Yugoslav male names. Serbian female names

The adoption of Christianity, which came from Byzantium in the second half of the 9th century, entailed the obligatory nature of only canonical names, that is, limited Orthodox calendar. By origin, these names are ancient Greek or adopted from the languages ​​of the eastern part of the Roman Empire in the era of early Christianity. For many centuries names from Serbian anthroponymy competed with canonical names native language(Vuk "wolf"); among the princes, compound names became stronger, in the second component of which the most frequent are “peace” and, somewhat inferior to it in terms of frequency, “slav”.

There were often “protective” names dictated by superstition, that is, according to Serbian ideas, designed to ward off evil spirits so that they would not kidnap the child or harm him. Centuries of domination Ottoman Empire in Serbia (after the loss of independence as a result of defeat in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389) not only failed to destroy the original Serbian names, but, on the contrary, unwittingly contributed to their transformation into one of the means protecting the unity and identity of the Serbs. Some names of Turkic origin included in the Serbian anthroponymy (Karanfila “carnation”) do not exceed the usual number of borrowings during long-term close contact with the foreign-language population.

The establishment of the socialist system in Serbia in 1945 abolished the church ban on non-canonical names; the choice of names became free. Many new names have appeared, mainly based on Serbian vocabulary; The transition of informal forms of naming to basic names is especially frequent. Borrowings from the names of the fraternal peoples of Yugoslavia are also common (for example, the names Iegan, Njegosh, Negota, Negatic, Negach, Negaje, and the feminine Negotinka were formed.

Suffixes form a kind of paradigm, which can be illustrated by the example of male names:

Bratota Bratun Bratui Bratokhna Bratoje Milota Miloš Milun Miluy Milokhna Miloje Work Radosh Rayun Raduy Radohna Radoje.

The most common suffixes of female names: -ka (covers 20% of all names of Serbian women; differs from Russian in that it does not carry any derogatory connotation at all (Zhivka, Zdravka, Slavyanka), -ina (Yasmina, Angelina), -itsa (Milica, Zorica ), -ana (Lilyana, Snezhana).
Compound names are numerous. A third of all men wear them (Miroslav, Radomir); in women they are half as common (Negomira, Negoslava).

The ten most common male names are: Dragan, Zoran, Milan, Slobodan, Miroslav, Milodrag, Dusan, Radomir, Petar, Vladimir. But their frequency is variable and different in different areas.

All female names end in -a (in Russian transmission - also in the spelling -iya, which conveys the pronunciation -iya), male names have a hard consonant in the final, a small amount - iot and a slightly larger amount - a vowel.

Numerous derivative forms are extremely widespread in the sphere of everyday communication. For example, from the main form of the male name Alexander such derivatives are possible as Sandro, Sanda, Sandal, Sande, Sanko, Lesan, Leko, Lela, Lesa, Lesko, Lesander, Lecha, Leiko, Lekan, Tsane, Tsaka, Tsanda.

Serbian anthroponymy is characterized by an abundance of nicknames.

Last names are required for everyone. Many Serbs have surnames ending in -ich.

In the Russian program the spelling is -ich.

There are significantly fewer surnames with -ich in Vojvodina - half of all surnames in Kosovo-Metohija. In a number of localities, the entire population has, except official surname parallel, used by all residents within the village.

The modern Serbian name book has a rich educational suffixation: there are more than 50 suffixes that form personal names. So, for example, from the base they can.

Serbian surnames have certain characteristics that indicate their nationality. At the same time they are close to everyone Slavic peoples, which allows us to draw an analogy and show how much they have in common. The article provides examples of the most common and famous names, as well as the rule for their declension.

Features of Serbian surnames

Serbs as a people were formed through the assimilation of the ancient Greeks, descendants of the Roman Empire and Eastern Slavs, who created a South Slavic subgroup that settled in the north-west of the Balkan Peninsula, where local tribes of Illyrians and Dacians lived. For a long time, Croats, Serbs and Bosnians had a single literary language, but since the middle of the 20th century, their own language was created based on the Cyrillic “Vukovica”.

