Personal Names in Baptismal Records of Seredžius of the Early Nineteenth Century (1802–1803)

Abstract

The records in the baptism registry books of 1802–1803 of Seredžius church were selected for this study. The study is focused on the personal names (names of children, names and surnames of men and women) found in 1802–1803 in baptism registry books of Seredžius church. This work aims to discuss baptismal records of Seredžius church: the names of children to be baptized, and the names and surnames of women and men. Analysis of the data collected from the early nineteenth-century baptismal records in the church of Seredžius from 1802 to 1803 showed that personal names of the adults consisted of two components (name and surname). The one-component designation (name) was used only for the baptised children. Mothers, fathers, godmothers, and godfathers had two-component personal names. The names of boys, fathers, and godfathers found in the source were of Latin, Slavic, Germanic, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Iranian origin. The names of girls, mothers, and godmothers were of Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Germanic, and Italian origin. Of 103 female surnames found in the source, 15 adult female surnames had the Slavic suffix -owa; 14 surnames had the suffix -owska. Forty-five female surnames had the suffixes -owna, -ewna. There were 19 female surnames with Lithuanian suffixes -aitė, -itė, -ytė (-aycie, -ayte, -ayticie, -ycie, -icie, -uitie). Also, ten surnames of women were found that did not have exclusive suffixes, so they did not fall into any of the categories mentioned and discussed above. Of 109 masculine surnames, 31 had Slavic patronymic suffixes -owicz, -ewicz, 23 had the -sk type suffixes of Slavic origin, and twelve comprised Lithuanian suffixes -aitis, -iūnas, -ulis, -elis. Thirty-three surnames did not have specific suffixes that would allow them to be assigned to any of the above categories; ten Lithuanian surnames without suffixes were also found.