ALPHABETICAL:
LITHUANIAN SURNAMES
Currently over 9,000 names published and more to come as an on going project
Published surnames are in:
| A | B | C | D | E| I | J | K | P | V | Z |
The letter "Y" is included in with " I "-
In Lithuanian " Y " is a long " I " -
The Letters Z and Ž are in the same listing to make comparisons easier
In alphabetical search, remember this.
NOTE: Lithuanian diacriticals are shown
This site is dedicated to the compilation of Lithuanian surnames.
You will note that there are two indexes. The first one is an alphabetical listing of surnames.
The second is dedicated to Etymology, the origin of the Lithuanian Surnames
From the alphabetical listing link into the Etymology archive and see researched names.
Lithuanian first name endings:
Male names end in
-as, -is, -ys, -us, -ius .
Female names end in
-a, -ia, -e
Exception male names:
Jogaila,
Karigaila,
Skirgaila,
Švitrigaila
Lithuanian surname endings
One of the peculiarities which strikes the foreigner is the difference between the
male surnames and those of married and unmarried women. The surnames of
married women are formed by dropping the ending of the male surname and adding
the suffix -iene, for example, Katilius - Katiliene, Varnas - Varniene, Zujus - Zujiene
(or Zujuviene). Thus, the suffix -iene carries the same meaning as the English Mrs.
used before a married woman's name. The surnames of unmarried women are
formed by adding the suffixes -aite, -yte, -ute, -te, for example, Katilius - Katiliute,
Zujus - Zujute, Varnas - Varnaite, Banys - Banyte. The second half of the 20-th
century saw the emergence of a new tradition for married women, artists in particular,
to use their maiden names.
Alphabet-with Audio
You are welcome to subscribe to the Lithuanian Genealogy Group @ Yahoo Groups and join in
this interactive group. Additional information is available in the groups archives.
Comments and suggestions are welcome.If you notice an error please send an email pointing out the issue and please identify the location.
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of this website to remain on the Internet and continue to grow.
Lithuanian Genealogy Group
Alphabetical list started February 21. 2006
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ETYMOLOGY:
LITHUANIAN SURNAMES
The following is an excerpt from
J. Kudirka's Book
"THE LITHUANIANS"
By tradition, Lithuanians have two names - the surname, inherited from one's father
more rarely, from mother) and the given name. Surnames appeared in Lithuania with
the introduction of Christianity when at baptism people were given a Christian name
which was, as a rule, used before the ethnic name. This was how from the very
beginning Lithuanians got surnames of foreign origin. Among the privileged classes
surnames took root much sooner (in the first half of the 15-th century) where as
among the peasants surnames became established as late as the 17-th century
or even later. To the present time 50,000 surnames have been registered in Lithuania.
The majority of them are of foreign origin derived from proper or common nouns of
other languages.
Surnames of Lithuanian or Baltic derivation constitute rather a small percentage.
Their origin is usually traced to ancient Lithuanian personal names such as Budrys,
Girdenis, Tylenis, Vilkas, Amantas, Bukantas, Rimgaila, Vizgirda, Tarvydas. Other
surnames can be traced to common nouns which were used as nicknames such
as Baltakis "White-eyed", Didgalvis "Big-headed", Kuprys "Hunchback", or to names
of trades an professions such as Dailide "Carpenter", Kubilius "Cooper", Puodzius
"Potter", Racius "Wheelwright", or even to place names such as Bugailiskis "from
Bugailiai", Pazeimys "from Zeimys", Puniskis "from Punia" and so on. Surnames
of foreign origin came to Lithuania at different times and in different ways. There are
surnames of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Slavic, Germanic, Tatar and other origin. Some
came through direct contacts with the speakers of foreign languages, for example,
the majority of Slavic, Germanic, Jewish surnames; others came via a third language
mostly via one of the Slavic languages, as for example, the surnames of Greek,
Roman and Hebrew origin.
The greatest number of Lithuanian surnames and first names are derived from Greek
names which came to Lithuania via the Slavic countries or Western Europe together
with Christianity, for example, Aleksas, Aleksandras, Andrius, Dionizas, Eugenijus,
Ipolitas, Jeronimas, Jurgis, Kipras, Kristupas, Leonidas, Petras, Steponas, Zenonas.
Moving from language to language these names changed their outer form and became
the linking elements between different languages. A lot of them developed into
surnames, for example, Andrius (from Gr. Andreas "manly, courageous") gave the
following surnames Andraitis, Andriulis, Andriejauskas, Andriukaitis, Andriukevicius,
Endrasius, Endriukaitis, Indriulaitis and others, 245 surnames have been derived
from Petras, 170 from Grigas, 160 from Jurgis, 145 from Steponas, 140 from
Ambraziejus, 115 from Aleksandras.
The most frequent surname in Lithuania is Kazlauskas, the second place in popularity
belongs to Petrauskas.
J. Kudirka "THE LITHUANIANS"
Copyright ©, 1996 Lithuanian Folk Culture Centre.
Now hosted and maintained on our website, THE LITHUANIANS.COM
Etymology list Launching, date to be determined
This is a serious study and research in this area is profound.
For now, only general observations will be noted.
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