Wondering which names were the most popular in Austria, say, 116 years ago? Of course you are!
Luckily, the New York Times has the answer. In 1895, the paper reported that the most popular names in Austria “according to the last census” were these:
| Male Names | Female Names |
|---|---|
| Franz (1,834,000 males) Johann (1,380,000) Josef (1,085,000) Leopold (584,000) Wenzel (448,000) | Anna (1,780,000 females) Maria (1,632,000) Elizabeth (1,260,000) |
The name Wenzel comes (via Wenceslaus, via Václav) from the Slavic name Veceslav, made up of elements meaning “more” and “glory.”
In 1895, Austria was actually part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a dual monarchy ruled by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. (The 1914 assassination of his nephew/heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is what kicked off WWI.)
Sources:
- “Austria’s Most Popular First Names.” New York Times 28 Aug. 1895: 4.
- Wenzel – Behind the Name
Image: LOC
I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t the English Elizabeth but the German form Elisabeth ;-) Here you can find the most popular baby names in Germany of that time; http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/3741-1890er-jahre.htm
Yes, I’m sure you’re right. The NYT had the z-version, so that’s what I posted, but the s-version would have made much more sense on that list. Thanks!
Hello there
I am looking for a good resource to search for Austrian baby girl names. We live in the california and are second generation Austrians living here in the USA. My mother was the first to be born in the USA and we have lived here ever since.
My wife an I are expecting a baby girl and we are searching for a good rsource where we can find an austrian name to give her. So far here in the use all web pages go to US web pages not any Austrian web pages. Can You please send us soem e-mail resources.
Thank You
Daniel
tel:.530-386-6363
Hi Daniel,
Maybe this will help — these were the top 50 baby girl names in Austria in 2009:
1-10: Sarah, Anna, Leonie, Lena, Hannah, Sophie, Julia, Laura, Marie, Katharina
11-20: Lea, Lara, Johanna, Sophia, Emma, Lisa, Viktoria, Jana, Nina, Valentina
21-30: Elena, Magdalena, Emily, Theresa, Amelie, Vanessa, Clara, Mia, Alina, Marlene/Selina (tie)
32-40: Miriam, Helena, Emilia, Anja, Larissa/Lilly (tie), Jasmine, Eva, Angelina
41-50: Elisa, Anna-Lena/Christina (tie), Fanziska, Emely, Chiara, Lina, Paula, Isabella, Maja
Best of luck choosing!
Hi I’m making a period piece of a WW2 era animation series. And I’m looking for Austrian girl names from the 1920s, just wondering if you could help thanks!
Hi Bailey,
I don’t know of a specific resource for checking historically popular Austrian names — maybe someone else does? — but my guess is that the most common names in Austria in the 1920s would have been traditional picks like Maria, Anna, Johanna, Eva, Sarah, Rosa, Aloisia, Hermine, Ernestine, Karoline, Juliana, Pauline, Hildegard, etc.
Hope this helps!
Need help with translation on Ancestry relative’s name – they were born in 1890 Galicia, Austria – immigrated to Canada in 1899 – the 1911 and 1916 Canadian Census records are hard to read – but – it looks like his name was Helko ? and he was married to Kaska ? Unfortunately, they may have taken English versions of their names because I am having a hard time finding them after that – any help with this would be greatly appreciated !!
Warm regards,
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
It’s possible that “Helko” is actually “Heiko,” the diminutive of Heinrich. If so, he might have switched to the English form “Henry” at some point. I don’t have any solid ideas about “Kaska” yet, though. (Could it be Saska/Aleksandra or Katka/Katerina?)
Hope this helps!
@kathy
Note that Austrian Galicia in the 19th century was an ethnically quite diverse region, populated by speakers of German, Yiddish, several Slavic languages (Polish, Ukrainian, Ruthenian), Hungarian, and others. Helko could be a masculine form to Helka (a diminutive of Helena), Kaska could be a hypocoristic form of Katharina; other etymologies are surely possible (like linking Helko to the German name Helge, or Kaska to Kasimira). All that, provided the reading of the names is correct.
An addition: Here are names from Vienna in 1900, with statistics:
https://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/25332-wiener-schueler-1900.htm
Thank you for all that information, elbowin!
Many Thanks to everyone who replied – greatly appreciated – I wish there was some way to attach the Ancestry 1911 & 1916 census records so others could see the actual written names – that way I could at least get a general consensus as to what everyone else thinks the letters and/or names are ? I’ll give it a try anyway – but because it requires a membership they probably won’t be accessible – nothing ventured, nothing gained ? On the 1911 Census they are the last family on the page – and in the 1916 Census they are the 5th family from the top – notice that the oldest son Danylo is the second family from the top in 1916 – he has married Maria and they have a son Stephen ! It’s kind of crazy that they use English versions for some names and Ruthenian for others ? Their religion is listed as Greek Catholic – hopefully, if you can see the actual record you can enlarge it enough to read it ? If not – I’m wide open for suggestions on how to share this – maybe screen grab – then cut & paste ?
