Albanization of names

Last updated February 05, 2025

Albanization (US) or Albanisation (UK) of names is Albanization of non-Albanian personal names and toponyms in Albania, Kosovo, western North Macedonia and Montenegro. Right after the Second World War Albanian communist authorities required non-Albanians to Albanize their names. In 1966 the Albanian Communist Party issued a decree aimed to wipe out "traces of the non-Albanian population" in places where significant Slavic minorities still lived. In 1968 one of the demands of Albanian nationalistic demonstration on Kosovo was to remove Serbian Orthodox name Metohija from the name of the province. On 23 September 1975 the Albanian Communist Party issued "Decree #5339" on the Albanization of all place-names and personal names which ordered citizens to give "modern revolutionary (Illyrian) names" to their children, while non-Albanian toponyms or ones that had religious connotations all over the country were Albanized to better suit the "state ideology".^[1]

After the Kosovo War and the entrance of the NATO forces to Kosovo in June 1999 a sweeping Albanization of place-names, organizations, street-names and business took place. In 2005 a special envoy of UN Secretary-General, issued a report submitted to the UN Security Council inviting the Kosovo Albanian leaders to react and bring a halt to the attempts to rewrite the history through "albanization". The politicians in contemporary Albania continued to support the politics of Albanization, particularly Albanization of Slavic toponyms.

In Albania

Soon after the Second World War people belonging to ethnic minorities were required to Albanize their names.^[2] The Central Committee of the Albanian Communist Party issued two decrees which Albanized place-names and personal names. The first decree was issued in 1966 aimed to wipe out "traces of the non-Albanian population" in places where significant Slavic minorities still lived.^[3]^[4] The 1966 Albanization of names included personal names of ethnic Macedonians and names of the villages where they lived in compact communities.^[5] A Decree on the Albanization of all place-names and personal names was also issued at 7th congress of the Communist Party held in period 26—29 May 1975. The decree referred to all names which are not aligned with ideological and political guideline of the Communist Party.^[6] This decree ordered citizens to give "modern revolutionary (Illyrian) names" to their children.^[7]^[8]

Tzachristos argues that Christian names were overwhelmingly affected while on the other hand, the use of several Muslim names was allowed in spite their religious connotations.^[9] However, French anthropologist Gilles de Rapper states that according to some observations the religious names survived better among Christians than among Muslims.^[10] Under the same decree geographical name changes occurred all over the country in cases of non-Albanian toponyms or ones that had religious connotations.^[11] Around 90 towns and toponyms in the southern areas where ethnic Greek communities are located were renamed and received secular names.^[12] The names of 13 settlements in Korçë and 6 in Sarandë regions were changed in order to be in agreement with the "state ideology".^[9] Moreover, the names of Greek and Roman archaeological sites were changed to "Illyrian".^[11]

A ban of religious names had deleterious consequences on people of Greek ethnicity who traditionally give religious names to their children.^[13]

In case of substantial Serb community in northern Albania (Shkodër), their family names had been Albanized during dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.^[14]

The desire of the Greek minority's representatives to be able to use bilingual signposts and signs within municipalities is based on their need for recognition of Greek culture and, more importantly, a fear of its erosion. The December 2007 lawsuit against Omonoia President Vasil Bolano for replacing signs in Albanian with signs in Greek in the municipality of Himara illustrates the issues surrounding toponymy and its symbolic meaning. The situation was the exact counterpoint to the measures of Albanization of toponyms operated by the communist regime.^[15]

The politicians in contemporary Albania continued to support the politics of Albanization, particularly Albanization of Slavic toponyms. In 2009 Albanian president Bamir Topi and Prime Minister Sali Berisha proposed establishment of the commission for Albanization of Slavic toponomy.^[16] Berisha actually supports Albanization of not only Slavic toponyms but all placenames in Albania.^[17] In spite of his proposal, there are no similarly strong attempts to Albanize Latin, Turkish or Greek place names for the time being.^[18]

The Albanian civil service’s policy tends to Albanianize personal names to persons who belong to ethnic or cultural minorities without even asking them.^[19]

