Summary

The surnames in Gruzdžiai: the history and the present

Vitalija Maciejauskaitė

The historical and current surnames of people in the present-day parish of Gruzdžiai (Šiauliai District) have been analysed.

Three books of marriage registration (17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries) at the Gruzdžiai church were the sources of historical anthroponyms. All in all, about 6 thousand anthroponyms have been copied from the book and analysed in the paper. The current surnames were taken from Lietuvių pavardžių žodynas ([Dictionary of Lithuanian Family Names] (T. 1–2, Vilnius, 1985–1989).

Investigating the historical surnames and comparing them with the current surnames, the emphasis was laid on the provenance, structure, development and origin of family name forms. The results obtained indicate the topicality and prospectiveness of the investigations on historical and current surnames for concrete areas in Lithuania.