By tradition, the Latin “gajevica” is also used, which brings Serbs closer to other Balkan peoples, whose languages ​​are similar, and there is mutual understanding between the speakers. Today, two-thirds of Serbs live in the lands of the former Yugoslavia (8 million people), including 6 million directly in Serbia. There are another 4 million foreign diaspora, well represented in the United States.

It is distinguished by Serbian surnames, which, as a rule, contain a characteristic suffix - ich, which has a decreasing value. For example, the surname Petrich can be interpreted as little Peter. The suffix is ​​often associated with the word "son": Milkovich is the son of Milko. The difference is fundamental, because 90% of the surnames of Serbian citizens have the suffix - ich.

There are exceptions. For example, a world-famous film director, a native of Sarajevo, considers Orthodox Serbs his ancestors, but his uncharacteristic surname reveals the presence of Muslim roots. 17% also end in - ovich (evich), but their peculiarity is the fact that, as a rule, they owe their origin to baptismal names: Borisevich, Pashkevich, Yurkovich.

Serbian surnames: list of the most popular

A study of the most common surnames in Serbia since 1940 yielded the following results:

• The most used ones come from personal names: Jovanovic, Nikolic, Markovic, Petrovic, Djordjevic, Milosevic, Pavlovich.
• From professional activity, personal qualities and other words are popular: Stankovic, Ilic, Stojanovic.

For example last name you can see how much famous people are its carriers:

• The now living writer and journalist Radosav Stojanovic, author of the novels “Moonship”, “Angelus” and “Wild Graft”.
• Serbian and Russian actress with the same name Daniela Stojanovic.
• Beginning tennis player Nina Stojanovic.

The research also concerned the most commonly used combinations with male and female names, which most often are of Slavic origin and are not divided into full and diminutive (in the passport you can find both Miloslav, Milan, and Milko). Meet and Orthodox names(although Serbs do not have a tradition of celebrating name days), as well as compounds, “glued together” from two words with a Slavic component (Marislav, Negomira).

The most common Serbian first and last names:

The beauty of sound and famous personalities

Beautiful surnames delight the ears of those who hear and pronounce them. Nothing pleases more than the successes and achievements of fellow citizens glorifying their historical homeland. Today the whole world knows the Australian Nicholas Vujicic, whose lack of limbs did not prevent him from becoming famous and becoming the best motivational speaker of our time, instilling hope in seriously ill people. But few people know that his parents are Serbian emigrants, as evidenced by the surname that sounds today in all languages ​​of the world and has lost its original correct reading - Vujicic.

Beautiful Serbian surnames today belong to hundreds of athletes, cultural and scientific figures. Among them are the best tennis player, football legend Dragan Djajic, NBA center player Vlade Divac, world-class football players Branislav Ivanovic, Bojan Krkic, Milos Krasic, Hollywood beauty Milla Jovovich, composer Goran Bregovic, singer Radmila Karaklajic, the greatest scientist Nikola Tesla, who gave the world X-rays and lasers . By the way, the absence -ich often speaks of belonging to the lands of Vojvodina or Kosovo and Mitohija, where this suffix is ​​less common.

Analogies

The emphasis in long surnames among Serbs, as a rule, falls on the third syllable from the end: Stamenković, Vukobratović, which distinguishes them from representatives of other Slavic nationalities. If the base is the root -wook, a similar surname in Russian will be formed from the word wolf: Volkov, Volchkov, Volchaninov. For example, Vukic, Vukovich, Vukoslavljevic. The following Serbian surnames also come from the names of animals: Paunovic (peacock), Sharanich (carp), Vranich (crow). Russian analogues: Pavlinov, Karpov, Voronin.

Russian surnames formed from professional activities (Kuznetsov, Bondarev, Karetnikov) correspond to: Kovachevich, Kacharovich, Kolarevich. Other analogies with the underlying words are also interesting. Example: Gromov - Lomich, Lukin - Lukovich, Bezborodov - Chosic, Koldunov - Veshtitsa, Kleymenov - Zhigich.

