A Lithuanian personal name, as in most European cultures, consists of two main elements: the given name () followed by the family name (). The usage of personal names in Lithuania is generally governed (in addition to personal taste and family custom) by three major factors: civil law, canon law, and tradition. Lithuanian names always follow the rules of the Lithuanian language. Lithuanian male names have preserved the Indo-European masculine endings (; ; ). These gendered endings are added even to foreign names.
Vardas (given name) A child in Lithuania is usually given one or two given names. Nowadays the second given name is rarely used in everyday situations. As well as modern names, parents can choose a name or names for their child from a long list of traditional names; these include:
Lithuanian names of pre-Christian origin.
These are the most ancient layer of Lithuanian personal names; a majority of them are dual-stemmed personal names, of Indo-European origin. These ancient Lithuanian names are constructed from two interconnected stems, the combination of which has been used to denote certain beneficial personal qualities, for example means "a strong rider". Although virtually extinct following the Christianization of Lithuania, they continued to exist as surnames, such as Goštautas, Kęsgaila, Radvila or in their Slavicised versions, as well as in toponyms. The existing surnames and written sources have allowed linguists such as Kazimieras Būga to reconstruct these names. In the period between World War I and World War II these names returned to popular use after a long period of neglect. Children are often named in honor of the most revered historical Lithuanian rulers; these are some of the most popular names. They include Vytautas, Gediminas, Algirdas, and Žygimantas. In line with the double-stemmed names, shorter variants containing only one stem were also used, such as Vytenis and Kęstutis. Since there are few pre-Christian female names attested in written sources, they are often reconstructed from male variants, in addition to the historical Birutė, Aldona, Rimgailė etc.
Christian names, i.e. Biblical names or saint's names.
The use of Christian names in the Lithuanian language long predates the adoption of Christianity by Lithuanians. The linguistic data attest that first Biblical names started to be used in Aukštaitija as early as the 11th century. The earliest stratum of such names originates from Old Church Slavonic; they were borrowed by Eastern Orthodoxy in their Byzantine versions. Examples of such names are Antanas (St. Anthony), Povilas or Paulius (St. Paul), Andrius (St. Andrew) and Jurgis (St. George), while female names include Kotryna (St. Catherine) and Marija (St. Mary). The later influx of Christian names came after the adoption of Christianity in 1387. They are mostly borrowed in their Polish versions: Jonas (St. John), Vladislovas/Vladas (St. Ladislaus), Kazimieras/Kazys (St. Casimir), Ona (St. Anne), etc.
Lithuanian common nouns or hydronyms used as names.
There are popular names constructed from the words for celestial bodies (Saulė for the Sun, Aušrinė for Venus), events of nature (Audra for storm, Aušra for dawn, Rasa for dew, Vėjas for wind, Aidas for echo), plants (Linas/Lina for flax, Eglė for spruce), and river names (Ūla, Vilija for River Neris).
invented names from literature.
Some names were created by the authors of literary works and spread in public use through them. Such names followed the rules of the Lithuanian language; therefore it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the name is fictitious and had never existed before. Notably, Gražina, Živilė by Adam Mickiewicz, Daiva by Vydūnas, Šarūnas by Vincas Krėvė and others.
names of Lithuanian pagan deities and mythological figures.
There are some popular names of gods and goddesses from Lithuanian mythology that are used as personal names, such as Laima, goddess of luck, Žemyna, goddess of earth, Gabija, goddess of fire; Žilvinas, a serpent prince from the fairy tale Eglė the Queen of Serpents, Jūratė, goddess of the sea, and Kastytis, from the legend about Jūratė and Kastytis.
A distinctive practice dominated in the ethnic region of Lithuania Minor, then part of East Prussia, where Lithuanised German personal names were common, such as Ansas (Hans), Grėtė (Grete), Vilius (Wilhelm) among Prussian Lithuanians. Some of them are still in use among Lithuanians.
The choice of a given name is influenced by fashion. Many parents may name their child after a national hero or heroine, some otherwise famous person, or a character from a book, film, or TV show. However, many names used in today's Lithuania have been in use since the ancient times.
Sex differentiation
Lithuanian male and female names are distinguished grammatically. Almost all Lithuanian female names end in the vowels -a or -ė, while male names almost always end in -s, and rarely in a vowel -a or -ė, e.g. Mozė (Moses). If a masculine name ending in -a has a feminine counterpart, it ends in -ė, e.g. Jogaila and Jogailė. Female double-stemmed Lithuanian names always end in -ė.
Diminutives
Diminutives are very popular in everyday usage, and are by no means reserved for children. The Lithuanian language allows for a great deal of creativity in this field. Most diminutives are formed by adding a suffix. For female names this may be , or ; certain suffixes are more common to specific names over the rest.
Also, as in many other cultures, a person may informally use a nickname () in addition to or instead of a given name.
