Surnames get most of the attention, but Austrian first names cause just as many wrong turns. A man baptised Johann Josef Franz may have been called Franz all his life, appear as Hans on his marriage entry and be buried as Josef. If you search for only one of those names, you will find a fraction of his records. This guide explains how Austrian first names were chosen and recorded, what godparents tell you, and how to decide which name a person actually used.
Where Austrian first names came from
In Catholic areas, the great majority of baptismal names were saints’ names. The Vienna History Wiki notes that from the eleventh century church names of saints, of Latin, Greek or Hebrew origin, entered the naming stock, and many surnames derive from them. For you, the practical result is that a small number of names recur constantly. Names such as Johann, Josef, Franz, Anton and Georg dominate the male lines, and Maria, Anna, Theresia and Katharina dominate the female ones. Many girls received Maria as one of several given names, which makes the first name in an entry a poor guide to the name used.
Because a few names repeat, the same name can appear for several living people in one family. Children were sometimes named after a sibling who had died, so two children with the same name in one household is not necessarily an error. Check the dates before you merge entries.
Strings of names and the call name
A baptism entry could carry two, three or more given names, honouring a saint, a godparent or a grandparent. In daily life, one of them served as the call name, which German calls the Rufname. It was often not the first. When a person turns up under different first names, look at the whole set across all their records and ask which name appears most often in situations where the person was speaking for themselves, such as a marriage or a census-style list, rather than in entries written by someone else.
Diminutives and short forms were used in speech and sometimes in writing. Hans for Johann and Sepp for Josef are familiar examples. Treat them as the same name when the other details match.
Reading the godparents
Baptism entries record godparents, called Paten, and they are among the most useful clues in a church book. Godparents were often relatives, neighbours or people of standing in the community, and the same people often stood for several children in one family. Names of godparents can point to a mother’s family, to a farm owner, or to an earlier generation whose records you have not found. A child was sometimes given the name of a godparent, so the pattern can run both ways. Record every godparent you see, with their place and occupation, and compare them across the family’s baptisms.
- Search for the godparents’ own entries; they often lead to the next line.
- Note when a godparent shares a surname with the mother, since that may be her family.
- Check whether a godparent appears again at later baptisms or at a marriage as a witness.
Latin forms
Older entries are in Latin, so first names appear as Josephus, Joannes, Franciscus, Georgius, Maria and so on. They correspond to the German forms. Learn the common ones in both languages and write them side by side in your notes. Jewish families after 1787 were required to choose from official lists of German given names, which is covered in our post on the 1787 name decree.
Naming patterns in families
Families often reused names. A child might carry the name of a grandparent or of the godparent, and a child who died young might be succeeded by a later sibling with the same name. These customs were common but not universal, so use them as hints and not as rules. A run of baptisms that repeats the same few names is often a sign that you are looking at one extended family, and the repeating names can help you separate it from neighbours of the same surname. For the origin of saints’ names and the other name families in the region, the Vienna History Wiki entry on family names is a good starting reference.
Deciding which name was used
| Where the name appears | How reliable it is as the name used |
|---|---|
| Baptism entry | Shows the formal string of names, not the call name |
| Marriage entry | Often the name the person used, since they gave it themselves |
| Children’s baptisms as parent | Usually the call name or a common form |
| Burial entry | Written by the priest from what the family said |
| Residence or military papers | Often the full formal name, sometimes the call name |
Invented example: An invented man called Anton Josef Karl Brandl was baptised in 1862. His marriage entry gives Josef Brandl, the baptisms of his children name the father as Josef, and his military sheet lists Anton Josef Karl. A search for Anton Brandl alone would find only the baptism and the military sheet, and would miss the family. A search for Josef, with the village and the wife’s name, would find all of it. The call name was Josef, even though it was the second name given.
Practical advice
- Record the full string from the baptism and note every shorter form you find.
- Search by call name and by the full name. Try each given name in turn with the surname.
- Keep a list of godparents. They are leads you can follow.
- Compare dates before merging. Two people with the same name in one family can be different children.
Where to go next
Use our spelling variants guide to handle respelled names, and the guide to women and maiden names for the female lines. The Matricula Online guide explains how to read the entries where these names appear, and the Austrian genealogy guide shows how they fit into the wider search.
Naming customs differed by region, religion and period. Use the patterns above as hypotheses and let your own parish’s records show which ones apply.