In Kosovo

During the widespread demonstrations in Priština and several other towns on Kosovo in 1968, the Albanian nationalists demanded a change of name of the Serbia's province Kosovo and Metohija to Kosovo.^[20]^[21] They considered an Orthodox name of Metohija as provocative.^[22] Their demands were met and less than a month after demonstrations Yugoslav Federal Parliament removed Serbian name Metohija from the official name of the province.^[23]

After the Kosovo War and entrance of the NATO forces to Kosovo in June 1999 a sweeping Albanization of place-names, organizations, street-names and business took place.^[24] In some cases newly forged placenames (i.e. Burim, Besiana or Theranda) are not accepted instead of traditional names.^[25]

In 2003 UN Secretary-General reported that names of many non-Albanians were "Albanized" in official documents which include their identity cards. In the same report it is indicated that after becoming award of this activities in some cases UNMIK reissued documents with correct spelling of the name.^[26] The Minister for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia informed EULEX that the practice of Albanization of names of Serbs is unacceptable.^[27]

In 2005 Kai Eide, a special envoy of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, issued a report which was later submitted to the UN Security Council. In this report the Kosovo Albanian leaders are invited to react and bring a halt to the attempts to rewrite the history through "albanization".^[28]

Assembly of Kosovo adopted a Law on the Use of Languages which stipulated that non-Albanians have the right to receive all information, documents and other services in any of the Kosovo’s official languages. It was reported by UNHCR that Kosovo’s public companies do not respect this law when it comes to their non-Albanian customers, particularly Serbs, whose names are changed to Albanized versions with "ç".^[29] There is a common practice reported by Ombusdperson institution in 2008 which has serious long-term consequences when municipalities don't respect names in the Serbian, Bosniak and Turkish languages of newborn babies when they are recorded in the registry books.^[30]

In North Macedonia

During Second World War western part of North Macedonia was annexed into fascist Albania. All Macedonian schools were replaced with Albanian while names and surnames of non-Albanian people had to take an Albanian form.^[31]

Related Research Articles

The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, and they also live in the neighboring countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, and Serbia, as well as in Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Albanians also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe and the other continents.

Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the north and east, and North Macedonia to the southeast. It covers an area of 10,887 km² (4,203 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 1.6 million. Kosovo has a varied terrain, with high plains along with rolling hills and mountains, some of which have an altitude over 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Its climate is mainly continental with some Mediterranean and alpine influences. Kosovo's capital and most populous city is Pristina; other major cities and urban areas include Prizren, Ferizaj, Gjilan and Peja.

The history of North Macedonia encompasses the history of the territory of the modern state of North Macedonia.

This article includes information on the demographic history of Kosovo.

Metohija, also known in Albanian as Dukagjin, is a large basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo. The region covers 35% (3,891 km²) of Kosovo's total area. According to the 2024 census, the population of the region is 570,147.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viti, Kosovo</span> Town and municipality in Gjilan, Kosovo

Viti or Vitina is a town and municipality located in the District of Gjilan in Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Viti has 4,924 inhabitants, while the municipality has 46,987 inhabitants.

The history of Kosovo dates back to pre-historic times when the Starčevo culture, Vinča culture, Bubanj-Hum culture, and Baden culture were active in the region. Since then, many archaeological sites have been discovered due to the abundance of natural resources which gave way to the development of life.

The name Kosovo is the most frequently used form in English when discussing the region in question. The Albanian spelling Kosova has lesser currency. The alternative spellings Cossovo and Kossovo were frequently used until the early 20th century.

Shqiptar is an Albanian ethnonym (endonym), by which Albanians call themselves. They call their country Shqipëria.

Serbianisation or Serbianization, also known as Serbification, and Serbisation or Serbization is the spread of Serbian culture, people, and language, either by social integration or by cultural or forced assimilation.

Albanisation is the spread of Albanian culture, people, and language, either by integration or assimilation. Diverse peoples were affected by Albanisation including peoples with different ethnic origins, such as Turks, Serbs, Croats, Circassians, Bosniaks, Greeks, Aromanians, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, Romani, Gorani, and Macedonians from all the regions of the Balkans.

The Albanians of Kosovo, also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo.

