Hungarian names


Hungarian names include surnames and given names. Some people have more than one given name, but only one is normally used. In the Hungarian language, whether written or spoken, names are invariably given in the "Eastern name order", with the family name followed by the given name. Hungarian is one of the few national languages in Europe to use the Eastern name order, like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Khmer, Telugu, and some Basque nationalists.

Orthography

Although Hungarian orthography is now simpler than it was in the 18th and the 19th centuries, many Hungarians still use the old spelling for their names. For example, the letter c is often written as cz. Letters such as q, w, x and y are usually seen only in foreign words but may also be seen in older spellings of names, especially in noble family names that originated in the Middle Ages.
Family names that refer to a place of origin and end with the suffix -i have two possible endings: they can be written with the -i suffix, which is used in every other context, or with a -y suffix, both of which mean "from" or "of" a place and are pronounced the same way. A family originating from Szeged and named after that fact thus may spell its surname "Szegedi" or "Szegedy", both of which mean "from Szeged" or "of Szeged". The -y ending is popularly but falsely believed to indicate noble origin. However, it is true is that -y is an older spelling, and older records were more likely to record people of higher rank and wealth.

Hungarian surnames

Hungarian normally puts family names, except for foreign names, first in Hungarian speech and text. Some Hungarian surnames relate to professions like Szabó, Kovács, Halász. Other surnames refer to ethnic origin. For example, common Hungarian surnames include Németh, Horváth, Tóth, Lengyel, Oláh and Rác/Rácz/Rátz.
During the 19th and the early 20th centuries, people in the Kingdom of Hungary who were of non-Hungarian ethnicity, with Jewish, German or Slovak ancestry, were encouraged to adopt Hungarian surnames. Some people with German names translated them directly into Hungarian. Some of them just magyarized their original German surnames into Hungarian forms. However, many Hungarians of German descent retained their original surnames like Horn, Deutsch, Staller, Keller, Rockenbauer, Hoffmann, etc.
A few given names are also used as family names, similarly to naming conventions in some other languages like German. Examples of this are Károly or László, which can be both used as given or family names.
The top three most frequent surnames in Hungary are Nagy, Kovács, and Tóth.

Hungarian given names

The origin of Hungarian names is closely related to the religious and dynastic history of the country. Many saints' names and royal names have Hungarian equivalents.

Female names

While it is increasingly frequent that Hungarians are given a second given name, they tend to choose one that they prefer to use.
When baptised, a child may get an additional name, especially if there is no saint who bears its name, and so they take a name associated with a patron saint. At confirmation, children receive another given name, but it is not used. Both baptismal and confirmation names have religious significance only and are not on any official records.

Married names

There is a wide range of selection of a married name. Until about the 18th century noblewomen kept their names at marriage and their children received their father's name; it became compulsory only under the reign of Joseph II. When Hungary was under Habsburg rule and became influenced by Western European traditions, women became known by their husbands' names. So for example Szendrey Júlia, marrying Petőfi Sándor, became Petőfi Sándorné. This was both the law and the tradition until the 1950s. During the Communist rule of Hungary, great emphasis was put upon the equality of women and men, and from that time, women could either choose to keep their maiden name or take that of their husband. Most women did the latter except for artists.
Now, the alternatives for a woman when she marries are as shown below :
  • Júlia can keep her maiden name, as Szendrey Júlia.
  • Júlia gives up her name, adds the suffix -né to her husband's full name, and will be called Petőfi Sándorné.
  • Júlia adds the suffix -né to her husband's family name, adds her full name and will be called Petőfiné Szendrey Júlia.
  • Júlia adds the suffix -né to her husband's full name, adds her full name and will be called Petőfi Sándorné Szendrey Júlia.
  • Júlia takes her husband's family name, keeps her given name "Júlia" and will be called Petőfi Júlia.
The applicable law, which used to give substantially different sets of options to women and men, was declared sexist and unconstitutional. The ensuing amendment, in force since 2004, also lists options for men. Thus:
  • Sándor can keep his birth name, as Petőfi Sándor.
  • Sándor takes his wife's family name, keeps his given name "Sándor" and will be called Szendrey Sándor.
  • A further new option is hyphenation. In our example, the family name Petőfi-Szendrey or Szendrey-Petőfi will be introduced for one or both parties. A sole party not assuming the hyphenated form keeps his or her original family name.
Note that using opposing hyphenations and exchanging names are not allowed. Also, one can have a maximum of two last names. If one or both partners-to-be come to the marriage with more than one surname, they will have to agree which ones to keep.
Both the bride and groom have to declare at the wedding which name they will use, and they have to declare which family name their children will get. Children can get either parent's surname, if it is on the marriage certificate, but all children must have the same surname. Since 2004 they can also get a hyphenated name, but only if both parents kept their birth names at least as one part of their new name. Children usually get their father's surname, but hyphenated names are becoming more common.
Couples of the same sex are not allowed to marry in Hungary, so they cannot legally use each other's names unless they change their names through a deed of change of name.