Murkovic.org
Where do Murković’s come from?
99% of Murković's can trace their roots to:
- Međimurje, a region in northern Croatia or to
- Stajnica, a village in Lika, Croatia and these Murković's probably originally came from Međimurje.
There are no known links between these two regions and within each region there are many family branches that are seemingly unconnected. I have started to categorize these families into branches. So far, I have 10 branches (6 from Stajnica and 4 from Međimurje). There is also a small Murković branch in the Ukraine.
The theory on the origin of the name leads us to deduce that all Murković’s originated from along the south side of the Mur river in the part that divides Croatia and Slovenia/Hungary.
Pronunciation and Spelling
Murkovic is spelt Murković in Croatia and this is pronounced "Murkovich". In the english-speaking world "Murkovic" is often pronounced "Murkovik", so many Croatian families changed the "~vić" at the end of their last name to "~vich" so that it sounds right. In Europe, many people pronounce it "Murkovich" even when the accent is not present.
murkovic.org is a non-profit site dedicated to our children. It provides information on all things Murkovic including some coverage of related family names. All of the information on this site was obtained through using google, bing, a subscription to ancestry.ca and from friends. The information is therefore in the public domain, I've arranged it so that it has meaning to Murković's. If we talk or email each other I will assume that you're comfortable placing everything we say on the website. Please let me know if this is not so and I won't make it public.
Origin of the name Murković
Family names developed in the middle ages and were generally classified under five categories: given name, occupational name, location name, nickname and ornamental name. There was a tendency in Europe during the Middle Ages for migration to chiefly be from smaller communities to the cities, and new arrivals needed to choose a defining surname.
If we examine the current global population of Murković's we find a strong concentration in Međimurje, a region in northern Croatia. Međimurje means "among the Mur". The Mura River (the Mur in Austria) is a river that meanders in the area and forms the border between Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary. It starts in the Austrian Alps and makes it way east to the Danube and ultimately to the Black Sea.
In Međimurje, on the river, in the northern most part of Croatia, on the border of Croatia and Slovenia there is a town called "Mursko Središće". This town has the largest concentration of Murković's. There are many other Murković's in small towns along the Mura River and many Murković's in Europe can trace their roots to this area of Međimurje.
The theory is that Murković is a location surname (family name) and that the location is along the Mur (or Mura) River. The only other source of Murković's is in the Ukraine and they may or may not be related to the Murković's from Međimurje. The Murković's in America are largely from Lika. The Murković's in Lika are likely to have emigrated south from Međimurje after the Turkish and Valach threats had dissipated in the late 1600's and early 1700's.