Albanian nationalism is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts generated by ethnic Albanians that were first formed in the 19th century during the Albanian National Awakening. Albanian nationalism is also associated with similar concepts, such as Albanianism ("Shqiptaria") and Pan-Albanianism, that includes ideas on the creation of a geographically expanded Albanian state or a Greater Albania encompassing adjacent Balkan lands with substantial Albanian populations.

North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the north. It constitutes approximately the northern third of the larger geographical region of Macedonia. Skopje, the capital and largest city, is home to a quarter of the country's population of 1.83 million. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25%, followed by Turks, Roma, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians and a few other minorities.

Albanian names are names that are used by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, or the diaspora. In Albania, a full 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, with the given name being followed by the family name.

The Greek state has systematically pursued a policy of Hellenisation following its independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1830s. This ideology included replacing all geographical and topographic names with revived names rooted in Classical Greece – that is, any name deemed foreign, divisive against Greek unity, or considered to be "bad Greek" was hidden or assimilated. The names that were considered foreign were usually of Albanian, Slavic or Turkish origin. Byzantine Greek was considered bad Greek at the time of the establishment of the state until well after the Balkan Wars; accordingly those places were also renamed.

The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, referred to simply as Kosovo, was one of the two autonomous provinces of the Socialist Republic of Serbia within Yugoslavia, between 1945 and 1990, when it was renamed Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

The ethnic groups in Yugoslavia were grouped into constitutive peoples and minorities.

Albanian nationalism in North Macedonia traces its roots in the wider Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis (1878) and proposed partitioning of Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements culminated between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to North Macedonia stressing Albanian language, culture and identity within the context of state and sociopolitical rights. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when western Macedonia was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.

Kosovo is the birthplace of the Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis of 1878. In the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Ottoman war, the Congress of Berlin proposed partitioning Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. The League of Prizren was formed by Albanians to resist those impositions. For Albanians those events have made Kosovo an important place regarding the emergence of Albanian nationalism. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights culminated in two revolts within Kosovo and adjacent areas. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to Kosovo stressing Albanian language, culture, and identity within the context of secession from Serbia. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when part of Kosovo was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.

