Meaning of Samardzija and Samardzic
Does anyone know what the last names Samardzija and Samardzic mean?
I just know they're slavic and they usually come from the Balkans - Samardzic seems to be very common in Serbia, as reported on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samard%C5%BEi%C4%87.
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My dads last name is Samardzic but he is a Bosniak (Muslim) whose grandpa is already from Istanbul. So it is as you said most commonly from Serbia but there are also Bosnian Samardzic’s in Bosnia. The name means saddle maker and as my dad once told me my great grandfather was actually a saddle maker in Istanbul! They used to give you names that your family did as a living and turned it into a name. My grandpas last name was Samardzija but then when he came to Yugoslavia they changed it to Samardzic. You did not have to do it I guess he just did it!
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Some who works with leather and rubber to make various things
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Would they’ve people from the Sumadija region of Serbia? Some of the naming customs of the Slavic peoples seems to also take on regional or area names.
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This surname is common all over the Balkans: Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, ..The Turkish word semer (samar in some dialects) means "packsaddle" (or just "saddle"):http://www.seslisozluk.com/?word=semer&go_seslisozluk_search=+++Ara+++Thus, "samarci" means "semer producer", "packsaddle" or just Saddler.
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