Father – Andrij (Andrew) widowed
1 – Danylo (Daniel – Dan)
2 – Nikola (Nicholas – Nick)
3 – Helka (Henry ?)
3a-Kaska (wife-Katrina)
3aa- (son-Stephen)
4 – Mike
5 – George
6 – Ivan (John)
7 – Wasyl (William)
8 – Hrynke (Harry)
1911 Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada:
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8947/images/e078_e001946540?ssrc=pt&treeid=46800356&personid=122208338786&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.223211035.1880767002.1594914859-1720660917.1594914859&pId=2840937&backurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ancestry.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fsse.dll%3Findiv%3D1%26dbid%3D8947%26h%3D2840937%26ssrc%3Dpt%26tid%3D46800356%26pid%3D122208338786%26usePUB%3Dtrue
1916 Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada:
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1556/images/31228_4363955-00518?pId=756902775&backurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancestry.com%2Ffamily-tree%2Fperson%2Ftree%2F46800356%2Fperson%2F122208338786%2Ffacts%2Fcitation%2F542296258048%2Fedit%2Frecord
The links aren’t working for me, unfortunately. But, using another genealogy site (FamilySearch.org), I did find 2 records that seem to refer to the same Hutzal family of Manitoba.
From the Prairie Provinces Census of 1916:
From the Prairie Provinces Census of 1926:
If it’s true that these households are the same, then it looks like Helko and Kaska adopted the Anglicized names Alex and Katie.
Just one more thing, from some internet searching…Katie (Kaska), Danylo (Daniel) and Maria (Mary) are all mentioned in this 1987 obituary of Anne Hutzal, age 69, in the Dauphin Herald:
(This is from the OCR text, so some of the names could be misspelled.)
OMG – you are my HERO !! That definitely puts several names into perspective – and I actually looked on FamilySearch as well – and Newspaperarchive – but did not have the same results that you did – can’t thank you enough for this additional information – who knew Helko was Alex !! although, I thought Kaska was probably Katharina and/or Kate – plus the additional names of their children is extremely helpful – not to mention the names listed in the Obit (and locations) based on first names, it tells me where several of the sibling’s children wound up – one even ended up in the US !! Needless to say, I’m excited to start adding this info to my mother’s family tree – she turns 93 in Jan and her memory isn’t what it used to be – so I volunteered to keep the process moving forward – little did I know what I was getting myself into ? In any case – I’m sooooooo glad I reached out to you – can’t thank you enough for your help with this !!!
Warmest regards,
Kathy
I’m so happy that helped!
It was nice of you to volunteer to work on the family tree. Genealogical research can be fun…but it can also be very frustrating. I know this from experience. ;)
I kind of got the feeling that you’ve had “plenty” of experience :-) unfortunately (or maybe fortunately ?) for me, it’s not only frustrating at times – but – terribly addicting ? I love a good puzzle – and this has been the perfect way to keep busy during these trying times dealing with COVID-19 !! Speaking of frustrating – I spent half the night looking for the 1926 Prairie Provinces Census Record you referred to for Alex Hutzal and his family (both on Ancestry & FamilySearch) I tried everything – spelling the name differently – looking for Katie – even looked for the kids thinking that might pull it up – but nothing worked ? If you would you be kind enough to send me the familysearch link (so I can at least reference that) it would be greatly appreciated !
Thanks in advance,
Kathy
You’re right, it can be super addictive!
I made “Katie Hutzal” a link to her particular record on the 1926 census, but if you want Alex specifically, here’s the Alex Hutzal page. And if you want to find something else on the 1926 census, here is the overall search page: Canada, Prairie Provinces Census, 1926.
Awesome – don’t have a clue why it won’t come up on Ancestry ? Sometimes the term “frustrating” is putting it mildly :-( Once again, I can’t begin to thank you sufficiently for ALL of your help – from Austrian names and their Anglo translations – to genealogy Census records :-) Like I said previously, you’re definitely my hero !!!
Stroke of luck – I just hit pay dirt :-) Saw this Publication listed in my recent search – but – I could never find a way to peep inside – it’s only in Libraries :-( As luck would have it, I just tripped onto a downloaded copy – figured the least I could do is share it with you – enjoy !!!
https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/14179/file.pdf
How cool that you found the very thing you were looking for! I love when stuff like that happens. :) Thanks for the link!
Definitely my pleasure :-)