Tót (plural: Tótok) (sometimes archaic spelling: Tóth or Tóthok) was the former
exonym of the collective name for
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
,
Slavonians and
Slovenes, as the Hungarians called them. For example: The old Hungarian name for
Slavonia was Tótország (Land of the Tóts/Tóths) until the end of the 19th century.
The original meaning of the word was the
umbrella term of Slavic-speaking peoples following
Western Christian religions living throughout the territory of Hungary until the beginning of the 20th century (including the few Czech and Polish populations living in historical Hungary). In today’s Hungary, mainly Catholic Tótok speaking
South Slavic languages
The South Slavic languages are one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches (West and East) ...
live in the areas west from the Danube (
Transdanubia), while Tótok of Slovak origin with Catholic or Lutheran religion live in the areas east of the Danube. Several Hungarian settlements preserve the name Tót. These include Tahitótfalu (originally Tahi and Tótfalu separately), Tótkomlós, Tótszentgyörgy, Tótszentmárton, Tótszerdahely, Tótújfalu and Tótvázsony, Lengyeltóti and Káptalantóti. The surname Tóth is third on the list of most common Hungarian surnames.
From the beginning of the 20th century, the term “Tót” was pushed into the background in official documents, and the word that previously included several different Western Christian Slavonic ethnic groups was limited to Slovaks in common parlance.
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A 2001-es népszámlálás oldala
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References
{{Reflist
Hungarian exonyms