Carek

Recorded in many spellings, as shown below, this is a surname of Roman (Latin) origins. Today it is widely recorded throughout Southern Europe. and particularly Spain and Italy as Caro, Cari, Carello, Caroni, De Caro, Di Caro and Carazo, whilst in Czechoslovakia and Hungary it is found as the diminutives Carek or sometimes Carik. However spelt the name derives from the ancient word 'carus' meaning beloved, and hence before the development of surnames from the 13th century onwards, was a personal or baptismal name of great popularity. Personal names were amongst the first to become surnames in their own right, although many early ones were lost to'Christianity' when returning Crusdaers and other pilgrims from the Holy Land gave their subsequent children biblical or Greecian names in honour of the fathers exploits. However this name perhaps because of its connotations of goodliness if not exactly godliness, seems to not only have survived, but to to have prospered. Sadly original records from these southern European countries are erratic, and often non existent. This means that whereas a medieval English or German surname came often be traced back to the year 1250 or earlier this rarely applies in other countries. In this case we do have in the Spanish records recordings back to the late medieval period such as Catalina Caro who married Pedro Romero Soriano at Sevilla, in 1519, whilst in Czechoslovakia Jan Carket is recorded at Cizova, Pisek, on October 6th 1868. .