Osobna imena u matičnim knjigama krštenih za naselja Draž i Popovac krajem 18. stoljeća
Personal names in parish baptismal registers of the towns of Draž and Popovac in late eighteenth century

Summary/Abstract: Draž and Popovac, settlements in the northern part of southern Baranja, belonged to the manor of Belje. In 1789, both of these settlements were elevated to the status of parish centres. While the number of residents in each of these towns was similar, their ethnic composition differed. Namely, in both towns Catholic communities were ethnically homogenous, but in Draž in this period the Catholic population was exclusively Croatian, and in Popovac German. An analysis of records in parish baptismal registers of the parishes of Draž and Popovac for the period from the beginning of 1790 until the end of 1799 has shown that there were no significant differences among male and female names, except for somewhat stronger nominal entropy among female names, slightly more pronounced in Popovac. In this period, the parish baptismal register of the town of Draž recorded 39 different male and 27 different female names, while in Popovac there were 33 different male and 28 different female names. Ten most popular personal names in both towns included Ivan, Josip, Jakov and Nikola, while the only female name that appeared in both of the ‘top-ten’ lists was Katarina. All the names in parish baptismal registers were recorded in the contemporary official language, Latin; all of them were Christian names; and for the most part they were more or less common, widely used names from the New or Old Testament, of Latin, Greek or Hebrew origin. More importantly, in Popovac names of German origin prevailed, while German names are almost completely absent in Draž. In Popovac the second most popular male name was Josip, as a sign of respect for the saint to whom the local parish church was dedicated. In both Draž and Popovac in this period boys and girls were rarely named after saints who were celebrated on or near the day of their birth. Furthermore, few children in either of the villages were named after their parents. There was significant difference in traditions regarding naming children after their godparents. Namely, this tradition was not widespread in Draž, but in Popovac most children were named after their godparents.

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