References

↑ Sabrina P. Ramet, Nihil Obstat: Religion, Politics, and Social Change in East-Central Europe and Russia (Duke University Press, 1998) p. 218
↑ Veikou, Mariangela (1 January 2001). Plamen Makariev (ed.). Islamic and Christian Cultures: Conflict Or Dialogue. CRVP. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-56518-162-5 . Retrieved 16 December 2013. For instance, soon the minority members were all required to Albanize their names; a list of approved names was provided in a booklet distributed to every household by the state. These names were selected on the basis of a Latin origin,
↑ Macedonian Review. "Kulturen život" (Cultural Life). 1990. p. 63. Retrieved 16 December 2013. By a decree passed in 1966 place-names were changed to wipe out "traces of the non-Albanian population"...
↑ Filipović, Gordana (1989). Kosovo--past and present. Review of International Affairs. p. 353. Retrieved 16 December 2013. An act of violence was committed over topography and geography in the aim of albanizing Albania.
↑ Anton Vratuša (1990). Narodne manjšine: zbornik referatov in razprav na znanstvenem srečanju 30. in 31. marca 1989. Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti. p. 115. ISBN 978-86-7131-033-8. Tako je 1966. godine izvršena albanizacija ličnih imena Makedonaca, imena sela u kojima oni kompaktno žive, a promenjena su i ostala geografska imena.
↑ Elsie, Robert (19 March 2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Scarecrow Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-8108-7380-3 . Retrieved 16 December 2013. ...the Albanization of all personal and place-names that are not in line with political, ideological, and moral guidelines
↑ Macedonian Review. "Kulturen život" (Cultural Life). 1990. p. 63. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Under a decree of 1975, citizens were ordered to give their children "modern revolutionary (Illyrian) names"...
↑ Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (2005). "On the Implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in Kosovo" (PDF). Mustafa Balje, Osman Osmani, Bekim Syla, Elvir Ilijazi. Minority Electronic Sources. p. 107. Retrieved 16 December 2013. official names of towns, villages and places are frequently renamed, which unofficially results in the "Albanization" of those names.
1 2 Tzachristos, Vaios Vasileiou (2013). Η εκκλησιαστική πολιτική του Ενβέρ Χότζα και των επιγόνων του [The Ecclesiastical Policy of Enver Hoxha and of his Successors] (in Greek). Thessaloniki: University of Thessaloniki. p. 103. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
↑ Gilles de Rapper (7 October 2008). "Religion in post-communist Albania: Muslims, Christians and the idea of 'culture' in Devoll, southern Albania" (PDF). Anthropological Notebooks, Slovenian Anthropological Society. Vol. 14, no. 2. pp. 31–45. Retrieved 2 October 2017.. Page 42: "Finally, other observations seem to support the idea of the relatively privileged position of Christians during communism: for instance, and as far as I could determine, the destruction of places of cult in 1967 and afterwards seems to have been more systematic in the case of Muslim places, while Christian places (although closed as cult places and dedicated to secular usage) have more often been spared as ‘cultural monuments’ [41] (monument kulture). Also, as far as I could determine, religious first names, formally forbidden in 1976, seem to have survived better among Christians than among Muslims. They seem to have reappeared more easily after 1990, for newborn children as well as for children and adults who got baptised when religious practices were authorised again. Muslim names, on the contrary, do not seem to have regained favour. "
1 2 Nußberger Angelika; Wolfgang Stoppel (2001), Minderheitenschutz im östlichen Europa (Albanien) (PDF) (in German), Universität Köln, p. 20, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03, retrieved 2017-10-03, Teil diverser Albanisierungskampagnen war schließlich ... in "illyrische" umbenannt.
↑ Albania : a country study. Area handbook series (2nd ed.). Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. 1994. p. 86. ISBN 0-8444-0792-5.
↑ "Human Rights in Post-Communist Albania" (PDF). Helsinki. 1996. p. 134. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Since Greek minority culture is closely tied to the Orthodox Church, the community did suffer disproportionately from the ban on religion and the destruction of churches. In addition, governmental pressure to change foreign and religious names to Albanian forms had a deleterious impact on Greek families, who often name children after religious figures.
↑ Ahrens, Geert-Hinrich (6 March 2007). Diplomacy on the Edge: Containment of Ethnic Conflict and the Minorities Working Group of the Conferences on Yugoslavia. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-8018-8557-0. ...their family names, which had been Albanized during the Hoxha dictatorship
↑ Dorlhiac, Renaud (1 October 2015). "La minorité grecque d'Albanie : survivance de l'hellénisme ou produit de la construction étatique albanaise ?". Anatoli (in French) (6): 59–78. doi:10.4000/anatoli.287. ISSN 2111-4064 . Retrieved 23 November 2018. Le procès intenté au président d'Omonoia, Vasil Bolano, pour avoir remplacé dans sa commune d'Himara les panneaux de signalisation en albanais par des panneaux en grec, en décembre 2007, illustre les enjeux entourant la toponymie et révèle en outre un rapport symbolique très fort au terroir, creuset des traditions. Il est l'exact contrepoint des mesures d'albanisation des toponymes opérées par le régime communiste.
↑ Marjola Rukaj (2009). "Lexical cleansing: Slavic toponyms in Albania (or out of?)". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Current president Bamir Topi first mentioned the idea during a routine visit to a village in the country's northeast. At first, it seemed like a simple gaffe made by a president who lacked better speech ideas for a minor event. But a few months later, Prime Minister Berisha also mentioned Slavic toponymy. Berisha, discussing the issue in one of his new government's first meetings, did not hesitate to take the idea further. "We have to create a commission to replace all the Slavic toponymy in the country with corresponding Albanian toponyms originating before the Slavic invasion," Berisha said.
