This 1767 URBARIUM, a census of Hungary, by then-existing counties, starts out by listing the property owner, administrator, or servant of the house - who can speak for the owner, most of whom are male. Maybe, if you read many counties as I have, you too will become sensitive to the repetitions of surnames, many of them famous counts and nobility, others just people with enough wealth to own some land. For those of you who have read church records, you may have realized that for the craftsman / commoner class of people, there seems to be a given naming convention that goes like this.
First son - Janos
Second son - Andras
Third son - Istvan
First daughter - Maria
Second daughter - Erzebet
If a couple had a first son, Janos, who died, when they had another son they would name that son Janos so the naming pattern was altered due to death. If this happened and then the oldest son who would inherit is named Andras, you MAY find that in that family first sons will be named Andreas. It was as if there was a limit to the names working - commoner people could use.
After a while you begin to think that MAYBE names like Gyula (Julius) or Apollonia are so rare, it means something. It might. (I've tripped across a number of Apollonia baptisms in which the child was not legitimate!)
Well, I've noticed that on this census, there isn't just a repetition of surnames that indicate wealthy families, but also a far larger range of given names for the men; Szigmond, Gedeon, Laszlo (Louis - there are lots!), Amandne, Antal, Gyorgy, Sander (Alexander), Ferenc (Frank), Ignac, Peter, Pal (Paul), Imre, Marton, Farkas... and lots of EUGENES!***
I must look into this because it certainly seems a class driven naming.
However, you will find that there are some names listed on those front pages of this census that are more common! Just rarely. Andras for instance seems not to appear much at all.
These naming patterns have to do with WHO inherits. Hungary practiced giving the FIRST SON the estate, unless he died before he could assume it. That means that in common families, there were more JANOS (John) with inheritances. Being an Andras, a second son, one didn't inherit unless the first born died. (A father could choose to give a daughter or daughters an inheritance but generally would not unless he had no son. A daughter's portion was generally about one quarter of the estate.)
What happened in the United States with naming children? Some immigrants continued the naming patterns for a generation, or for the children born in Hungary, but the younger children born here got names the family had not used before! Assimilation.
What about Germans in Hungary? They continued the naming patterns of German culture. (For instance you may see children of commoners given two names on their baptismal records.)
Please - BE AWARE THAT AS WITH CHURCH AND OTHER RECORDS, you are likely to find Hungarian, Latin, and Slovak, and German words, depending on where and the preferred language of the census taker. Maria Theresa wanted Hungarians well educated, but in German.***
Just reading over this post at the end of April. The EUGENES seem to be in honor of a Count of Shonbrun, Eugene of Savoy (but don't quote me on that yet!)
***In an effort to both dominate and unite the various countries and territories ruled by Austria, Queen Maria Theresa, considered a progressive at the time, wanted the German language used. She also decreed that Gypsies / Romani and recent immigrants into Hungary be called UJMAGYAR - New Hungarians.
(To get to all the posts/genealogy tips regarding the NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY/ Hungaricana's URBARIUM 1767 you can search this BLOG by looking through my archives, through searching for the word URBARIUM using the Google Search Feature embedded in the blog, or by clicking on the link at the bottom of the post.)
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