Declension

Serbian surnames are declined according to the rule of the Russian language, which states that surnames ending in a consonant -h in the feminine gender, the cases do not change:

• I'm following Ana Ivanovic's game.

And in masculine - they bow without fail:

• Nominative (who?): Dusan Ivkovic;
• Genitive (of whom?): Dusan Ivkovic;
• Dative (to whom?): Dušan Ivković;
• Accusative (of whom?): Dusan Ivkovic;
• Creative (by whom?): Dusan Ivkovic;
• Prepositional (about whom?): about Dusan Ivkovic.

This is already the second article about the names of the South Slavs (and it will not be the last; materials about the names of residents of the Republic of Slovenia are in the process of preparation).The first one, posted on our website on September 6, 2016,was called “Names in Slavic countries. Croatia".

So, Serbia. The country's population is approaching 7.5 million people (Kosovo is not included in this figure). National composition motley country - Serbs 83% (6 million people), Hungarians 4% (250 thousand people), Bosnians 2% (150 thousand people), Croats 1%, in total almost 30 ethnic groups (Romanians, Rusyns , Bulgarians, Bunevtsy, Albanians, Gypsies, etc.). More than 90% of the population consider themselves Christians, of which 85% are Orthodox (Serbs), Catholics - 6% (Hungarians, Croats), Protestants - 1% (Slovaks). Muslims make up about 3% (mostly Bosnians).

The official language is Serbian. This is the only language in Europe with active “digraphy”, that is, with the simultaneous use of two alphabets (!) - Cyrillic and Latin. This phenomenon is interesting, so let’s give it a little attention.

The languages ​​spoken by Serbs and Croats are not much different. And until recently in Yugoslavia - a country built on a federal principle, in as a single literary language for the peoples living in it (Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Bosnians), the “Serbo-Croatian language” was used. Writing for this language was created 200 years ago, and in two versions at once: “Vukovitsa” (based on the Cyrillic alphabet) and “Gayevitsa” (based on the Latin alphabet).

Area of ​​distribution of the Serbo-Croatian language

Vukovica was “invented” in 1814 by the Serbian philologist Vuk Karadžić (Vuk Karajiě).In this alphabet, unlike the Russian one, there are no letters Yoyo, Yy, Shchshch, Ъъ, Иы, ьь, Ee, Yuyu, Yaya, but six “special” ones are used - jj, y, l, n, soft ch, j:

A b, B b, C c, D g, D d, Ђ ђ (jj), E e, Zh, Zz, Ii, Ј j(th), K k, L l, Љ љ (l), M m, N n, Њ њ (ny), Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Ћ ћ(soft h) , Uu, Ff, Xx, Tsts, Chh, Џ џ(j) , Shs.The female names Luba, Lerka, Zeljka and Stefania, for example, in Vukovica look like this: Љуба, Љерка, Жељка, Шће panјa, and the name of the famous Yugoslav (Serbian) singer Đorđe Marjanović is Ђorђе Marјаnoviћ.

In 1835, the “gaevitsa” was created ( gajica) - Latinized version of Vukovica.This was done by a Croatian writer and linguistLjudevit Gaj. There are no letters Q, W, X, Y in the Gaevitz, but there are eight “special” letters- h hard, h soft, j, jj, l, n, w, w:

A a , Bb, Cc, Č č (h solid) Ć ć (h soft) , Dd, Dž dž (j), Đ đ (j), Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Lj lj (l), Mm, Nn, Nj nj (н), Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Š š (w), Tt, Uu, Vv, Zz, Ž ž (w).The female names Lyuba, Lerka, Zhelka and Stefania, for example, are written in Gaevitz like this: Ljuba, Ljerka, Ž eljka, Š tefanija , and Djordje Marjanovic - Đ or đ e Marjanovi ć.

