# Hromek (surname)



## emil233

Hi to all. This is my first post. My question is about my surname, which is Hromek. I'm not from the Czech Republic, so I don't know the language, just a few words. I know that the word "hrom" means "thunder", and the -ek suffix is a diminutive. I would like to know the meaning of the word, if it has one. It seems that "little thunder" doesn't make too much sense. Could it be a nickname? Like "man of the thunders" or something like that?
Thanks!


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## bibax

Hi! The Czech surnames mostly arose from nicknames in order to distinguish many Johns, Josephs, Peters, etc. in a village. Hromek was probably a nickname of a man who often used to say "hrome!" (vocative of hrom, "thunder!") which means "Donnerwetter!" in German, "blood and thunder!" or "Goddammit!" in English.


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## werrr

bibax said:


> Hromek was probably a nickname of a man who often used to say "hrome!" (vocative of hrom, "thunder!") which means "Donnerwetter!" in German, "blood and thunder!" or "Goddammit!" in English.


Or perhaps a person who was harmful to others like a thunder - see the word *hromotluk *meaning _clumsy person, lummox.
_
The ending -ek really denotes a diminutive. It could be a part of the nickname itself which was used to belittle the harshness of the basic form *Hrom*, or it could be a secondary distinguisher to tell a senior Hrom from junior Hromek (senior and junior in whatever sense: father vs son, native vs newcomer...)


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## bibax

In the Czech Republic there are 1167 persons with the surname Hromek/Hromková, and only 11 persons with the surname Hrom/Hromová.

Other existing variants: Hroma, Hromas, Hromec, Hromica, Hromník, Hromota, etc. and Hromniak, Hromčuk, Grom, Gromek, Gromczak, Gromiak, Gromnica, Gromov, etc. of Slovak, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian origin.


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## emil233

Thank you for your answers!



bibax said:


> In the Czech Republic there are 1167 persons with the surname Hromek/Hromková, and only 11 persons with the surname Hrom/Hromová.
> 
> Other existing variants: Hroma, Hromas, Hromec, Hromica, Hromník, Hromota, etc. and Hromniak, Hromčuk, Grom, Gromek, Gromczak, Gromiak, Gromnica, Gromov, etc. of Slovak, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian origin.



Well, it seems that there are much more people with my surname, than I thought. By the way, from where did you get this info?


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## Hrdlodus

http://www.kdejsme.cz/prijmeni/Hromek%20Hromková/pocet/


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