↑ Marjola Rukaj (2009). "Lexical cleansing: Slavic toponyms in Albania (or out of?)". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso. Retrieved 16 December 2013. In that sense, Berisha went even further with a proposal to "Albanize" all place names in the country.
↑ Marjola Rukaj (2009). "Lexical cleansing: Slavic toponyms in Albania (or out of?)". Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso. Retrieved 16 December 2013. But for the time being Greek place names in southern Albania, Turkish ones in other regions, and Latin and Italian ones along the coast do not seem to be a source of concern.
↑ Giakoumis, Konstantinos (6 June 2020). "The policy of non-discrimination and the protection of minority cultural heritage in Albania". International Journal of Cultural Policy. 26 (4): 502. doi:10.1080/10286632.2019.1567722. S2CID 150417947 . Retrieved 5 August 2022.
↑ Gordana Filipović (1989). Kosovo--past and present. Review of International Affairs. p. 249. ... Flag Day, November 27, 1968, they organized demonstrations in Pristina and several other towns in Kosovo and Metohija. ... Accession to the demand for a change in the name of the Province followed only a month later and was a high point in the albanization of the province. The old idea of ethnic Albanian nationalists to change the historical name of Kosovo and Metohija to Kosovo, so as to adapt it ...
↑ United States. Congress. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1998). Repression and violence in Kosovo, March 18, 1998; Kosovo, the humanitarian perspective, June 25, 1998: two hearings before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, One Hundred Fifth Congress, second session. U.S. G.P.O. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-16-057628-7. The 1968 demonstrations resulted in the changing of Kosovo and Metohija's name to Kosovo only, and the albanization of the province: the albanization of the topography,...
↑ Year Book. ELIAMEP. 1990. p. 151. ... other Kosovo cities, calling for an independent University, the removal of what they saw as "the provocative Orthodox name of Metohija" from the ...
↑ Frederick L. Shiels (1984). Ethnic separatism and world politics. University Press of America. p. 130. ISBN 9780819137296. Serbian name "Metohija" was dropped from the Province's official title in deference to Albanian sentiments.
↑ Rajić, Ljubiša (2012). "Toponyms and the political and ethnic identity in serbia". Oslo Studies in Language. 4 (2): 203–222. doi: 10.5617/osla.319 . ISSN 1890-9639 . Retrieved 16 December 2013. When NATO forces came to Kosovo in June 1999 a thorough "Albanization" of the names of the streets, squares, settlements, businesses and other organizations was carried out in order to define Kosovo as an Albanian region, and the name Metohija ceased to be used as it was officially renamed Dukagjin which is an Albanian word.
↑ Elsie, Robert (2004). Historical Dictionary of Kosova. Scarecrow Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8108-5309-6.
↑ "Responses to Information Requests". Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 2005. Retrieved 16 December 2013. A report by the UN Secretary-General stated that many non-Albanian minorities had had their names "Albanized" in official documents, including identity cards (UN 14 Apr. 2003). However, the report also indicated that when UNMIK is made aware of these "violations," it would endeavour to fix the problem, in some cases by reissuing documents with the correct spelling of the bearer's name
↑ "K. Albanians "trying to finalize ethnic cleansing"". 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2013. "It is unacceptable for the names of Serbs to be Albanized in the documents issued by Priština
↑ Eide, Kai (2005). "Letter dated 7 October 2005 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council" (PDF). Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo. p. 17. Archived from the original on May 17, 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2013. The Serbian Orthodox Church is experiencing pressure against its identity. In addition to intimidation and threats, there are attempts to rewrite the history and origin of Serbian Orthodox heritage. They see uncontroversial and neutral names of streets in the vicinity of their sites being changed and "albanized". The Kosovo Albanian leaders should react and bring a halt to these activities.
↑ "Uneven implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo (2009)". The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2013. In Kosovo's public companies, the Law on the Use of Languages is practically not implemented. Electricity bills, bank statements and informative leaflets are written and distributed only in Albanian, or, in the best cases, also in English (see Annex B). Often the names of non-Albanian customers, in particular Serbs, are mangled, for instance changing the last letter of the Serbian last names from "ć" to the Albanized-version ending with "ç".
↑ "Uneven implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo (2009)". The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2013. It is also rare for municipalities to respect the spelling of names in the Serbian, Bosniak and Turkish languages, which can have long time bearing consequences when it comes to the spelling of the name of a new born in a civil status registry book."
↑ Rossos, Andrew (6 June 2008). Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History. Hoover Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-8179-4883-2 . Retrieved 16 December 2013. The names and surnames of non-Albanians had to take on an Albanian form