For many years, both scripts were used equally, until the collapse of Yugoslavia. Already in 1991, Croatia completely abandoned the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, and Serbia, in accordance with the Constitution adopted in 2006, prohibited the use of the Latin alphabet in official documents government agencies. However, this ban does not yet affect other areas of life - book publishing, media, commercial activities, business and personal correspondence, etc. It is interesting to note that during a 2014 opinion poll, 47% of the population preferred the Latin alphabet and only 36% were in favor of the Cyrillic alphabet (17% were undecided).

The “Serbo-Croatian language” is gradually becoming a thing of the past. Currently we have two quite independent language: Serbian and Croatian (and every year they diverge more and more), as well as two writing systems - “Serbian and Croatian Latin” (hrvatska i srpska latinica, gajica) and“Serbian Cyrillic” (Srpska Cyrillic or Vukovica).

The most popular names for newborn boys in Serbia (2011-2015)

The naјcheshћa mushka names koјa su are written in the matichne kњige roђenh

The most popular names for newborn girls in Serbia (2011-2015)

The most female names of koјa su are written in the matichne kњige romђnih

What names do today's adults have? For illustration we useranking "200 most influential women in Serbia" (200 najmoćnijih žena u Srbiji), published on 12/18/2014 in the daily newspaper Blic. This list includes the most prominent representatives of all spheres of Serbian society (politics, business and finance, education, culture and art, sports) aged from 20 to 60 years.

Afrodita, Aleksandra (5), Alisa, Ana (6), Andrea (2), Anja, Biljana, Branislava (2), Branka, Brankica, Dalila, Danica (4), Danijela, Desanka, Diana, Dijana, Dragana (6 ), Dragica (3), Dragijana, Draginja, Dušica (2), Gordana (4), Gorica, Irena, Isidora, Irena, Jadranka (2), Jasmina (2), Jasminka, Jasna (8), Jelena (7) , Jelisaveta (2), Jorgovanka, Jovanka, Katarina (4), Kori, Latinka, Lepa, Ljerka, Ljiljana (3), Maja (5), Manja, Marija (5), Marijana (2), Marina (2), Milena (2), Milica (4), Mira (2), Mirjana (3), Nada (4), Nadežda, Natalija (2), Nataša (4), Nevena, Olja, Rada, Radoljupka, Ranka, Roksanda (2 ), Ružica (2), Sanda (2), Sandra (2), Sanja (2), Slađana, Slavica (4), Slavka, Snežana (6), Sonja (4), Stanislava, Suzana (2), Svetlana ( 6), Tamara, Tanja (3), Tatjana (2), Tijana, Vera (3), Verica (2), Vesna (5), Vidosava, Violeta, Zagorka, Zorana (3), Zorica

Alexa, Aleksandar (10), Andrija, Andrija, Boban, Bozhidar, Bozhin, Bojan, Boris (5), Boshko, Branislav (2), Branko (3), Vladan, Vladimir (5), Vladislav, Vlado, Vuk (3 ), Gavrilo, Gojko (2), Goran (2), Gordan (2), Darko (2), Dejan (6), Dimitrije, Dragan (4), Drago љ ub, Dragoslav, Dragutin, Drasko, Dusan (2) , Dushko, Ђ or ђ e (3), Zhe љ ko (3), Zivorad, Zoran (3), Ivan (7), Igor (5), Ilija (2), Janko, Jogos, Jovan (2), J Ovitsa (2), Konstantin (2), Costa, Lepomir,Љ murdered, Љ killed, Љ ubodrag, Marko (3), Milan (5), Milenko, Milivoje, Milorad, Milos (10), Miodrag (5), Mirko, Miroslav, Mikhailo (2), Mihajlo, Mladen, Nebojsha (4), Nemaњ a (2), Nenad (7), Nikola (6), Pavle, Petar, Predrag (7), Radovan, Radojko, Radosh, Ranko, Sasha, Svetislav, Sveto, Svetozar (2), Sinisa (2), Slavko ( 2), Slobodan (2), Wedђ an (3), Stevan, Stefan, Tanasije, Tihomir, Urosh, Cedomir

