Today, there are families in Brbinj with the surnames Rančev, Rančić and Petrov. The Rančev family live on the northern side of the village, "on Bura", and the Rančić and Petrov families live on the southern side of the village, "on Japrk". Rančić and Petrov families are considered to be related, while Rančev, as far as I know, are not considered related to Petrov and Rančić families.

Don Riko writes that the Rančev are a numerous family, he distinguishes several families with the Rančev surname, so, for example, he distinguishes the Rančev family in which came a man with surname Kuštera from Pašman (at the end of the 19th century), the second branch of this Rančev family are the Rančev, which today in Brbinj are called Ravkin and that according to Marija Pešušić from Rava, who married Anta Rančeva, etc.

In the population census of the village of Brbinj from 1608, Nicolo Rancich was listed, therefore, Rančić is one of the rare surnames in Brbinj that has survived to the present day in an unchanged form.

In the passages of the oldest registry books of Brbinj parish, the surname Rančev or Rančić is not mentioned, but one of the versions of these surnames Ranča, Ranac, and Rača. Thus, in 1601, Mikula Ranac was the best man at a wedding in Brbinj, and in the same year, the "marriage of Juraj Šuvrinić and Lucia, daughter of Mikula Ranč" took place. The following year, in 1602, in the register of baptisms, Šimun Ranča is mentioned as godfather at the baptism and the baptisms of Mikula, son of Ivan Ranča and Jelena, and Mikula, son of Petar Ranča and Antica. Šimun Ranča and his wife Kata baptized their son Jadri in 1605, Ivan Ranča and his wife Elena baptized their daughter Elena in 1606, etc., so at the beginning of the 17th century it is obvious that the family with the surname Rancha or Ranac was a numerous family.

I will not focus here on the overview of the family trees of the Rančev, Rančić and Petrov families, because there are too many families involved, besides, most of the data on the basis of which family trees can be created are available in previous chapters. The focus of my interest will be the use of other versions of the surnames for these Brbinj families, such as Ranac, Ranča, Polov, etc., as well as the mixing of the surnames Rančić, Petrov and Rančev.

Don Riko Finka's research and conclusions regarding these Brbinj clans agree with my assumptions, namely that the surname Rančev is a derivative of the surname Rančić, and that the Petrov family is also a branch of Rančić clan. Don Riko Finka in his Chronicle of Brbinj parish, when he gives genealogical trees of the Rančev and Rančić families and a short family history, always at the beginning lists the versions of the surname Rančić that are used for these families in the Glagolitic registries of Brbinj parish, namely Ranka – Ranča – Rančić – Rančev[1]. Don Riko writes that the Rančev are such a large tribe that since long ago they marry each other without being closely related, that they have been divided for a long time, so he quotes "Glagoljski libar" p. 37 from 1793: "When the Rančev families were divided, they divided the debt you owe to the church...[2]Don Riko cites the Glagolitic books of the Brbinj parish, from which it can be seen that in 1798 and 1799, in these Glagolitic books, Petar Rančev and Lovre Rančev were sometimes called Petar Rančić and Lovre Rančić, that is, don Riko concludes that they are the same persons[3]. He also writes that the Petrov family probably came from Rančić as well as the Rančev, and mentions that in Brbinj "the adjective Rančićev is turned into Petrov"[4].

From the oldest censuses of the souls of Brbinj parish from 1658 and 1659, we can see that the Rančić families and today's Rančev families lived on opposite sides of the village even then. Thus, in 1658, at the very beginning of the census of the souls of Brbinj parish, the Rančić family members were listed, which, given the position of the entry in the census of the souls, would be today's Rančev family members, while between the Španjol and the Oblak family members men surnamed Ranac were listed, which would be today's Rančić family members. For women, at the very beginning of the list, women with the surname Rančić were listed, which would be today's Rančev members, while among women with the surnames Španjol and Brunac and Oblak, women with the surname Rančić were listed. It was similar in 1659, with the fact that the men between Španjol and Oblak are now surnamed Rančić, only one is surnamed Ranac, as in 1658[5].

According to the data of the Register of Buildings of the Franciscan cadastre from 1824, there are no Rančev family members registered, but they are then registered under the surname Rancich. It can be determined with certainty that these are today's Rančev family members if the data from this register on the numbers of the building plots of the respective houses is compared with the archive of Franciscan cadastre maps. Today's Rančić and Petrov are registered under the same surnames and share the same court, which usually indicates their family connection and the same origin[6].

In the Glagolitic register of births of Brbinj parish, we have several entries that explicitly state that the Petrov family are related to the Rančić family. Thus, in 1789, the fact of the birth of Kate from "Blasul Petrov deto Rančić and Jerka Stipurinova of Verona" was registered, in 1795 the birth of Anton from "Blasul Petrov deto Rančić and Jerka Stipurinova of Verona", in 1811 the birth of Miha from "Antona Petrova deto Rančić and Tomica Brunac", in 1812 the birth of Ivan? from "Anton Petrov, son of Rančić and Tomica Brunac".

