Changing Names

Most Czech people coming to USA have had their name changed, either upon arrival to their prefered version, or over time by mistakes. This page will help you to find possible original Czech first and last names that have been transformed to English.

Last Name Changes

Enter a last name you want to find the Czech variant for and hit send. The results will show all the possible variants and a relative percentage for given results compared to all of them. You can also input a name from your clipboard by pressing CTRL + V on Windows, ⌘ + V on Mac, or long pressing on mobile devices.

You can click on "Info" next to the results to automatically search for selected name on the map over at our Name Distribution page, and click on "Copy" to copy the selected name into your clipboard. You can also find female variant of selected last name by clicking on "Find female variant".

Note

The data used is from Czech Republic's Ministry of the Interior and may not be up to date and completely accurate. Please also note that only names with more than 10 occurrences in Czech Republic can be found.

Last names are almost always changed to be easily understood and pronounced by English speakers. The changes may vary from a simple diacritics removal to a literal translation of the Czech last name.

Czech Diacritics in last names

The written Czech language uses diacritical marks above certain letters. Worldwide these diacritic marks are never used or are dropped for example Mr.RŮŽIČKA = Mr.RUZICKA or CERMAK = ČERMÁK or DVORAK = DVOŘÁK.Or they are changed for easier pronunciation in English like the letters SCH =Š or SH =Š or CH =Č or CZ =Č or W = V , F = V, C = K , E = I, OO = U so that the prnounciation stays the same or similiar to the Czech original - example: ŠEBESTA = SCHEBESTA or VAŠÍČEK = VASHICHECK or VOMÁČKA = WOMACKA.

The tool bellow can add removed diacritical marks and revert spelling changes.

Find female variant for selected last name (below).

Czech Female Last Names

Czech Republic's last names are gendered - women have different last names than their husbands. Most Czech female last names are identical to male last names, with “ová” added to the end. Male last names are typically the family name. It is the state law. For example a male last name is Mr.NOVÁK and female is Mrs.NOVÁKOVÁ. There are also other variants, for example Mr.ČERNÝ and Mrs.ČERNÁ and some names have the same male and female variant.

The form bellow allows you to find standard female last name variants for any given male last name.

First Name Translation

Enter a first name you want to find the Czech variant for and hit send. The results will show all the possible variants and a relative percentage for given results compared to all of them. You can also input a name from your clipboard by pressing CTRL + V on Windows, ⌘ + V on Mac, or long pressing on mobile devices.

You can click on "Copy" to copy the selected name into your clipboard.

Note

Most Czech immigrants have either selected an English name of their choosing when arriving in the USA, or used one assigned to them. Some English first names have a similiar Czech alternative, so these were usually used (eg. Charles=Karel and George=Jiří or Kathrine=Kateřina and Claire=Klára). On rare occassion somebody might have also kept their Czech name with a changed spelling.

The tool bellow can translate many English first names to their Czech equivalent.

Translated Last Names

Many Czech Surnames could translate to English either by literal translation (names like Černý=Black or Kovář=Smith), or by similarity to an English last name (eg. Novák=Newman or Svoboda=Freeman). However these translations are rarely used and most names only use change the spelling for easier pronounciation.