Ada, Alexandra (5), Ana (8), Anastasia, Anђ ela, An ђ elka (2), Bi љ ana, Boјana (4), Brankica (2), Valentina (1), Vaњ a (2), Veritsa (2), Vesna, Victoryја, В ј era (2), Gorana, Gordana (3), Daliја, Daniela, Daniela (3), Dejana (2), Dina, Dobrila, Dragana (3), Drina, Dubravka, Dushanka (2), Oregano, Dushka, Eva, Elizabeta, Zheika, Zorica (2), Zlatija, Zorana (2), Ivana (10), Ivanka, Ines, Iva, Jadranka, Jasmina (4), Jasna, Jelena (7), Jovana (3), Jovanka, Kalina, Katarina (2), Lena, Lidija (3), Jiљana, Jubica, Jupka, Maja (5), Margareta, Maria (5), Marina (2), Masha (2), Mila, Milena (2), Militsa (4), Mija, Mina (2), Mirjana (5 ), Nada (2), Nadezhda, Natalia, Natasha (9), Nevena, Nela, Olga (3), Olivera (3), Oљa, Radmila, Ruzhitsa, Sandra, Saњ a (3), Svetlana (3), Sena, Silvia, Slavenka, Sloboda, Smi jana (2), Snezhana (2), S њ ezhana, Soњa (3), Sofia (2), Stela, Suzana (3), Tamara (7), Tatiana (6), Teodora , Tijana (2)

Pravoslavac - Church calendar (see "Calendar" - days of remembrance of saints and "Name Book" - names by month) link to the site

The best names and names. Submit by opshtinama and gradovima. Republic of Srbia. Republic Plant for Statistics, Beograd, 2012, 196 pp., pdf, 3.5 Mb

Milica Grkoviě: Riverman personal names code Srba, "Vuk Karadzic", Beograd, 1977, 166 pp., pdf link, 64 MB

Milica Grkovic: Register of personal names of the state of the region of Brankovic in 1455. Online edition: July, 2016.Publisher: SANU - Odeљeњe drushtvenih science, ћavno preduzеће “Services”Glossary." Beograd, 2001. Pp. 687-746. (total 61 pages), pdf link, 2 MB

Milica Grkoviě: Names of the Dečani chrisovuљama.Institute for South Slovenian Jezike,Novi Sad, 1983, 117 pp.,

The meanings of Serbian names are directly related to folklore, legends and beliefs. In ancient times, names were given to newborns, including girls, that had protective magical properties that could protect children from evil forces and evil eyes.

So, names with the root “alive” had a protective, life-affirming character: Zhivana, Zhivka and others. Often similar names were given to girls born into a family that for a long time was considered childless; This was also the name given to babies who were considered weak from birth and, in fact, hanging by a thread between life and death.

Word formation

A number of female Serbian names, from the point of view of morphemics, are complex words, the morphemic composition of which includes two or more roots:

The bulk of female names are simple words, the morphemic composition of which includes one producing root and word-forming affixes:

1. -itsa – Dragitsa, Vujitsa;
2. -ka – Milka, Yavorka;
3. -la – Dobrila;
4. -na – Divna, Stoina;
5. -ta – Mileta, Grace, Vladet;
6. -sha – Uglesha, Vranesha, etc.

There is also a high percentage of those names that are nouns in pure form, moved from the “common noun” category to the “own” category:

• Cherry;
• Ruja;
• Dunya.

The list of Serbian female names includes both full and abbreviated forms of names, which, in turn, are full names from the point of view of legislation: they can also be included in identity documents.

Etymology

The etymology of Serbian names, including women's ones, is directly related to the history of the country and people.

What do they pay attention to when choosing?

Residents of Serbia have always believed that a name is a kind of sign, a mark on which a person’s fate depends, how his life will turn out. Therefore, parents who were faced with choosing a name for their daughter tried to choose it in such a way that their girl would find happiness, health, beauty, wisdom, kindness, and love in life. Names whose meanings are associated with these categories are widely represented in the list below.

