Brbinj in the census of the Zadar islands from 1608
Roman Jelić in one of his works[1] brings the census of the Zadar islands, which was commissioned by the Zadar official Octavijan Mocenigo in 1608. Regarding the surnames listed in that population census Jelić states that in the registers of certain parish offices, for example for Silba and Lukoran, there are also other surnames that do not appear in this census at this time, and he cannot say what the cause is. He believes that it is difficult to imagine that entire families would disappear so quickly, so families are present in a particular village in the registers of the parish offices in 1608, but in the census from the same year they are not in those villages. Jelić also states that it seems incredible to him that the Venetian enumerator performed his task superficially, he believes that surnames may not have been established firmly at that time, so they were easily changed. In the list he brings, there are over 800 surnames, some of which are found in two or more places. Jelić believes that these are indications of the movement of residents, i.e. moving from one place to another, and that it would be less likely that they would go to the estate of the bride, i.e. marry into another village.
These conclusions agree with my research of Brbinj register books in the part where it is clear that most Brbinj families had two or more surnames that they used, so surnames were not firmly rooted as they are today. Departures to the estates of bride are much more frequent in Brbinj than Jelić concludes in relation to the movement of the population, i.e. moving from one place to another, i.e. the appearance of the same surname in several places.
In the following, I present the population census of the village of Brbinj from 1608, as given by Roman Jelić, i.e. the list of heads of families, without information on how many old men, men, women, boys and girls each family has, which we can find in the original list:
- pre. Zorzi Biancanovich parocco
- Simon Fracchich zudese
- Nicolo Rancich
- Andera Filippich
- Simon Batagich
- Nicolo Banigich
- Zuanne Mussagievich
- Matthio Susbarich
- Simon Luxich
- Zuanne Hrihin
- Simon Mersanich
- Gregorio Tucich
- Margarita Jadrieva
- Margarita Midegneva
- Antonio Thodescovich
- Marco Schiavonovich
- Antonio Barichievich
- Piero Barichievich
- Simon Stanichievich
- Nicolo Stanicin
- Antonio Stanichievich
- Piero Suxich
- Zuanne Suxich
- Zuanne Chersegliev
- Zorzi Maciscovich
- Simon Maciscovich
- Maddalena Barancich-ia
- Piero Spagnol
- Zuanne Spagnol
- Zorzi Milicevich
- Andrea Xitcovich
If this census from 1608 is compared with the data on Brbinj surnames from the Glagolitic registers of Brbinj parish from that time, we can see that only a part of the surnames that appear in the Glagolitic registers appear in the census.
Surnames from the population census that also appear in the Glagolitic registry books of Brbinj parish or are very similar are Rancich (Rančić), Susbarich (Šužbarić or Šurbarić[2], today's Kalebs), Luxich (Lukšić or Supinov[3]), Tucich (Tučić or Grgin[4]), Thodescovich (Tudiškov[5]), Schiavonovich (Skiavon or Šćavunjev, probably today's Hujnov[6]), Barichievich (Barićević[7]), Spagnol (Španjol[8]), Barancich (Baranov), Biancanovich (Bijakanjev[9]).
According to the population census from 1608, the parish priest of Brbinj is Zorzi (Juraj) Biancanovich, while according to the excerpts from the register of baptisms (1602 - 1613) and register of marriages (1601 - 1613) of the Brbinj parish in 1608, Brbinj parish priest is called Juraj Pomaglić[10]. It is therefore people with the same personal name. Is Zorzi Biancanovich and Juraj Pomaglić the same person, if not how to explain the entries in the Glagolitic registry books from 1608? Pomaglić or Pomaljić is a surname found in the neighboring village of Savar, so in the same census from 1608 we find four Pomaglić families in Savar.
The example of the pastor of Brbinj is another indication that the same persons were referred to by different surnames. We can see the same situations in the registers of births, deaths and marriages of Brbinj parish and especially in the lists of souls of Brbinj parish. The fact that the same persons were marked with different surnames in the registers and the population census is indicated also by the following situations.
In the population census from 1608, there are no surnames Meštrović, Bahajev, Odvitović, Oblak, Hrišić, Pesić, Macina, Brunac, Štohera, but these surnames are found in the sections of the register of baptisms (1602 - 1613) and the register of marriages (1601 - 1613) of Brbinj parish.
At the same time, in the mentioned sections of the registry books of Brbinj parish, there are no surnames listed in the population census from 1608, such as: Batagich, Banigich, Mussagievich, Hrihin, Mersanich, Stanicin, Stanichievich, Suxich, Chersegliev, Maciscovich, Milicevich.
So, Jelić compared the surnames from the population census from 1608 with the surnames from the Glagolitic registers of Silba and Lukoran from the same time and established that there are other surnames in the registers that are not in the list, and the same situation is with the surnames in Brbinj registries.
It would be interesting to compare surnames from all places on the islands of Zadar from the 1608 census with surnames from the Glagolitic registers of parishes where registers from that period have been preserved.
[1] Jelić, Roman: Population of the Zadar Islands in 1608, Zbornik Zadarsko otočje, Zadar, 1974.
[2] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezimena-kaleb-i-surbaric/
[3] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezimena-supinov-supina-i-luhsic-luksic/
[4] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezimena-grgin-i-tucic/
[5] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezime-tudiskov-2/
[6] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezimena-longin-viskov-huinov-scavunjev-schiavon-cvitulic/
[7] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezimena-baran-i-bozulic-baricevic-baricev-zanetov/
[8] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezimena-spanjol-i-franicev/
[9] https://dugiotokgenealogy.com/prezime-bijakanja-bijakanjev/
[10] See Excerpts from the register of baptisms (1602 – 1613) and register of marriages (1601 – 1613) of Brbinj parish, HAZU Archives, Zagreb, signature IV a 80/15
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