Meaning of the last name Smiljanic
Can anyone tell me the meaning of serbian and croatian last name Smiljanic?
As far as I know, it either comes from the croatian village of Smiljan, in the region of Lika (Nikola Tesla's birthplace), or most likely from the slavic personal name Smiljan, which seems to be common in the Balkans - as I figured out by searching this name on the internet.
I'm also referring to a message that was posted on this website a couple of years ago (http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=725395&board=gen), where it is said that Smiljan is one of the 'flower/fruit/herbal inspired names in Croatian', but there's no hint about its meaning.
In short, does anyone know what 'smiljan' means in croatian?
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My Croatian-English dictionary rather unhelpful lists "immortelle" as the definition of smilje, but a quick google shows that immortelle is also called "strawflower."
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Thanks for the info!
I got a similar explanation a few days ago (http://www.behindthename.com/bb/view.php?id=3348323&board=gen) and it seems that Smiljan - a personal name in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia - does really come from this flower, the 'smilje' ('immortelle' in english): actually, the immortelle is also known by some other names in several languages, I think also as 'strawflower' in english.
On the webiste http://en.allexperts.com/q/Serbian-Language-3393/2008/1/names.htm, someone also explained that "Name Smiljana (feminine form of Smiljan) has its root in a name of herb called "smilje" (English name dwarf everlast, Latin name Helichrysum arenarium). This herb is very popular in Serbian folklore - according to the tradition, it is a cure for many diseases".
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