List of beautiful options for girls in Russian and their interpretation

The meaning of Serbian names is extremely varied: some names indicate character traits and qualities of a girl, others denote natural phenomena, plants, animals or abstract concepts, many names are taken from the church calendar.

• Agapia– the name comes from the ancient Greek language and means “love”. A girl with that name is loving and sweet to everyone with whom fate brings her together, and she herself knows how to love.
• Agatha– translated from ancient Greek means “kind, good”; endowed with meekness, compassion, too soft and quiet, but proud and proud.
• Anastasia- derived from masculine Greek name Anastas – “resurrected”. A simple and dreamy girl loves truth, goodness and work. Outwardly attractive and interesting.
• Angela- from the ancient Greek male name “Angel”, which translated means “angel, messenger”. Fickle, ready for self-sacrifice.
• Adriana– has Roman roots and the meaning “Adriatic, native of the Adriatic”. He has willpower and an unbending character. Relies only on himself and his own strength.
• Biljana – derived name from the male Serbian name Biljan, meaning "grass, plant". Unsociable, cautious, values ​​her inner world.
• Bogdana- a derivative of the male name Bogdan, which has common Slavic roots and means “given by God.” An obedient, flexible girl. Very sociable and friendly. Poor health.
• Božana– a derived name from the common Slavic male name Bozhan – “ man of God" Affectionate, amorous. Perfectionist.
• Boyana– there are 2 versions of the meaning of this name: from Turkic – “rich”, from Common Slavic – “fight”. Romantic nature, creative personality.
• Valeria– from Roman family name, which means “strong, healthy.” Unpredictable, contradictory. Devoted friend, faithful wife.
• Vukana– from the Serbian “vuk”, which means “wolf”. The name has magical property, it protects from all evil forces.
• Gvozdena– from Serbian “iron”. Has willpower and persistent character.
• Gordana– the roots of the name go back to Phrygian mythology, namely to the Phrygian king Gordius. Interpreted as “proud”. At the same time, a girl with that name is always ready to sacrifice herself in the name of high goals.
• Danica– from the common Slavic “dennitsa”, which means “ morning Star» ( popular name planet Venus). Helpless, feminine, possessing erotic magnetism.
• Dragana–has original Serbian roots and means “beloved, beloved, dear.” Some sources claim that the name is an obsolete form of the word "bride". Idealist, but affectionate and sentimental.
• Dragoslava- is a compound word that includes the roots “drag” - dear and “glory”. The general meaning is contained in the phrase “precious glory.” Bright, creative nature.
• Oregano– translated from Serbian means “soul”. It is believed that a girl with this name will be sincere, empathetic and merciful. Her whole life is caring for her own soul and the souls of loved ones.
• Zvezdana– from the Serbian “star”. A bright, attractive girl. Loved by friends. Willow - from the Slavic “tree”. Can be used as a shortening of Ivan. Has a contradictory character. Kind, fair, reliable.
• Jovana– the roots of the name are Hebrew, meaning “God is good, she has been merciful by God.” Sociable, cheerful, friendly, obliging, balanced.
• Milina- derived from husband Milan. Common Slavic root meaning “sweetheart”. An open, affectionate, sociable girl, but she doesn’t understand people well.
• Milovanka– a form from the masculine Milovan, which means “to have mercy, caress, love.” Kind, affectionate girl. Outwardly attractive.
• Mirana– female form from Miran – “peaceful”. Fidget. Loves to travel and communicate. Nevena - from her husband.
• Neven, which means “calendula” in Serbian. Brave, independent, inquisitive.
• Nikolina- from husband Nikola, has ancient Greek. roots of “defeat the army.” Mysterious person, extravagant and emotional.
• Pavlia– female form from Pavle, meaning "humble fellow". Sensual, feminine, passionate. Good mother.
• glad- from general slavs. "joy". Endowed with leadership qualities, talented, but conflicted.
• Radojka- from general slavs. "joy". She is characterized by courage and independence. Leader in the team.
• Ruzha– from the Serbian “rose”. Creative, gifted personality. Outwardly attractive.
• Selena- on behalf of ancient greek goddess Moons. A purposeful girl who can make everyone around her happy.
• Snezhana- general glory root "snow". Loves society and strives to help others. Others can use this.
• Srebrana- general glory root "silver". Friendly, kind, patient.
• Tamara– from other – Heb. "fig tree". Since childhood, she has been endowed with power, strength, and courage.
• Theodora- from ancient Greek. "God's gift." Serious and extraordinary personality, very principled.
• Decrease- from Serbian "pretty" An affectionate girl who can please everyone.
• Photia- from ancient Greek. language, which means "light". Emotional, enthusiastic, sociable.
• Christina– from the Latin “Christian”. Sociable, affectionate, kind, but shy.
• Tsvetana– has universal fame. root "to bloom". A beautiful, bright girl who knows how to attract everyone's attention.
• Chedomirka- male form named Chedomir - “peaceful child”. A quiet, modest girl who lives in harmony with everyone.

