Albanian names are names used in, or originating in, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and the Albanian diaspora. In Albania a complete name usually consists of a given name ; the given name of the individual's father, which is seldom included except in official documents; and a family name or surname. They are invariably given in the Western name order, or given name followed by family name. Albanian given names are traditionally original Albanian-meaning names, or religious names. During the Communist regime, based on the theory of the Illyrian origin of Albanians, supposedly Illyrian names were constructed as appropriate names instead of religious ones. The government issued a decree ordering people to change their religious names to "pure Albanian names", while newborns had to receive non-religious names. Albanian names have changed dramatically with more opting for foreign, English or Romance names in recent times than traditional Balkan names. In addition Albanians from Albania tend to focus on names that are Greek, Italian, Western European as opposed to those in Kosovo, North Macedonia and elsewhere that are either religious, local, geographic or related to traditionalism.
Given names
While in Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, Albanian and religious names are quite common, in Albania proper, Albanian or Muslim names are rarely given. This is partly a result of the high net emigration rate of Albania and the desire of most Albanian emigrants to assimilate internationally. Another factor is the secularisation that took place during Socialist rule, which discouraged explicitly Christian or Muslim given names. In 2014, among the 20 most commonly used given names for newborn children in Albania, there was not a single Albanian name. Instead, "international" names were most popular. Traditionally, given names in Albania did not have Albanian origins because they were religious names, either Christian or Islamic. In Communist Albania, an Illyrian origin of the Albanians continued to play a significant role in Albanian nationalism, resulting in a revival of given names supposedly of Illyrian origin, at the expense of given names associated with Christianity or Islam. This trend originated with the 19th century Rilindja, but became more common after 1944, when it became the Socialist government’s policy to heavily discourage religious given names. Ideologically acceptable names were listed in the Fjalor me emra njerëzish. These could be native Albanian words like Flutur, ideologically communist ones like Marenglen, or "Illyrian" ones compiled from epigraphy, e.g. from the necropolis at Dyrrhachion excavated in 1958-60.
Surnames
Many surnames in Albania have Islamic and Christian roots. The long mutual influence of the population resulted in a large number of Albanian surnames ending in ić, ović or ovit even under Ottoman rule. Common last name endings include -aj, as well as common definite Albanian nominative singular endings: hence -i for originally masculine last names except for those previously ending in k, g, h or i, which have -u added; or -a/-ja for feminine names. Many last names were originally surnames, many of these being either Muslim, Bektashi or Christian, but a large number are neither and are simply from old Albanian secular names. Albanians frequently have surnames that don't match their actual religious identity, often because of recent secularization, religious intermarriage, relatively recent conversion in late Ottoman times or the practice of Ottoman Christians taking Muslim names due to Muslim dominance of society during those times. Names starting with Papa- usually indicate Christian origin but there are cases where it is followed by a Muslim element. Another major source of Albanian last names are place names- Albanians sometimes took their hometowns as surnames, and especially when a family moved to another place, they often took their former residence as a surname, leading to somewhat well known last names such as Frashëri, Përmeti, Shkodra, Kelmendi, Shkreli, Delvina, Prishtina, etc.). In the North and in Kosovo, clan names are also very prominent, most notably the names of widespread clans such as Krasniqi, Berisha and Gashi. The surnames Gega, Gegprifti, Gegaj etc. probably indicate Northern origins, as Tosku and Toskaj do for Southerners. In addition, many names, even if not explicitly, are strongly identified with certain regions and Albanians can often tell another Albanian's regional origin from their last name. Surnames based on occupation are less common than in other countries but nevertheless the surnames Hoxha and Prifti remain very common. Arvanite and pre- modern Albanian surnames are also common. Many Arvanite surnames are found in Albania, in the modern Albanian form. For example, the word in Arvanitika for "brave" or "pallikari" being "çanavar" or its shortened form "çavar" was pronounced "tzanavar" or "tzavar" giving birth to Arvanitic family names like "Tzanavaras" and/or "Tzavaras". This is a link between Albanian and Greek names. The Arvanite surname "Κριεζής" is a very common Albanian surname. "Kryezi" means "Blackhead" in Albanian. Orthodox Christian names tend to be heavily Greek, including last names which have counterparts in the Greek language.
History
Communist-era Albania
According to a decree issued in 1966, Muslims in Albania had to change their names to Albanian names while newborn Albanians had to receive non-religious names. In a decree of November 1975, all the citizens of Albania whose names were considered objectionable by the Albanian Communist Party were ordered to change their names to "pure Albanian names" by the end of the year.
Situation in the present
Albanians form the largest migrant group in Greece and second largest migrant group in Italy. Many modern names are thus Greek or Italian. In Greece, and likewise in Italy, many Albanian newcomers change their Albanian names to Greek or Italian ones and their religion, if they are not Christian, from Islam to Christianity: Even before emigration, more and more people in the south of Albania are pretending to be Greeks, and even are changing their Muslim names to Greek ones in order to not being discriminated against in Greece. By this way, they hope to get a visa for Greece.
