquentia” in population’s idiom.
Names of the authors of fine arts are known by names written in the
contracts, still mainly in Latin, and by the names mentioned by
contemporaries (mostly in population’s language).
At this stage, neither names nor surnames remain fixed. The same
Dubrovnik poet is recorded in Latin as Diore de Darsa, Georgius
Dirsa and Georgius de Dersa, and in the local idiom as Đore Držić,
Đoreta Držić or Đore Drža41. His nephew, the famous playwright, is
quoted in documents as Marinus de Darsa, signing himself in Italian
as Marino Darsa Raguseo, and in a later manuscript of the comedy
41
We have modernised orthography so that users can easily get along within the
framework of this article and we do not pretend to list comprehensive examples. In
this particular case, genitive Giorete Darscichia referring to nominative Gioreta
Darscich is phoneticized: Đoreta (traditionally: Gjoreta ≃ Jureta) Držić. Merchant and
painter Vlaho Marinov Držić records surname in the documents in various ways, in
Italian: Darsich, Drusiano, in the Latin Drusianus, de Darsa, de Derzza. Basically, it is
probably Slavic patronymic of Držiha (as it is written on the Baška tablet) or
hypocristic Drža, so the diminutive surname Držić.
.
Hekuba is noted as Marin Darxich, hence the current orthography
Marin Držić. Another poet also from Dubrovnik is in Latin
Sigismundus Mensius, in Italian Sigismondo Menze, in his poem (in
acrostic) his name is Šišmundo (with the hypocoristic Šiško42)
Menčetić. The founder of written Croatian literature signed up as
Marko Marulić (Marco Marulich) Splićanin43, and in Latin Marcus
Marullus. On the island of Hvar, another poet signed himself in
Croatian as Petre Hektorović44, in Venetian papers in Italian he
appears as Pietro Ettoreo and in Latin Petrus Hectoreus. Later in
Dubrovnik, another poet signed himself in Croatian as Gjivo Frana
Gundulić, in Latin as Johannes Gundola, in Italian as Giovanni
Gondola; other, also Baroque poet from Dubrovnik, is on his Croatian
work signed as Gjono Palmotić, in Latin Junius de Palma, in Italian
Giunio Palmotta45. Nobility in Dubrovnik for centuries preserved dual
graphism for surnames, sometimes interchangeably (Sorgo or
Sorkočević, so the composer signed up both Luca Sorgo and Luko
Sorkočević), sometimes aggregated (Gozze-Gučetić etc.).
This phase, in a certain way, encompasses Dalmatians with Croatian
surnames who would get Venetian confirmation of the nobility in
Latin and become Dumaneo, Cettineo, Niseteo, Tommaseo ... - while
plebeian part of the family would remain Dumanić, Cetinić, Nižetić,
Tomašić, etc.

42
Therefore, it is not necessary for the surname Šižgorić to be derived from "šišano
kumstvo” (trimed godparenthood), v. Šimunović, op. cit. 14).
43
Ie from City of Split.
44
In genitive: „Petreta Hectorovichia, vlastelina hvarskoga“ (nobleman from Hvar).
45
Kukuljević Sakcinski, who was mentioned before, believed that names of Dalmatian
authors should be “croaticized”, so since then officially in literature Hektorović is
stilled as Petar, Gundulić as Ivan and Palmotić is Junije, although it is closer to Russian
than to Dubrovnik original. This practice did not disappear: Archbishop of Split
Stefano Cosmi from Italy, in the documents of Archdiocese signed himself as Stipan
Cosmi, but the Church’s chronotaxis and street topography is mentioning him only as
Stjepan Cosmi.
The third stage is marked by "nostrates" (našijenci: our men), who
were, because of professional reasons, moving from homeland to a
domicile of another language, so they acculturate their name and
surname to that language. The most famous case presents composer
and singer Francesco cav. Suppé Demelli from Split, the founder of
the Viennese operetta, who in capital of Empire translated his name
and noble adjective to Franz von Suppé. In the same manner his
younger colleague and friend, who was at birth registered in Rijeka as
Giovanni de Seitz, in Vienna became Johann von Seitz and then in
Zagreb Ivan pl. Zajc.
The descendants of immigrants who translate names for ideological
reasons witness the fourth phase - the era of the creation of national
state consciousness. Among them are some of the Illyrian Movement
coryphées, eg Stanko Vraz, born as Jakob Frass, Ljudevit Vukotinović
(Lájos Farkas), Vatroslav Lisinski (Ignaz Fuchs) etc. According to the
same logic, a painter Biagio Faggioni from Cavtat translated his name
in Vlaho Bukovac, and then in Paris used a combination Blaise
Bukovac.
Trend of “nationalization” of “alienated” names sometimes slipped on
erroneous etymological premises. Aforementioned Lisinski believed
those who derived Latin saint’s name Ignatius from ignis (flame, in
South Slavic languages oganj, vatra - so Ostrožinski became
Ognjoslav), but the original is Greek ἴγνης [ígnēs], therefore: native.
Šimundić42 explained why are wrong translations Alojzij → Vjekoslav
or Karlo → Dragutin46.
Doubtful was also "renationalization" of names of Croatian national
rulers referring to Latin transcriptions. It is confirmed that one of them
was not Mutimir but Muncimir, whether it is still controversial was the
other Krešimir or Krěsimir, the third Tomislav or Domislav...

46
Šimundić M., Rječnik osobnih imena, op. cit., XI.
Even stranger are the "transnationalized" names of Croats displaced in
alloglot parts. Because of Council of Trent’s directions they have to
write their family names in anagraphs in Latin, then by the direction of
Italian state transcribe Latin names in Italian, so priests in Molise
forced immigrant Croats twice through linguistic “Furculas
Caudinas“47. Finally, for example, the surname Jureta became
Giorgetta, Zadro - Zara, Crnčić - Neri etc. The most bizarre is that
Golimac (Huge) was translated but wrong: instead of Gigante or more
common Grandi it became Spadanuda, because the priest "estimated"
that the surname means Golimač (Nakedsword).
A similar fate hit some holders of Croatian family names who
emigrated to Burgenland48, and Moravian Croats49. Since emigration is
still lasting, so do the processes, as Rudolf Filipović50 described
writing on the transcription and Anglicization of Croatian names in
the USA.
Various translations of names and surnames at the time of their
creation mostly were not usurpations. They can look like that
nowadays, especially if they are considered anachronistically, post
hoc.
For that reason too, it is advisable today, especially in scientific
literature, to prefer the original method: write names and surnames as
the person wrote them, with only orthographic adaptation where
needed.
••

47
Listed in detail, in a separate chapter, and discussed by Šimunović, P., Hrvatska
prezimena, op. cit., 363-372.
48
They too, detailed, in a separate chapter, are listed and discussed by Šimunović, P.,
Hrvatska prezimena, op. cit., 373-382
49
About them in separate chapter Šimunović, P., Hrvatska prezimena, op. cit., 383-
388
50
Filipović, R., „Sudbina hrvatskih prezimena na engleskom jezičnom području u SAD“,
Onomastica Jugoslavica X (1982):39-46.
••