Mozart's Name - Baptismal Record

Baptismal Record

Mozart was baptized on 28 January 1756, the day after his birth, at St. Rupert's Cathedral in Salzburg as "Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart". The baptismal register of the cathedral parish contains the entry shown below, written down in Latin by city chaplain Leopold Lamprecht. The parallel five-column format of the original document, seen in the figure, is transcribed below in five consecutive paragraphs. Material in brackets represents editorial additions by Otto Erich Deutsch (see below), intended for clarification.

28. med 11. merid baptizatus est : natus pridie äh 8. vesp
Joannes Chrysost Wolfgangus Theophilus fil leg
Nob D Leopoldus Mozart Aulæ Musicus, et Maria Anna Pertlin giuges
Nob D Joannes Theophilus Pergmaÿr Senator et Mercator civicus p t sponsus
Idem Leopoldus Lamprecht Capellanus Civicus

Mozart's father Leopold announced the birth of his son in a letter to the publisher Johann Jakob Lotter with the words "... the boy is called Joannes Chrisostomus, Wolfgang, Gottlieb" (in German, "der Bub heißt Joannes Chrisostomus, Wolfgang, Gottlieb"). The baptismal names "Joannes" and "Chrysostomus" also have German equivalents, namely "Johann" and "Chrysostomos" (or less frequently, "Chrysostom"). The widely-used Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians employs these versions in the heading name for its Mozart article, which parenthesizes the little-used baptismal names: "(Johann Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."

Here are the details of the various names given on the register:

• Mozart's first two baptismal names, "Joannes Chrysostomus", represent his saint's name, following the custom of the Catholic Church. They result from the fact that his birthday, 27 January, was the feast day of St. John Chrysostom. The document also records that Mozart was of legitimate birth and gives the names of his parents and his father Leopold's occupation as court musician. The first paragraph indicates that the baptism took place at 10:30 in the morning, and that Mozart had been born at 8:00 the night before. The baptismal name "Joannes Chrysostomus" was in conformance to Catholic custom and was not used by Mozart in everyday life. "Chrysostomus" means "golden mouth."
• "Wolfgangus" is "Wolfgang", adapted to the Latin used in the parish register. The composer used "Wolfgang" in German-speaking contexts. "Wolfgang," which means "running wolf," was the name of the composer's maternal grandfather.
• "Theophilus" comes from Greek and is variously rendered as "lover of God" or "loved by God." "Gottlieb" is its German form, and the familiar form "Amadeus" is its Latin form. "Theophilus" was a name of Mozart's godfather, the merchant Joannes Theophilus Pergmayr, whose presence is recorded in the fourth paragraph.