Surname Spahija in modern Croatia

Spahija families are usually Croats and they are mostly from Sibenik , rarely Albanians. In the past century, relatively most of Croatian residents bearing this family name were born in Sibenik and Zagreb. In Danilo in Sibenik every seventh inhabitant had the family name Spahija.

Prevalence

About 300 people with faimily name Spahija live in Croatia today, in 130 households. There were 230 of them in the middle of the past century, and their number increased by 30 percent.
They are located in almost all Croatian counties, in 24 cities and 24 other places, mostly in Sibenik (105), Zagreb (30), Split (15), Karlovac (<10), and in Bibinje in Zadar area (<10).

Outside Croatia

At least eight families with this surname emigrated from Croatia to: the Netherlands (4), Germany (2), the United States (1), and to Australia (1).
Family name Spahija is present in 18 countries on three continents. The family name "Spahija " is used by some 900 people in Albania , about 100 in the United States , and some 100 people in Italy. "Spahiya " is used by few people in the United States.

Characteristic first names

Mladenko Spahija, Jerko Spahija, Željko Spahija, Samedin Spahija, Marko Spahija, Goran Spahija, Sandra Spahija, Slavica Spahija, Božana Spahija, Damir Spahija, Robert Spahija, Rikardo Spahija, Krste Spahija, Davor Spahija, Ivica Spahija, Anita Spahija, Nada Spahija, Ivan Spahija, Divna Spahija

Mentions in sources

In the sources analysed in the project Acta Croatica so far, the name is mentioned few times, the first time 2007 in source Encyclopaedia of Croatian Surnames.

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