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Surname changes in Hungary 1800-1893
Welcome to the home of this database, vol. 3 of RadixIndex.
Background information about surname changes in Hungary
The new Hungarian Kingdom, part of the Habsburg Empire, was a home of people with rather various ethnic
backgrounds. It was not uncommon that people who, for some reason, wanted to "assimilate",
acculturate themselves to their environment, or to Hungary as such, decided to change their surnames.
Whether they changed surnames according to their free will, or due to pressure, forcement is a topic
that might be discussed elsewhere. The aim of this database is to provide family historians with records
that might relate to their researched families.
The source of the database
Zoltán Szentiványi was the anonymous compiler of the book that was used for this database:
Századunk névváltoztatásai : Helytartósági és miniszteri
engedélylyel megváltoztatott nevek gyûjteménye, 1800-1893 / eredeti okmányok
alapján összeállította a Magyar Heraldikai és Genealógiai
Társaság egyik igazgató-választmányi tagja. - Budapest : Hornyánszky
Viktor, 1895. - [4], 253, [1] p. ; 23 cm
[English translation of bibliographical data:
The surname changes of our century : The collection of names changed with permits from the governor-general
office or from the ministry, 1800-1893 / based on original documents compiled by one of the members of the
board of directors of the Hungarian Heraldic and Genealogical Society. - Budapest : Viktor Hornyánszky,
1895. - [4], 253, [1] p. ; 23 cm]
Some time after the opening of our database this book with its pages arranged by new surnames has been made
available in the KlimoTheca digital library.
(Click on Tartalomjegyzék and the starting letter of the surname to start browsing.)
The contents of the database
There are slightly more than 15,000 name changes listed, most of them are from the 1860-1890s. Here is a small
statistics of ten year periods:
1810-19: 8, 1820-29: none, 1830-39: 36, 1840-49: 825, 1850-59: 17, 1860-69: 1662, 1870-79: 1639, 1880-89: 7707, 1890-93: 3112.
The year of one record in unknown.
The book contains the following information:
- new surname
- new surname
- given name(s)
- profession (ocassional)
- place (probably place of residence)
- names of family members whose names are also changed (when applicable)
- reference to the government body approving the name change, abbreviated (UK = Udvari kancellária
= The Chancellor's Office, HT = Helytartótanács = Governor-general's Office, BM =
Belügyminisztérium = Ministry of Interior)
- permit (file) number
- permit (file) year (two digits)
Our database does not contain all these fields, here is what is included:
- new surname
- new surname
- given name
- place
- permit (file) year
(As copies of pages are available online for subscribers, one can get the information missing from
the database by looking at the copy of the actual page.)
Access to the database
Similarly to other RadixIndex databases, records with high frequency surnames are freely available for
anynone. As for lower frequency surnames, the numbers of their occurences are indicated for the decades of the
covered period. RadixIndex subscribers have, of course, access to all the records of the database and
with RadixIndex (Standard) and RadixIndex Light subscriptions they can download copies of pages of that source.
Original records
Chances are that the original files of surname changes are extant in archives, or at least this is
what the results of my random samples suggest. These files typically contain correspondence between
local and central government bodies, certificates and often also the original, handwritten application
of the person requesting the name change. Upon request I can provide research in these files, please
drop me a line if interested. This service is not part of
RadixIndex.
Further additions to the database
Hungary's official gazette, the "Budapesti Közlöny" published surname changes up
to 1916. I've started processing these entries, and little by little, they will be added to the
surname changes database.
More information
Please check the Toolbox for this database!
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