Naming your child is an important step. But we should not forget about education. Parents should not rely on fate in everything, but should themselves make a significant contribution to the formation of the best traits of their child.

Many people like Serbian names - unusual, sonorous, “speaking”. We feel in them a closeness to the common Slavic origins, a pagan strength, something almost lost in our culture. But times change, and with them language and culture change. What names are popular in Serbia today? Which Slavic Serbian names have withstood the onslaught of globalization? What do Serbs call children in beginning of XXI centuries?

Historical Serbian names

It is known that in the past a name was often given to a newborn in order to further protect him. To weak child survived, he was often given the name Vuk (“Wolf”), since it was believed that witches eat children, and they would not dare attack a wolf. In ancient times, names with the stem “alive” were of a protective nature: Dabizhiv (let him live), Zhivan, Zhivana, Zhivko. Vuk Karadzic writes that “Zivko” was often used to call any boy in conversation. For example, regardless of the child’s name, when they met, his mother could be asked “How is your Zhivko?”

Names from the verb “stati” (stand up, stop) Stanimir, Stanislav, Stanoje, Stana were given in the past so that children would big family no more were born, that's enough.

A large number of names with the stem “rad” (work) - Radoslav, Radomir, Radoje, Radojica - and “mil” - Milos, Milan, Milica - shows which positive traits Serbs wanted to see in their children.

Popular male Serbian names

Nowadays in Serbia, parents most often give their children christian names. Thus, a study conducted in Kragujevac in the first decade of the 21st century showed that the most popular male names (in descending order of popularity):

• Nikola
• Lazar
• Stephen
• Aleksandar
• Marco
• Alexa
• Nemanja
• Jovan
• Philip
• Veljko
• Milos
• George
• Petar
• Mikhailo
• Ognen
• Matia
• Dusan
• Bogdan
• David
• Pavle
• Milan
• Strakhinya

Of the Slavic names on this list, only Nemanja, Veljko, Milos, Dusan, Bogda, Milan and Strahinja.

Popular female Serbian names

The most popular female names in Serbia now are:

• Militsa
• Angela
• Jovana
• Maria
• Christina
• Anastasia
• Katarina
• Alexandra
• Theodora
• Nevena
• Tiyana
• Elena
• Sofia
• Tamara
• Emilia
• Ivana
• Nikolina
• Natalia
• Nadya (Nadja)

Except for himself popular name The only Slavic Militsa here are Nevena and Tiyana. In addition to purely Christian origin, the influence of the Russian language - Tamara and Nadya or Western European languages ​​- Emilia is noticeable.

The weakening of the popularity of Slavic names is especially noticeable in two categories: among the popular names there are no Slavic names with two stems (Vladimir, Miroslav, etc.) and names with the stem “rad” (Radomir, Radoslav, etc.).

The popularity of names of Christian origin can be explained by two trends: firstly, the return of interest in Orthodox traditions and Serbian history, and secondly, the fact that these names are international, which makes life easier in a modern globalized society.