A question about female names (I hope there are Czech & Russian people on the forum)

[Gordar]

As far as I know, the family names of girls in the Czech Republic always end on -ova, yet sometimes you see a Czech girl whose name doesn't end on -ova... (Novotna for example). You might say that's because the name already ends on an a, but I doubt this applies.

If our mod Jan Svoboda (You've never hidden your name, so I doubt you'll mind, but if you do, I apologize) got a daughter, would her name become Svobodova or would it stay Svoboda? If it changes, then why is Novotna not Novotnova & what is the name of her father? Since Czech people add the -ova extension even to foreign names (Blanka Vlasic, a Croatian high jumper becomes Blanka Vlasicova in the Czech Republic), I find it strange that this doesn't apply to some Czech names... (I want an explanation of course)

The same applies to Russian & Ukrainian names. Most names end on either -ova or -eva (Barisheva, for example), yet I've also seen names like Grebets and GatiyatulLina Instead of Grebet(s?)eva or Gatiyatullinova or Gatiyatullineva. Is this because of different ethnic groups applying different ruler or is there another reason? (an explanation please)

 

[GregCentauro]

Re: A question about female names (I hope there are Czech & Russian people on the for

re: Grebets (or Kravets) --- that's an Ukrainian name. Inflections in Ukrainian differ from other Slavic languages.

Surnames usually are the same for both genders - just like names that end in -enko (Timoshenko, Bondarenko, etc.)

 

[Gordar]

Re: A question about female names (I hope there are Czech & Russian people on the for

Bump

 

[bigwarmload]

Czech feminine surname suffix -ova

Czech feminine surname suffix -ova
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/26/world/fg-czech-names26
http://marcovilla.instablogs.com/entry/czech-women-the-inescapable-man/

 

[Gordar]

Re: Czech feminine surname suffix -ova

Czech feminine surname suffix -ova
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/26/world/fg-czech-names26
http://marcovilla.instablogs.com/entry/czech-women-the-inescapable-man/

From the articles I conclude that the girls lacking the -ova suffix are actually rebelling against the Czech norm...

It can get even weirder though...

http://www.syl.com/articles/thewordssonordottircreatesomeweirdicelandicnames.html

 

[bigwarmload]

Re: A question about female names (I hope there are Czech & Russian people on the for

Its not really weird at all really, simply part of "their" culture(s). To the Czech's its weird that we use articles in our language "a", "an", "the" - so its all relative in many areas.

 

[Facetious]

Re: A question about female names (I hope there are Czech & Russian people on the for

edit

 

[Gordar]

Re: A question about female names (I hope there are Czech & Russian people on the for

You are correct, I should have used uncommon.

Most cultures used a surname to point out what their original profession was or who'se children they were or where they were from. (even though that's not the case today anymore)...

John (the) Farmer obviously had an ancestor who was a farmer.

Edward Johnsson had an ancestor whose father was named John.

Adriaan de Vries (in old Dutch Friesland (Frisia) was spelled with a V (Vriesland)) - Adriaan the Frisian's ancestors obviously lived in Frisia.


The same applies for Hungarian names (& maybe also Asian names?)

Kovács Egyed means Smithy or Forger Egyed

Miskolczi Bela mean Miskolcian Bela (Miscolc is a town/city in Hungary)

etc.


Of course we're stuck with the family names of our ancestors & it doesn't mean much anymore (except in Iceland), but the -ova suffix, if it is a suffix that points out a certain type of loyalty, ownership or servitude towards a person, is rather uncommon (& IMHO a bit outdated, but that's just a personal opinion).

 

[bigwarmload]

Re: A question about female names (I hope there are Czech & Russian people on the for

the -ova suffix, if it is a suffix that points out a certain type of loyalty, ownership or servitude towards a person, is rather uncommon (& IMHO a bit outdated, but that's just a personal opinion).

To me the Czech Easter custom of finding women and spanking them with a wooden whip with ribbons on the end is even more outdated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItiJ0LOyVcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKSkBn5ATjk
http://www.prague.net/czech-easter