Don Riko writes[7] that in olden times, according to Brbinj parish church books, Rančić and Petrov family members married, which would lead to the conclusion that Petrov and Rančić family members were not close relatives after all. In the Glagolitic register of marriages of Brbinj parish, I found a marriage entry in 1706 "between Pero Rančić and Lucia Petrov", which is perhaps what don Riko was referring to when he spoke of the marriage of Rančić and the Petrov. This was not about the marriage of today's Rančić and Petrov family members, but today's Rančev and Petrov, so Pere Rančić would be surnamed Rančev today. And from this example, it can be established that today's Rančev were often called Rančići at that time. In the list of the state of souls from 1706, Pere Rančić was entered in the first place, so considering the position of the entry in the list of the state of souls, it can be concluded that he lived "on Bura" in Brbinj, and the Rančev, not the Rančić, live there today, which corresponds to the locations of the Rančev family's old houses, Antona Rančić was entered at the beginning of the list of "women's heads". In the list of the state of souls from 1708, Pere Rančev was entered in the first place, in the list of "female heads" Luce Rančić and Ante Rančić were entered at the beginning of the list (in 1709, Luca Rančić and Antona Rančić were entered as Luce Ranča and Antona Ranča, from Jle Ranch).

As for the oldest entries of the surname Petrov in the Glagolitic registers of the parish of Brbinj in the register of marriages in 1700, I found the entry of the godfather or "witness" Ivan Petrov. In the death register, the death of Ivan Petrov was recorded in 1709 at the age of 80. In the register of births in 1709, the baptism of Filipa, daughter of Pavle Petrov and his wife Ursa, was recorded. In the register of marriages, we have an interesting entry from 1659, when the marriage of Gargur, son of Šimun Petrović and Manda Macinova, was recorded. Is it possible that Šimun Petrović is actually Šimun Petrov? I have no evidence for such a claim, but I will state that in the passages of the oldest Glagolitic register books of Brbinj parish, well-known surnames in Brbinj are recorded with the suffixes -ić added, for example, in the register of births from 1602, the baptism of the daughter of Šimun Macinović (surname Macina ), in 1603 Ivan Vlah was listed as the godfather, and the following year, in 1604, Ivan Vlahović's daughter was baptized. In the same year, the godmother at one baptism was Jelena Oblaković (surname Oblak). In the register of marriages in 1601, a marriage between Anton Pesićević (surname Pesić) and Jelena was recorded. By analogy, it is possible that Šimun Petrović is actually Petrov, which would be the oldest mention of the surname Petrov that I managed to find in the Glagolitic registers of Brbinj parish.

As for the genealogy of the Petrov family, we can see from the Register of Building Particles of the Franciscan cadastre for the cadastral municipality of Brbinj that the head of the Petrov family in 1824 was Martin Petrov. Martin Petrov was born in 1783 to Grgur Petrov and Antona Masnova. He shares the court with don Antonio Rancich. Don Anton Rančić or Antonio Rancich also comes from the Petrov family, so this example also shows that the Petrov family is the same as the Rančić family. Don Anton Rančić is the son of Šimun Petrov and Manda Brunčeva[8]. Šimun Petrov had two more sons, Blasul and Mihovil. Mihovil went to the estate of the Peričin family, and the Rančić lineage in Brbinj was continued by the descendants of the third brother Blasul Petrov, deto (called) Rančić, as it is written in the register of births, and his wife Jerka Stipurinova "from Verona", that is, Verunić. This lineage branched out through the sons of Blasul Petrov deto Rančić, Anton and Matij Rančić.

As I mentioned before, Martin Petrov, who was entered in the Register of Building Deeds in 1824 as the head of the Petrov family, is the son of Grgur Petrov and Antona Masnova. Antona Masnov, who is also registered in the registers as Antona Meštović[9], dies in 1794 as Antona Petrova. The following year, Grgur Petrov, who is registered in the register of marriages as the son of Ivan Rančić, marries Anica Iveljina from Sali[10], who in 1796 gave birth to Krševan Jadrij, who continued the Petrov family, unlike Martin Petrov, who apparently had no descendants, so the Petrov family continues through the descendants of Grgur Petrov, son of Ivan Rančić, and Anica Iveljina from Sali.

It follows from the Glagolitic registers that the progenitor of the Petrov family, Grgur Petrov, has a father named Ivan Rančić, and that the progenitor of the Rančić family, Šimun Petrov, son of Rančić, has a father named Ivan Rančić.

From all of the above, it can be concluded that in the 17th and 18th and at the beginning of the 19th centuries, today's Rančev family in Brbinj were often registered in the Glagolitic registers under the surname Rančić. Today's Rančić family were written as Rančić or Ranča, Ranca and the like, but also as Petrov, no later than 1700. Also, from the list of the state of souls from 1658 onwards, it is evident that the Rančić family, who are today called Rančev, live "on Bura", after all, as they do today, and the Rančić, i.e. the Petrov families, live "on Japrk", where are their old houses. It could be, although I have no evidence for this assumption, that today's Rančići, Rančevi and Petrovi in ​​Brbinj descended from the same Rančić, that Petar Rančić moved "to Japrk" (or Rančevi "to Bura"), so, as it used to work when one family extended to several families and several houses or manors, it was necessary to call these Rančić by another surname for easier identification. In this particular case, I believe that it is most likely a patronymic, so that the progenitor of the Petrov family is probably one Petar Rančić.

