Serbian name
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This article is about names and naming of ethnic Serb people.
Given names
As with most Western cultures, a child is given a first name chosen by their parents but approved by the godparents of the child (the godparents usually approve the parent's choice). The given name comes first, the surname last, e.g. "Željko Popović", where "Željko" is a first name and "Popović" is a family name.
Serbian first names largely originate from Slavic:
Some may be non-Slavic but chosen to reflect Christian faith. Names of this nature may often originate from Hebrew for Biblical reasons. Christian names include:
Along similar lines of non-Slavic names among Christians, the origins for many such names are Greek:
Latin names include:
Surnames
Most Serbian surnames have the surname suffix -ić (-ић) (IPA: /itɕ/). This can sometimes further be transcribed as -ic, but in history, Serbian names have often been transcribed with a phonetic ending, -ich or -itch, and (in Hungary only) as -ity. This form is often associated with Serbs from before the early 20th century: hence Milutin Milanković is usually referred to, for historical reasons, as Milutin Milankovitch, and Mileva Marić, born in Vojvodina (then a part of Hungary) has sometimes been rendered as Marity (e.g. in the claim of "Einstein-Marity" theory).
The -ić suffix is a Slavic diminutive, originally functioning to create patronymics. Thus the surname Petrović means the little son of Petar (Petrić signifies the little son of Petra, the widow). It is estimated that some two thirds of all Serbian surnames end in -ić but that some 80% of Serbs carry such a surname with many common names being spread out among tens and even hundreds of non-related extended families.
Most Serbian surnames are paternal (father), maternal (mother), occupational, or derived from personal traits.
Other common surname suffixes are -ov, -in and -ski which is the Slavic possessive case suffix, thus Nikola's son becomes Nikolin, Petar's son Petrov, and Jovan's son Jovanov. The two suffixes are often combined, most commonly as -ović.
The most common surnames are Nikolić, Petrović, and Jovanović.
Name Order
It is very common for Serbian names to follow the Eastern name order of having surname placed before given name, when a person is referred to in everyday speech and writing. This is also a name order that nations once under the Hungarian zone of influence share. However, officially, Serbian names are still rendered in the Western name order with the surname placed after the given name.