[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone, I would like to ask for your help in finding names for my second child, due this winter.
I would like to honor my family/ancestry, which is Croatian/Bosnian-Croatian. I am looking for names to add to my list, which is very sparse right now… My preference is for names that are of Slavic origin, so not Slavic versions of otherwise Latin or Greek or Hebrew names. I would also like the name to be easily pronounced in an English context.
From my own family tree, not a lot of names are usable (mostly for pronunciation issues), although I may still add them as the first or second middle name.
So far I have on my list for boys:
Vedran
[name_m]Neven[/name_m]
I am also open to adding meaningful or beautiful Croatian/Bosnian word names, as well as names of Slavic deities or mythological figures, nature words turned names, or place/landscape/landmark names.
Davor - I believe it was Slavic or old Croatian god?
Borna - ancient Croatian ruler - [name_u]Bo[/name_u]-rna
Mislav - same - Mee-s-lahv - maybe bit too tricky
[name_m]Goran[/name_m] - mountain/hill, not an actual mountain
Lado - I believe it’s mythological or literature figure
Blagoy isn’t corrent Croatian spelling, but I believe [name_m]Drago[/name_m] or [name_u]Milan[/name_u] - from the word mila/milost (grace, darling) would be perfect. I also agree Slaven is nice name.
[name_m]Goran[/name_m] is a very common name, unfortunately I’ve never liked the sound of it
But that makes me think of [name_m]Zoran[/name_m]- what do you all think of that name? It means “dawn”. I think I’m nixing [name_f]Zora[/name_f] from my list for girls, since someone pointed out it has a bad meaning in Spanish for girls. But what about [name_m]Zoran[/name_m], for a boy?
Interesting. My mom said that same thing about [name_f]Zora[/name_f] - that all the grandmas were named that back in the day.
[name_u]Milan[/name_u] is fine, though doesn’t excite me for some reason. I still keep a few M options on my list like Miro or [name_m]Milo[/name_m] or [name_u]Milan[/name_u].
Dragomir is kinda cool… these types of names used to look so old and clunky to me… but I’m rethinking them right now imagining what they might sound like in the US… and that makes me think they might sound like [name_m]Lord[/name_m] of the Rings names maybe I’ll add it to the list, thank you!
I like [name_m]Jovan[/name_m], I’m just wondering if it will bother me to have the name “mispronounced” in the US (originally it would be YOH-vahn)? I’ve nixed a few named starting with J for this reason.
[name_m]Jovan[/name_m] is Serbian form of [name_m]Ivan[/name_m], though. [name_m]Bartol[/name_m] is [name_m]Christian[/name_m] and Croatian saint name.
Thank you for the info! I know a Serb with the last name Jovanovic so I was wondering whether it’s a Serbian name. Unfortunately that nixes it, would be offensive to my family (war memories).
I’m hoping to find names older than saint names, as those are usually not originally Slavic…
But so far the only stronger contenders for a boy are Vedran and [name_m]Neven[/name_m]. Both are word names… not super meaningful aside from that one meaning (Vedran “cheerful” and [name_m]Neven[/name_m] I think “calendula”).
Does anyone have thoughts on using Veles as a name for a boy?? I like the sound and kind of like that it starts with V too… but (?) Veles was one of the top Gods, it would be kind of like naming your child [name_m]Odin[/name_m] or [name_m]Zeus[/name_m]…
Veles was also bad god, I believe. Not fan. Maybe you will like Stribor? Stree-bor, like street, but with bor instead of t. There’s also Perun - Peh-roun.
Stribor’s name from [name_f]Ivana[/name_f] Brlić Mažuranić books, her works are homeage to old Slavic lore.
I clearly need to research these Gods more before using their names
Unfortunately I don’t like the sound of Stribor (one of several criteria obv). I thought Perun was the bad thunder God… thank you for the input!
I’m not familiar with Croatian names at all, but I like [name_m]Neven[/name_m], Zlatan and [name_m]Zoran[/name_m]. Do Damir and Miro work? I saw them on Behind the Name’s list of Croatian names.
Hehe, finally we’re in my territory! I do think the names listed could be usable, but the majority of them are so dated in Croatia so I will list some of the more modern ones:
[name_m]Tin[/name_m]
[name_f]Marin[/name_f]/[name_m]Marino[/name_m]
[name_m]Maro[/name_m]
Stjepan (love this one!)