For those who might want to delve deeper into the genealogy of the Petrov or Rančić family, it is important to know that the Petrov or Rančić family, or a part of them, had another surname under which they were once registered, namely the surname Polov. In Brbinj today, older residents remember the Polov surname[11] and they know that they had an old house, a ruin, which no longer exists today because it was demolished when the county road was built in Brbinj as an access road to the built ferry pier. That old house was therefore located somewhere between the school building in Brbinj and the house of the Oblak family in Brbinj. Don Riko also made a note about the Polov family in the Chronicle of the Brbinj parish, in which he writes that the Poles lived "from the south of Križ, and the Rančić family enherited their property".[12]. He was referring to the "Cross" that was erected on the south side of the Oblak family house, which still exists today in Brbinj. This building, which no longer exists, can be clearly seen on the Franciscan cadastre maps from 1824 as building number 46, which, according to the Register of Building Plots, was owned by the aforementioned don Anton Rančić.

I found the surname Polov in the Confirmation Book of Brbinj Parish, where in 1663 Eivan (Ivan) Polov was the godfather at one confirmation, while in 1702 the confirmation was Kate, daughter of Ivan Polov and Ursa. It is interesting that the birth register of Brbinj parish recorded the baptism of Katarina, daughter of Ivan "Rancić" and Ursa, daughter of Erolim Fatović, in 1693. I assume that Kata Polova is actually Katarina, Ivan Rancić's daughter.

In the register of deaths in 1807, the fact of the death of Mara Polova at the age of 15 was entered. In the register of births in 1793, the baptism of Maria, daughter of Blasul Petrov and Jerka Stipurinova of Verona, was recorded.

In the ____ volume of the series Monumenta Glagolitic archidioecesis Iadertinae, which is called the Glagolitic Book of the Weddings of the Parish of St. Marije in Mali Iž 1765 – 1826, Zadar: Permanent exhibition of church art, we find information that on January 25, 1797, in the church of St. Marije "in South Iž ", a marriage was concluded between Ivan, son of Mate Polov from Brbinj and Kate, daughter of Ivan Carov from Brgulje. It seems unusual that man from Brbinj and women from Brgulje got married in Mali Iž, but by researching data on the origin of Ivan Polov from Brbinj, the connection between the Polov family and Iž is visible. Namely, Ivan Polov was born in 1761 in Brbinj to father Matij Petrov and mother Manda Gaćineva from Iž. Mate Polov, or Petrov, is the son of Ivan Petrov and Klara, baptized in 1724 in Brbinj, so Mate Petrov could be the brother of Šimun Petrov, son of Rančić and Grgur Petrov, because they all have a father named Ivan Rančić. If you go even deeper into the Glagolitic registers, you can see that Ivan Rančić is probably Ivan Fižulić from Dragove and his wife is Klara Rančić, so Ivan came on the estate of the Rančić family from Dragove. Namely, in the register of marriages of the parish of Brbinj in 1723, a marriage between "Ivana Fižulićen and Meja Klaron Rančić" was registered. In the list of the state of souls in 1724, Ive Petrov is entered, who is not in the list of the state of souls of previous years. If the Glagolitic registers of Dragove parish confirm that Ivan Fižulić from Dragove no longer appears among the population of Dragove in the period after the marriage between "Ivan Fižulić and Klara Rančić", this could confirm this thesis about the arrival of Fižulić from Dragove to the estate of Rančić, i.e. Petrov family.

[1] Don Leonard Riko Finka: Chronicle of Brbinj parish, unpublished manuscript, p. 354, 356 and 358.

[2] Don Leonard Riko Finka: Chronicle of Brbinj parish, unpublished manuscript, p. 354.

[3] Don Leonard Riko Finka: Chronicle of Brbinj parish, unpublished manuscript, p. 356.

[4] Don Leonard Riko Finka: Chronicle of Brbinj parish, unpublished manuscript, p. 356.

[5] See p. 125., 126., 127.

[6] See p. 6. – 11.

[7] Don Leonard Riko Finka: Chronicle of Brbinj parish, unpublished manuscript, p. 360.

[8] See the register of births of Brbinj parish from 1761

[9] See the register of births of Brbinj parish from 1781

[10] The entry of the marriage from the marriage register of Brbinj parish from 1795 reads: "...between Grgur, son of the late Ivan Rančić and between Antica, daughter of the late Šima Ivelin of Salij..."

[11] I got the information in a conversation with Srećko Grgin from Brbinj

[12] Don Leonard Riko Finka: Chronicle of Brbinj parish, unpublished manuscript, p. 182.