1
I always loved to check out what are the conventions in various countries for surnames, what are the most frequent ones and what do they mean, what common patterns are between countries. I will start with Hungary and will group the most frequent 100 surnames in main categories:
Professions
Kovács: Smith
Szabó: Tailor
Varga: Shoemaker
Molnár: Miller
Papp/Pap: Priest
Lakatos: Locksmith
Takács: Weaver
Juhász: Shepherd
Mészáros: Butcher
Szűcs: Furrier
Orsós: Spindle handler
Kocsis: Carter
Sipos: Piper
Gulyás: Cattle herder
Biró: Judge
Király: King
Katona: Soldier
Boros: Winemaker
Fazekas: Potter
Pintér: Measurement official
Hegedűs/Hegedüs: Violinist
Deák: Student
Vass:Blacksmith (literally it means iron)
Bodnár: Cooper
Bognár: Wheelwright
Szücs: Furrier
Hajdu: Hajduk
Halász: Fisher
Pásztor: Shepherd
Bakos: Goatherder
Dudás: Piper
Major: Lord of the manor
Soós: Salt merchant/Salt miner
Nemes: Nobleman
Faragó: Woodcutter/Stonecutter
Kerekes: Wheelerwright
Borbély: Barber
People Names:
Simon: Simon
Balázs: Blase
Lukács: Luke
László: Ladislaus
Bogdán: Bogdan
Jakab: Jacob
Sándor: Alexander
Kelemen: Clement
Antal: Anthony
Fülöp: Philipp
Vincze: Vince
Bálint: Valentine
Illés: Elijah
Pál: Paul
Fábián: Fabian
Jónás: Jonah
Máté: Matthew
Gáspár: Caspar
Kozma: Cosmas
Orbán: Urban
Novák: Novak
Tamás: Thomas
Balla: Balla
Barta: Bartholomew
Péter: Peter
Márton: Martin
Ethnic groups
Tóth: Slovak
Horváth: Croat
Németh: German
Oláh: Romanian
Rácz: Serb
Török: Turk
Gál: French (literally it means Gaul)
Magyar: Hungarian
Orosz: Russian
Lengyel: Polish
Attributes
Nagy: Great
Kiss/Kis: Small
Balogh/Balog: Left-handed
Fekete: Black
Fehér: White
Fodor: Frilled
Veres/Vörös: Red
Szőke: Blonde
Barna: Brown
Csonka: Truncated
Place designations
Szilágyi: Person from Szilágy region
Szalai: Person from Zala region
Somogyi: Person from Somogy region
Székely: Person from Székely Land
Budai: Person from Buda
Váradi: Person from a castle
Pataki: Person from around a river
Mezei: Person from around a meadow
Sárközi: Person from Sárköz region
Berki: Person from around a swamp
Animals
Farkas: Wolf
Plants
Virág: Flower
Bookmarks