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Surname changes in Hungary 1800-1893, 1894-
Welcome to the home of this database, vol. 3 of RadixIndex, a resource with surname changes in Hungary 1800-1893 and 1894-1900.

The source of the database
Two sources have been used to compiled this database: a book listing surname changes 1800-1893 and for the period from 1894 Budapest Közlöny, the official Hungarian gazetteer of the time. This latter was added to the database in December 2016.
About the book compiled anonymously by Zoltán Szentiványi:
Századunk névváltoztatásai : Helytartósági és miniszteri engedélylyel megváltoztatott nevek gyűjteménye, 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 bibliographic 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]


Following the debute of our database the book became available on several websites: KlimoTheca (scanned pages, click on Tartalomjegyzék and the starting letter of the surname to start browsing), Hungarian Electronic Library (PDF), Archive.org (OCR processed, searchable).

The contents of the database
There book has slightly more than 15,000 name changes listed, the processed part of Budapesti Közlöny has 17,500. Most of entries in the book 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)
- occupation (sometimes provided)
- 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)

Budapesti Közlöny has the following information in its entries:
- old surname and give name
- place of jurisdiction (Zuständigkeit) (settlement) (usually provided)
- place of resridence (settlement) (always provided)
- occupation (sometimes provided)
- names of family members whose names are also changed (when applicable)
- new surname
- minister of interior's permit number of the name change

Our database does not contain all these fields, here is what is included:
From the book:
- new surname
- new surname
- given name
- place
- permit (file) year

From Budapesti Közlöny:
- new surname
- old surname
- given name
- place of residence
- place of jurisdiction
- names of family members whose names are also changed (when applicable)
- year

(As copies of pages from the book are available online for subscribers on the site and elsewhere on the web for others, 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 the rest of the 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
Processing further years from Budapesti Közlöny is considered. Budapesti Közlöny published surname changes up to 1916.

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.

More information
Please check the Toolbox for this database!






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