Surnames
Most Serbian surnames have the surname suffix -ić (-ић) . This can sometimes further be transcribed as -ic, but in history, Serbian names have often been transcribed with a phonetic ending, -ich or -itch, and;
- Hungary, -ity -ics -its
- Republic of Macedonia, -ikj (iḱ, иќ)
- Romania, -ici
This form is often associated with Serbs from before the early 20th century: hence Milutin Milanković is usually referred to, for historical reasons, as Milutin Milankovitch, and Mileva Marić, born in Vojvodina (then a part of Hungary) has sometimes been rendered as Marity (e.g. in the claim of "Einstein-Marity" theory).
The -ić suffix is a Slavic diminutive, originally functioning to create patronymics. Thus the surname Petrović means the little son of Petar (Petrić signifies the little son of Petra, the widow).
Most Serbian surnames are paternal (father), maternal (mother), occupational, or derived from personal traits.
Other common surname suffixes are -ov, -ev, -in and -ski which is the Slavic possessive case suffix, thus Nikola's son becomes Nikolin, Petar's son Petrov, and Jovan's son Jovanov. The two suffixes are often combined, most commonly as -ović. Other, less common suffices are -alj/olj/elj, -ija, -ica, -ar/ac/an, .
When marrying, the woman most often adopts her husband's family name, though she can also keep both of her last names or not change her last name at all.
It is estimated that some two thirds of all Serbian surnames end in -ić. but that some 80% of Serbs carry common surnames that are spread among non-related families.
The ten most common surnames in Serbia, in order, are Jovanović, Petrović, Nikolić, Marković, Đorđević, Stojanović, Ilić, Stanković, Pavlović and Milošević.
Read more about this topic: Serbian Given Names