Rusyn first names

  • 12 October 2020 9:24 AM
    Reply # 9298782 on 8958597
    Anonymous member

    A good source for SURNAMES is: https://forebears.io/.  Also provides interesting facts, such as which country has the largest NUMBER or largest PERCENTAGE of persons with a particular surname.
  • 04 August 2020 9:55 AM
    Reply # 9143361 on 8958597
    Barb

    Thanks for the interpretation of Velka.  I found it very interesting because both of my maternal Rusyn grandparents from the Slovakian side of the mountains had sisters named Eva.  And it adds meaning to my confirmation name of Evelyn.
  • 03 August 2020 4:59 PM
    Reply # 9142289 on 8958597
    Anonymous

    Jewka is a Polish spelling, pronounced "Yevka"  in the Boyko - Lemko - Rusyn languages.  Its more formal version is  Ewa, in Polish pronounced "Ev-ah.."  In the U.S. the name morphed into Eve or Evelyn.  One of my grandfather Onufer Basarab's sisters bore that rather common name in the Boyko village from which he immigrated to the U.S. in 1902.   Their village Zurawin (Zhuravyn) no longer exists.  Today its location straddles the Polish-Ukrainian border not too far from  the  bprder with Slovakia.  A major character in the book "The Oak and the Linden" is named Yewka, so I presume it was not uncommon on the Slovak side of the mountains.
  • 05 July 2020 1:45 PM
    Reply # 9080404 on 8958597
    Barb

    Sharon, I have the same group of names: Mihaly, Petrus, Janos etc.  Of course, Velka was on manifest and we don't know what the transcriber was actually hearing when the immigrant was speaking.  I was wondering if Velka might be Amercanized into Helen????? 
  • 04 July 2020 5:13 PM
    Reply # 9077810 on 8958597
    sharon

    Barb,

       I have never seen that name either. I wonder about the name Pal. Second time seen. Didn't quite fit in with my family popular names, 

    the Mihaly's, Petro's. George. Nicholos, John's, Basil and Wasyl, 

    Sharon
  • 04 July 2020 9:44 AM
    Reply # 9077314 on 8958597
    Barb

    I will have to check out the website.  Just the other day I came across the name Velka which I had never seen before.  Thanks
  • 03 July 2020 5:35 PM
    Reply # 9076411 on 8958597
    Sharon

    Hi Mark,

      thanks for the names site. Its interesting in different languages even with different spellings a name can be identified. I especially like the very old Rusyn names that you don't see today. 
  • 03 July 2020 3:40 PM
    Reply # 9076261 on 8958597
    Mark Papuga

    A site I've found helpful with the variations of first names listed for an individual is https://www.behindthename.com/

    An example is the name John; It's amazing what pops up based on different langages and cultures.
  • 19 May 2020 8:10 AM
    Reply # 8978970 on 8958597
    John F Sansky

    My father, John, was called Yonk or Yonko by his family. I always spelled it with a "J". They called his brother George, Yerk, and his brother Mike, Host (rhymes with lost). When I asked why these nicknames the answer was always,"I don't know," or," Ja ne znaju".
  • 19 May 2020 8:02 AM
    Reply # 8978962 on 8958597
    Barb

    I have also seen John as Janos and Ivan.  Regarding William, I found my maternal grandmother's brother's obit as William and in ( ) was Wasyl. Then on his church baptism record, he was listed as Basilius.  Depending on which ruling country was in power determined what language was spoken and therefore the spelling of names.  I have also seen my grandmother Julia spelled as Ula/Ulya. Recommended to me, was an excellent book, "With Their Backs to the Mountains" by Dr. Paul Magocsi.  At times it was a little wordy and I had to re-read parts but still gave an insight to the history of the Rusyns.
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