Sokolović


Sokolović is a South Slavic surname. It derives from the Slavic word sokol, meaning "falcon" and literally means "son of the falcon". The Sokolović of the Sanjak of Herzegovina were called Sokoli and Sokullu-oğlu, by the Ottomans. One of the coat of arms included in the Korenić-Neorić Armorial and the Fojnica Armorial claimed to be that of the "Sokolovich". The coat of arms most likely was attributed to the Sokolović of Glasinac.

Modern families

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Sokolović in Foča have the slava of Mratindan, the veneration of Serbian King Stefan Dečanski. The Sokolović of Foča, when interviewed by Vladimir Dedijer, said that they had left their ancestral home long ago. Dedijer concluded that the Sokolović of Foča hailed from Korjenići. Indeed, in the Late Middle Ages, families in Korjenići had the slava of Mratindan; among these families were surely the Sokolović of Foča. The Mastilović in Gacko claimed that they were formerly named Sokolović, and that they were kin with those Sokolović in Foča, with whom they share the slava, and they claimed that Mehmed-paša Sokolović was one their ancestors. A Sima Mastilović was mentioned in a document of the Piva Monastery from 1569; this points to that Sokolović was used much earlier than that. The Kojović and Djaić in Čičevo near Trebinje also descend from the Sokolović in Foča, and have the slava of Mratindan.
Petar Rađenović's anthropological work Bjelajsko Polje i Bravsko mentioned a Sokolović family in the Muslim village of Bjelaj, Bosanski Petrovac, as one of three Serb families, which had in 1921 settled from Ripač; they have the slava of Đurđevdan, and hail from Čajniče, and were earlier surnamed Glođajić.

Serbia

In the period of 1920–31, Serb and other South Slavic families of the Kingdom of Hungary were given the option to leave Hungary for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and thereby change citizenship. The Sokolović optanti were Serb. In Nagybudmér, there was one optanti Sokolović family, in Borjád, there were three opranti Sokolović families.

Croatia

There are Sokolović in Dubrovnik area, originating from Popovo Polje in Herzegovina. They originate from Catholics who migrated from Popovo to Dubrovnik in the 18th century. Their surname is sometimes spelled as Soko or Sokol. They were first recorded as Soko in Dračevo near Popovo Polje in the 16th century, and later as Sokolović in Velja Međa and Kiševo in the 18th century. They started as a branch of an unknown older family.
There are also Serbian Orthodox Sokolović in Kordun, Croatia, who have the slava of Đurđevdan.

Notable individuals

Ottoman-era Sokolović family

In the Ottoman period, in the 16th century, there was an influential Sokolović family that had two branches, one that was Orthodox, and was dominant in the Serbian Orthodox Church, while the other became Muslim, and was influential in the Ottoman government. The Orthodox branch included Serbian patriarchs Makarije Sokolović, Antonije Sokolović, Gerasim Sokolović and Savatije Sokolović. The Muslim branch included Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, the Ottoman Grand Vizier and Sokollu Ferhad Pasha, the Beylerbey of Bosnia.