The theme of today's tip is: Hungarian Surname Origins & Meanings The origins and meanings of Hungarian surnames can date back to well before the creation of the Kingdom of Hungary, and can be broken down into several categories. Patronymic Patronymic surnames are derived from the given name of male ancestors. They can appear several different ways in Hungary and are easily distinguishable. One variation they appear as is simply a male's given name, such as György, Péter, Mihály, Antal. Any given name could be a surname. Another variation is slightly different in that it includes the suffix of -fi, -ffi, -fy and -ffy. This suffix, which as you see can has many spelling variations, means 'son' and when combined with a given name creates surnames very recognizable to English speaking countries. Examples of these surnames are Péterfi/Péterfy (Peterson), Jánosfi/Jánosfy (Johnson), Pálfi/Pálfy (Paulson). A sub-category of patronymic surnames originates from th...
Keeping you up-to-date on all the happenings at Hungary Exchange. The Official Blog of Hungary Exchange is filled with updates, information and tips to aid you in your Hungarian genealogical research!