[name_m]Luka[/name_m]
Lovro
[name_m]Roko[/name_m]
[name_m]Jakov[/name_m]
Borna
[name_m]Matej[/name_m]
Duje
Šimun
Aljoša
Domagoj
Javor
[name_m]Vito[/name_m]
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] you find these helpful! Good luck!
And if you have any more questions feel free to message me.
Thank you!
[name_m]Neven[/name_m] is on my list (of two names really so far), Miro is on my long list. There is nothing wrong with the name at all, it just doesn’t excite me very much and that’s kind of a problem with most names I encounter :-/. I love the meaning, but not the sound of Zlatan or [name_m]Zoran[/name_m] so much. Although [name_f]Zora[/name_f] was on my list for a girl, until it was pointed out that [name_f]Zorra[/name_f] has a bad meaning for girls in Spanish… also my mom thinks it’s dated, although that might not be my top criterion.
Not a big fan of the sound of Damir either… although I’m trying to like Velimir or Dragomir… emphasis on “trying”… :-/
ETA: I do like Luka… unfortunately it’s become quite common in my area (without any cultural ties), so it doesn’t feel super “special” right now… I am so hard to please!
Im happy you’re chiming in, and some of your suggestions are actually names I have in my family. My goal right now is to try and find names that are not Slavic versions of originally Latin or Hebrew etc names (like [name_m]Jakov[/name_m], Stjepan, [name_m]Matej[/name_m]), but rather names that are originally Slavic… basically I’m looking for either pre-[name_m]Christian[/name_m] names, or perhaps for a name combined out of different Slavic words, similar to Germanic naming traditions… which brings me to names like Velimir and Dragomir, although neither of those has so far really excited me, for some reason.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] Vedran or [name_m]Neven[/name_m] seem dated to you?
What would a contemporary Croatian person think of a boy named Veles?
I understand what you mean, so I went and researched for some other names and found these:
Domagoj - dom means home, and gojiti means to grow, nurture
Hrvoje - derived from the word Hrvat, meaning Croatian
Krunoslav* - glory to the crown
Tomislav - probably one of the most important names, a royal name, tomiti means to torture (according to Google, not so sure on this one as it’s not used anymore) and slav means glory
Emerik - after Emerik Deren”in, who led Croatian army against the Turks. According to ourbabynamer, it is of Croatian origin, and means “industrious leader”.
Bogdan - literally meaning “given by God”
Jadran - “the one from the Adriatic Sea”
Nebojša - meaning “fearless”, not really used in Croatia, but common in Serbia
Siniša* - derived from the word sin (“son”)
Tvrtko - extremely tricky to pronounce, but it comes from the word tvrd (“hard”)
Zlatan* - “golden”
The names marked with a star are considered dated, and Nebojša and Bogdan are more used in Serbia, but definitely usable. EDIT: after reading your thread in the girls’ section, I realized you didn’t want Serbian names due to the recent war (which is also why I wouldn’t really use them haha) so feel free to ignore these two.
As for Neven and Vedran, Neven is definitely dated. You could pull off Vedran (I know of one who is 14 years old), but I personally wouldn’t use it, as it sounds dated. Names used currently are mostly saints and very short, usually no longer than 5 letters.
As for Veles, you could pull it off. As the mythology is no longer used anymore, barely anyone knows the gods. I personally was aware of only Morana (goddess of death) and Vesna (goddess of spring). Very few would connect the dots. If I didn’t know it was a god, I’d think it’s a foreign name; it definitely doesn’t sound Croatian.
Emerik I’ve never heard of, cool (and easy to pronounce)!
I really like Jadran, but have an issue with the fact that it will be mispronounced in the US - and respelling it with a Y seems unbalkanese to me and kind of ruins many of my favorites, like Jasna, Jelka, Jelica, [name_f]Jelena[/name_f].
Yeah I get what you’re saying, my family tree is full of <5 letter saint names - Pero, Mato, Kata, Andja etc. They’ll be fine as a middle name and for family reference, but not so much as a first name I feel.
I’ll add it to the list, thank you!
