Bibliography of Hungarian Names and Armory

This is a collected list of sources on Hungarian names and armory. There are separate pages for other Eastern European cultures.

NAMES--RECOMMENDED

Ádám Imre. Szabolcs Megye Dadai Járásának Jobbágynevei 1574-böl. Budapest: Magyar Névtani Dolgozatok no.82, 1989.

The title translates as Szabolcs County, Dada District, Peasant Names from 1574. It reviews a census of northeastern Hungary taken in 1574, including origins of the various surnames and a list of the most common given names in this and previous censuses. A lengthy index of all the names is provided, arranged alphabetically by surname. Recommended (but watch for typos). (WvN)

Iván László. Kalosca Környékének Személynevei 1560-ban. Budapest: Magyar Névtani Dolgozatok no.76, 1987.

The title means Kalocsa Region Personal Names in 1560. This reviews a census of the Kalosca area (along the Danube in southern Hungary) from 1560. Nearly the entire book consists of listings of given names and surnames arranged alphabetically and by frequency. Recommended, but the spellings have all been modernized. (WvN)

Kázmér, Miklós. Régi Magyar Családnevek Szótára: XIV-XVII. Század. Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság; 1993.

This is a monstrous alphabetical index of Hungarian surnames complete with dates and citations of individuals with those names. The title translates as Early Hungarian Surnames Dictionary: 14th to 17th Centuries. Each entry is followed by information about the surname's meaning and origin. Highly recommended. (WvN)


NAMES--NOT RECOMMENDED

Hajdú Mihály. Magyar-Angol, Angol-Magyar Keresztnévszótar. Budapest: 1983.

This slender volume correlates Hungarian given names with their English (Latin) counterparts. It includes a variety of unusual spellings, and gives the gender of each name. However, it does not distinguish between modern and medieval names, and so cannot be used to document names. Not recommended. (WvN)

Kálmán, Béla. The World of Names: A Study in Hungarian Onomatology. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1978.

This book is a discussion of the history and origins of Hungarian names. It covers both given names and surnames, place names, and discusses the use and construction of names as well. However, all the spellings are modernized and almost nothing is dated. Not recommended, except as background reading. (WvN)

Virág Gábor. Csantavér Családnevei. Budapest: Magyar Személynévi Adattárak, no. 70, 1985.

The title means Csantaver Surnames, and Csantaver is a region in Hungary. The book covers surnames from the 15th to the 18th century, but does not date any of the names. It is useful for parsing name endings, and for the sections that identify surnames of Slovak, Croatian, and German origin in Hungary, but not for documenting names. Not recommended. (WvN)


ARMORY--RECOMMENDED

Nagybákay, Péter. Summoning Tablets of Guilds in Hungary. Budapest: Corvina Kiadó, 1981.

If you're interested in guild heraldry, there are few better books on the subject. Nearly half the volume consists of photographic plates, and much of the text has interspersed illustrations as well. Both the tablets and discussion of style are carefully dated, making this volume a tremendously valuable resource. (WvN)

Nyulaszine Straub Eva. Ot Evszazad Cimerei: A Magyar Orszagos Leveltar Civeres Levelein. Corvina Magjelent, 1987.

This is apparently a listing of all the grants of arms made by the Holy Roman Emperor/Austro-Hungarian Emperor from 1404 to 1918 and held in the National Library in Budapest (it is therefore not complete). It has over 50 color plates of arms from grants of arms and over a thousand black and white redrawings of arms with the correct heraldic hatchments. It is the most impressive armorial I have ever seen in publication. (LvK)



This page maintained by Jim Trigg (known in the SCA as Blaise de Cormeilles), blaise@s-gabriel.org This page last updated April 5, 2002.