Important aspects of Croatian alphabet for genealogy researcher

Eight letters that English
doesn't recognize

It is a known fact that Croats use Latin alphabet in their writings, but it is important for a genealogist to know and understand some of Croatian written language's unique features.

English alphabet has 26 letters, while Croatian has 30. However, four of the English letters are not found in the alphabet used by Croats: X, Y, W and Q. So the total difference between those two alphabets amounts to eight letters, which should be taken into consideration while researching family history records.

The first specific of Croatian alphabet is it's diacritical letters Č, Ć, Š, Ž and Đ, which had been devised because of presence of some of distinguished sounds in pronounciation of words. (It is important to note here that Croatian alphabet is almost fully phonetic, which means that each written letter represents a sound that typically doesn't change depending on a position in a word or a sentence.)

Another Croatian specific are digraphs or letters consisting of two signs that are treated as one, inseparable letter. Those letters are LJ, NJ and DŽ and their inseparableness have some interesting consequences for genealogy research. For example, when listed in alphabetical order, surname Ljubić comes after surname Lovrić, and Njirić comes after Novak. So, if you cannot find a surname on a list you think should be there, take this specific into account and you may have success.

Here is the table with all letters of Croatian alphabet in proper order, together with English Alphabet, pronounciation and examples of surnames begining with the respective Croatian letter.

Croatian Alphabet	English Alphabet	Pronounci- ation	As in English word	Example of Croatian last name (surname)
A	A		car	Anić
B	B		bat	Babić
C	C		cats	Cindrić
Č	-		chalk	Čavlović
Ć	-		church	Ćurković
D	D		dig	Delić
DŽ	-		gin	Džajo
Đ	-		jack	Đaković
E	E		let	Erceg
F	F		fit	Filipović
G	G		game	Grgić
H	H		heaven	Hrvatin
I	I		east	Ivanković
J	J		year	Josipović
K	K		cut	Kovač
L	L		love	Leko
LJ	-		million	Ljubić
M	M		mice	Milas
N	N		nice	Novačić
NJ	-		onion	Njirić
O	O		autmn	Oreški
P	P		pick	Petrić
-	Q	-	-	-
R	R		Fritz	Radić
S	S		sound	Starčević
Š	Š		shut	Šarlija
T	T		time	Tkalec
U	U		shoot	Udovičić
V	V		verb	Vrbanić
-	W	-	-	-
-	X	-	-	-
-	Y	-	-	-
Z	Z		zest	Zadravec
Ž	-		pleasure	Žugec

All articles from Croatian genealogy web site

Female given names as a motivator for Croatian surnames A matronymic surname would be typically created using a name of a women who particularly excelled in a community, or was famous because of some fortunate or less fortunate circumstance. Tidbits of Janeš family history available online Nenad Menićanin gathered valuable data from various sources on the meaning, geography and genealogy of his ancestors, and published his findings on the internet. A new book published on the history of the noble Jelačić family Pavao Maček, a prominent Croatian historian, introduced the book "Noble clans of Jelačićs" in Zaprešić City Hall. Herzegovian village of Hardomilje and it's clans The most prominent clans and family names in the area are Bandur, Boras, Bubalo, Ćuže, Gadže, Grbavac, Ilić, Jelinić, Kravić, Mandić, Miloš, Rupčić and Vukšić. Vučetić nobility from Brinje and Senj The first mention of the Vuchetich surname can be traced back to a certain Bosnian nobleman Pribislav and his last will written at the second half of the 15th century. (14 Mar 2010) Bosnia-Herzegovina, an important area for genealogical research for Croats Vital records kept in local Catholic parishes have always been crucial in claims of Croats in the area about their identity and history. Pitomača family trees researched An interesting work about genealogy of residents of the Croatian town situated between Đurđevac and Virovitica had been published on the internet. Slavonian settlements with a significant German population By 1931, in about hundred settlements in eastern parts of Croatia lived about 20 thousand inhabitants of Germanic origin. Aristocracy of the Republic of Ragusa One of the oldest and most prominent aristocracies in the Mediterranean region had developed in 12th and 13th century in Dubrovnik region. Visiting Croatia (2): Accommodation We continue our series of articles about the country and it's people for genealogists preparing to visit Croatia and do the research. 19th century census as a source of genealogical data The oldest census in the areas of today's Croatia was performed in 1785, but the most valuable one was done in 1857. Visiting Croatia (1): Transportation If you plan to visit Croatia to do genealogy research, our series of articles on transportation, accomodation, telecommunications and the culture may help you as you prepare for the trip. Croatian genealogists invited to contribute Several interesting new colaborative internet technologies were presented in Zagreb, Croatia to those interested in research of Croatian records. Hrastovac vital records available online Up until the end of the World War II the settlement also known as Eichendorf had been a vibrant society, mostly inhabited by Germans.

By their noses shall they be recognized
Lidija Sambunjak
professional genealogist
People who want their family trees to be researched come from all around the world and it’s no wonder every one of them is different. But as special as family Sadar was, none were before them. (11 Oct 2011)