Croatian name

Croatian names have considerable similarities with most other European name systems, and with those of other Slavic peoples in particular. Croatian names usually consist of a given name, followed by a family name.

Croatian given names

Since their seventh-century arrival in today's homeland, Croats have been using names of Slavic origin. Through following centuries, foreign names also started to be accepted, especially those which mark Christian faith. However, Slavic names remained dominant until the Council of Trent (1545–63) when the Catholic church decided that every Christian should have Christian name instead of native one. This lasted until the 20th century when Croats again started to use neglected traditional names — especially those of their mediæval kings and dukes. More recently, as a result of globalisation, unusual and exotic names of various cultures have also started to gain more popularity.

The most frequently-used Croatian given names are Ivan, Josip, Marija and Ana.

Croatian names of Slavic origin

Common Croatian names of Slavic origin include: Bogdan, Borislav, Borka, Božidar, Božica, Božo, Budimir, Branimir, Brajko, Branko, Braslav, Cvitan, Dalibor, Damir, Davor, Dobrovit, Domagoj, Dragica, Dragan, Drago, Dražen, Držislav, Dubravka, Dunja, Gojko, Godemir, Gradimir, Grubiša, Janica, Jela, Jelena, Jelica, Jure, Jurica, Hranislav, Kažimir, Klonimir, Krešimir, Ljubomir, Ljudevit, Ljubica, Lovro, Marijan, Mila, Milan, Miljenko, Milka, Mislav, Mislava, Mira, Mirjana, Mirko, Mirna, Miroslav, Mislav, Mladen, Mutimir, Prvan, Prvoslav, Ognjen, Ognjenka, Radoš, Rajko, Rašeljka, Ratimir, Radovan, Radoslav, Ružica, Slavko, Slava, Slavica, Smilja, Smiljan, Srebrenko, Stana, Stanka, Stanko, Tomislav, Tvrtko, Trpimir, Vatroslav, Vedrana, Vesna, Višeslav, Vitomir, Vlatka, Vladimir, Vlado, Vojnomir, Zdeslav, Zdravko, Zlata, Zlatko, Zorislav, Zoran, Zorica, Zvonimir, Zvonko, Živko, Željka, Željko.

Exclusively Croatian names

Borna, Buga, Hrvatin, Hrvoje, Tuga, Zrinko, Zrinka,

General Christian names widely used by Croats (mainly Greek, Latin or Hebrew by origin)

Antun, Andrija, David, Dominik, Grgur, Ilija, Ivan, Jakov, Josip, Juraj, Marko, Marija, Martin, Matej, Luka, Pavao, Petar, Pero, Silvestar, Šimun, Stjepan.

Croatian borrowed or foreign names

Dora,Denis, Karlo,Mario, Nataša,Robert, Vanja.

Popular or uncharacteristic Croatian names

Uncharacteristic names are generally not declined in the Croatian language, but include: Dolores, Ines, Nives, Paris.

Croatian family names

Family names started to appear among Croats in the 12th century. Since the Council of Trent, both the given and family names would be written down.

Croatian family names have four different origins:

Given names, matronymics and patronymics: Anić, Blažević, Ivanec, Marić, Stipanov.
Professional names: Kovač, Klobučar, Lončar, Tkalčić, Stolar.
Nicknames: Debeljak, Crnić, Obad.
Toponyms: Duvnjak, Horvat, Kuprešak, Posavec, Zagorec.

Most frequent Croatian family names are Horvat, Kovačević and Babić.