Pavardė (surname)
Lithuanian surnames, like those in most of Europe, are hereditary and generally patrilineal, i.e., passed from the father to his children. Formally, Lithuanian surnames are divided into two groups – Lithuanian and non-Lithuanian ones. The first category encompasses non-suffixed male surnames and their corresponding feminine forms as well as suffixed male surnames with proper patronymic extensions -aitis, -(i)onis, -inis, -ėnas, -ėkas, -utis, -(i)ulis, -(i)ūnas, -ikas, -ikis, and -i(n)kus and their respective feminine equivalents."Lietuvių pavardės – mūsų kalbos ir istorijos atspindys" [Lithuanian surnames – a reflection of our language and history] (in Lithuanian). 30 June 2025. TV3. Retrieved on 14 June 2026. The second category consists of last names that mostly resulted from Slavic phonetics and morphology being applied to existing Lithuanian forms: this process led to partially Lithuanised suffixes like -(i)auskas, -auskis, -inskas, -inskis, -i(n)ckas, -i(n)ckis, -eckas, -eckis, -eskas, -e(v)skis, -avičius, -evičius, or -iškis for males, which carry parallel endings for females. Such naming conventions arose primarily due to historical factors: the Grand Duchy of Lithuania using Ruthenian as its official written language instead of Lithuanian since the first written records of the Baltic language date back only to the 16th century. The influence of Slavic naming only grew when Lithuania formed a bi-federation with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland later on. Both groups of surnames are oftentimes closely related through a common root, resulting in a rich variety of similar surnames as demonstrated below: +A table of Lithuanian family names derived from a common-root Budr-Male masc. -a, -as, -is, -ys, -us, -ėFemaleMarried (traditional) fem. -ienė, -(i)uvienėMarried (shortened) fem. -ėMaiden fem. -aitė, -ytė, -utė, -(i)ūtėProper LithuanianNon-suffixed surnameBudraBudrienėBudrėBudraitėBudris / BudrysBudrienėBudrėBudrytėSuffixed surname masc. -aitis, -(i)onis, -inis, -ėnas, -ėkas, -eika, -utis, -(i)ulis, -(i)ūnas, -ikas, -ikis, -i(n)kusBudraitisBudraitienėBudraitėBudraitytėBudrionisBudrionienėBudrionėBudrionytėBudrėnasBudrėnienėBudrėnėBudrėnaitėBudreikaBudreikienėBudreikėBudreikaitėBudr(i)ūnasBudr(i)ūnienėBudr(i)iūnėBudr(i)ūnaitėBudrikasBudrikienėBudrikėBudrikytėPartially LithuanisedSuffixed surname masc. -(i)auskas, -auskis, -inskas, -inskis, -i(n)ckas, -i(n)ckis, -eckas, -eckis, -eskas, -e(v)skis, -avičius, -evičius, -iškisBudrauskasBudrauskienėBudrauskėBudrauskaitėBudrauskisBudrauskienėBudrauskėBudrauskytėBudrinskasBudrinskienėBudrinskėBudrinskaitėBudrinskisBudrinskienėBudrinskėBudrinskytėBudrickasBudrickienėBudrickėBudrickaitėBudrickisBudrickienėBudrickėBudrickytėBudreckasBudreckienėBudreckėBudreckaitėBudreckisBudreckienėBudreckėBudreckytėBudreskasBudreskienėBudreskėBudreskaitėBudreskisBudreskienėBudreskėBudreskytėBudravičiusBudravičienėBudravičėBudravičiūtėBudrevičiusBudrevičienėBudrevičėBudrevičiūtė Some of the earliest instances of legal family name changes in sovereign Lithuania occurred in 1919, when the Government approved requests from twelve students to Lithuanise their last names. In the 1930s, politicians considered passing legislation that would allow Lithuanians to adopt alternative Lithuanian family names on a national scale. However, such propositions faced legal barriers and were met with criticism from some linguists who argued that such last names preserve family legacy.Skučaitė, Virginija (October 2, 2009). Ar turėtume lietuvinti slaviškas pavardes? [Should We Lithuanize Slavic Surnames?](in Lithuanian). Klaipėda. Although some did manage to change their last names during the interwar period, unlike countries such as Finland where Fennomans urged their compatriots to change their family names of Swedish origin into Finnish ones, or Estonia, where 17% of the population Estonianised their surnames in 1935–40, Lithuanians never underwent such a process on a mass scale. In 2009, the question of Lithuanians being allowed to fully Lithuanise their family names was raised again. Approximately 1,500 Lithuanian residents express interest in changing their surnames annually, not counting surname changes due to marriage or divorce."Bus galima atsisakyti slaviškų priesagų pavardėse" [It will be possible to abandon Slavic suffixes in surnames] (in Lithuanian). 29 September 2009. 15min. Archived from the original on 3 June 2026. Retrieved on 3 June 2026.
A married woman usually adopts her husband's name. However, other combinations are legally possible. The wife may keep her maiden name () or add her husband's surname to hers, thus creating a double-barrelled name. It is also possible, though rare, for the husband to adopt his wife's surname or to add his wife's surname to his family name.
History
Family names first appeared in Lithuania around 1500, but were reserved for the Lithuanian nobility. They usually derived from patronymics.
The use of family names gradually spread to other social groups: the townsfolk by the end of the 17th century, then the peasantry. People from the villages did not have last names until the end of the 18th century. In such cases their village of origin was usually noted in documents. The process ended only in the mid-19th century, and due to the partial Polonization of society at the time many names were influenced by Polish form of the name.
Classification
Based on origin, several groups of Lithuanian family names may be recognized.
Ancient given names
A number of surnames evolved from the ancient Lithuanian personal names, such as Budrys, Girdenis, Tylenis, Vilkas, Amantas, Bukantas, Rimgaila, Vizgirda, Tarvydas.Juozas Kudirka, The Lithuanians:An Ethnic Portrait, section Lithuanian surnames (translation of the book: Juozas Kudirka, Lietuviai: etniniai bruožai, 1991) A number of them were identified from historical names of villages, farmsteads, etc., often in plural, named after the founding families, e.g., Darbutas.Alfred Senn Lithuanian Surnames, Antanas Pakerys, Dvikamienių lietuvių vyrų vardų kirčiavimas: pirmųjų dėmenų tvirtapradė priegaidė [ACCENTUATION OF LITHUANIAN COMPOUND MALE NAMES: THE ACUTE OF THE FIRST COMPONENT], (somewhat different version)Antanas Pakerys, Dvikamienių lietuvių moterų vardų kirčiavimas [Dvikamienių lietuvių moterų vardų kirčiavimas]
Cognominal