Latvian names, like in mostEuropean cultures, consist of two main elements: thegiven name (vārds) followed byfamily name (uzvārds). During theSoviet occupation (1940–1941; 1944–1991) the practice of giving amiddle name (otrais vārds) was discouraged, but since the restoration of independence, Latvian legislation again allows the giving of up to two given names and it has become more common to give a middle name to children.
Latvian male names end in1st or 2nd declension masculine endings, either-s/-š or-is (with a handful of mostly foreign exceptions ending in indeclinable-o, such asIvo,Raivo,Gvido,Bruno,Oto and only a few belonging to the 3rd declension ending in-us, such asIngus,Mikus,Edžus,Zemgus). Latvian female names have thefeminine 4th or 5th declension endings-a or-e respectively.
For centuries, one of the most popular Latvian names has beenJānis, whose written use dates back to 1290.[1] The vocative case is used when addressing someone directly, for example,Jāni forJānis. The diminutive form is often used to express endearment or when addressing children, for example, addressingJānis asJānīt (vocative diminutive).
Writing of Latvian names always conform to the highly phoneticLatvian orthography and highly fusionalLatvian grammar, and, in the case of foreign-born Latvian nationals or marriages between Latvian women and foreigners (whence they assume the family name of their husband), the foreign names are modified to conform to the phonetic spelling and to acquire the respective case ending. For example,Gerard Depardieu isŽerārs Depardjē,Joaquin Phoenix isHoakins Fīnikss andDonald Trump isDonalds Tramps.[2]
This has given rise to at least half a dozen lawsuits over the last couple decades, mostly ethnic Russian Latvian nationals not content with addition of case endings. Other examples include:[3]
Before theChristianization of Latvia in 13th century Latvians commonly gave their children names of objects from natural surroundings, such asIrbe (partridge),Lācis (bear),Ieva (bird cherry) andĀbele (apple tree), many of whom later became last names. Names of the following 13th and 14th-centuryfief-owning Baltic vassals have been recorded –Manegints, Radiķis, Tontegode, Tots, Aulis,Mažeiki brothers,Grimeķis, Sirkants, Gaiža, Duvkants, Dumpjāts, Treinis, Gribonis, Mēlvaldis, Kantebute, Stegebute, Taites, Angutis, Poja, Krūms, Pitkejānis, Tautenis, Sentots, Cielava, Karīds etc.[4] After the Christianized Latvians began giving their children Christian first names, such as Marija, Anna, and Pēteris. Lutheran priest Christoph Harder also coined a number of new names from Latvian words for differentvirtues likeDievmīlis (God-lover),Strādulis (hard-worker),Žēlīte (sorrowful one), andSkaidrīte (clear one).[1]
Before the emancipation from serfdom (1817 inCourland, 1819 inVidzeme, 1861 inLatgale) only noblemen, free craftsmen or people living in towns had surnames. Therefore, the oldest Latvian surnames usually originate from German or Low German, reflecting the dominance of German as an official language in Latvia till the 19th century. Examples:Meijers/Meijere (German:Meier, farm administrator; akin to Mayor),Millers/Millere (German:Müller, miller),Šmits/Šmite (German:Schmidt, smith),Šulcs/Šulca (German:Schulze, constable),Ulmanis (German:Ullmann, a person fromUlm),Godmanis (a God-man),Pētersons (son of Peter). Some Latvian surnames, mainly from Latgale are of Polish or Belarusian origin by changing the final-ski/-cki to-skis/-ckis,-czyk to-čiks or-vich/-wicz to-vičs, such asSokolovskis/Sokolovska,Baldunčiks/Baldunčika orRatkevičs/Ratkeviča. However, some surnames of Latvian origin (likeMucenieks,Kalns andPutns) have also been recorded as early as the 16th and 17th century, for example, among the transport workers.[5]
The official records of Latvian names were often variously forcibly assimilated into the foreign culture dominant at times in Latvian lands. For example, localpastors, who were often ofGerman descent, used to issue marriage and birth certificates withGermanized names: e.g.,Kalns was written asBerg (both meaning "mountain" in Latvian and German respectively). Sometimes "de-Germanization" produced a slightly different name, e.g.,Daugmants was Germanized asDaugmann and then de-Germanized intoDaugmanis.[6] DemographerIlmārs Mežs has estimated that nowadays around a third of all the Latvian surnames are of German origin.[5]
In rural regions it historically was common to identify individual by the name of the farmstead they lived in, rather than by a surname. Using surnames became mandatory afterserfdom was abolished. Head of the family, usually the oldest living male, was required to choose the surname for his entire family. To document the newly adopted surnames in 1826 a specialsoul revision was conducted in thegovernorate of Livonia (inVidzeme), inCourland the surnames were documented in 8th soul revision in 1835, while in Latgale serfdom was fully abolished only in 1866. Diminutives were the most common form of family names. Examples:Kalniņš/Kalniņa (small hill),Bērziņš/Bērziņa (small birch).
During the times whenLatvia was part of theRussian Empire andSoviet Union, in official usage Latvian names were commonlyRussified. In particular, it followed the three-part pattern ofRussian names: given name,patronymic, family name. Also, the masculine endings of first names were often truncated. For example, poetImants Ziedonis was officially called Imant Yanovich Ziedonis (Имант Янович Зиедонис[7])
In the 20th century, in particular, in theinterbellum period of the Latvian national movement and during theUlmanis authoritarian regime in the late 1930s, whenBaltic Germans left Latvia, there was a tendency to change the Germanic names back to their Latvian origins or to adopt Latvian versions.[6] In one such example Minister of Interior Kornēlijs Veitmanis becameKornēlijs Veidnieks.
Latvia is among the European countries that celebratename days (vārda dienas), a celebration almost comparable in importance to that of a birthday. Most of them are related to the Saints' days in the Church calendar, but in recent decades new names have been added to the calendar by a special commission. Some names and their name days bear a connection with important holidays, for example, arguably one of the most important holidays, summer solstice, referred to asJāņi starts on June 23 withLīgo diena (name day for females namedLīga) and continues through June 24 orJāņi – name day for males namedJānis. SimilarlyMārtiņi on November 10 coincides with the name day for males namedMārtiņš,Mārcis andMarkuss.
Below are the most common ethnic Latvian names in 2006. However taking into account the large Eastern Slavic diaspora (Russians,Ukrainians,Belarusians) that make up around one third ofLatvia's population, names popular among the Slavic population make it high on this list, for example, the most popular male name in RussiaAleksandr (orAleksandrs in its Latvian rendition) makes it as the second most common name in Latvia if all ethnicities are counted.[8]
| No. | Male names | Female names | Family names |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jānis | Anna | Bērziņš |
| 2 | Andris | Kristīne | Kalniņš |
| 3 | Juris | Inese | Ozoliņš |
| 4 | Edgars | Inga | Jansons |
| 5 | Māris | Ilze | Ozols |
| 6 | Aivars | Līga | Liepiņš |
| 7 | Mārtiņš | Dace | Krūmiņš |
| 8 | Pēteris | Anita | Balodis |
| 9 | Ivars | Marija | Eglītis |
| 10 | Valdis | Iveta | Pētersons |