Family name search
Iam eager to get information on mt family name Aracsy. I am Hungarian the names of family members I am looking for are Aracsy Elek and Gyevy, a sister Ilona. The date is approx 1869 in Transylvania.I have read broadly about the topic of name origins and would value any information on how to proceed.The name Elek is als a town near the Romainian border but I do not know where to start with Gyevy, which to me sounds French.Any information is accepted gratefully.Thank you.
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Replies

Is this an enquiry about name meanings or genealogical research? If the latter I suggest you try -
http://www.radixforum.com/index.en.htm
If the former: Aracsy looks like it's from a place name Aracs or Arács. There was one which is now in Serbia and has a Serbian name. There may be another in Western Hungary, I'm not sure.
Gyevy too looks like it might derive from a place name, Gyev, though I haven't found one. I take it that Aracsy Elek is all one name, though Elek can be a surname as well as a given name.
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Thanks for the prompt response Jim.The name meaning could give me a clue or alternatives to start the research.The "y" sound in Hungarian does mean "from", so you gave me a different perspective. I have found Elek, the place so perhaps I should focus my research on this angle. I have a habit of working backwards. Elek is a family name also and it looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me to unravel this branch of Aracsy. Finally I will consult historical maps to find the villages of Aracs or Arács.Thanks again Jim.
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Jim,am I on the right track?Do I need to consider changes in borders? For a period of time, the spelling of the surname changed,based on religion and the adoption of Latin ie, Church Registary names in Latin?then changed back to the native tongue.Yor help here is appreciated,Judit
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Yes, you must consider border changes if you are going back earlier than 1919. Post-World War I Hungary was a much smaller country than pre-WWI. The nations now known as Croatia and Slovakia were both part of Hungary. The whole of Transylvania (Erdély) was transferred from Hungary to Romania. Other tracts of Hungarian territory became part of Serbia/Yugoslavia and Austria. Now all these countries have Magyar minorities, and, I'm guessing, records will be kept by those communities.
So you are going to need to pinpoint the locations of your families and identify the country or countries in which those places are found today.
As for spelling, I know Arácsy can be spelled Arácsi, but that's just an alternative. I would expect only given names to be latinised, not surnames. I'm assuming that you're aware that in Hungary the surname always comes first, and the baptismal name last.
So Laszló Péter in a Hungarian document would be Peter Laszlo in an English document - confusing, as both names can be given names.
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