Vojtěch (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

pronunciation: ) or Vojtech is a, respectively, Czech and Slovak given name of Slavic origin. It is composed of two parts: ''voj'' – "troops"/"war(rior)" and ''těch'' – "consolator"/"rejoicing man". So, the name could be interpreted either as "consolator of troops" or "man rejoicing in a battle, warlike man". The

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...

is 23 April. The name Vojtěch is since the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

also perceived as the equivalent of Germanic name Adalbert ("noble bright"), due to the saint

Adalbert of Prague Adalbert of Prague ( la, Sanctus Adalbertus, cs, svatý Vojtěch, sk, svätý Vojtech, pl, święty Wojciech, hu, Szent Adalbert (Béla); 95623 April 997), known in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia by his birth name Vojtěch ( la, ...

( cs, svatý Vojtěch; pl, święty Wojciech), however, the two names have no linguistic relationship with each other. Via the same artificial process have been the names Vojtěch/Adalbert assigned to Hungarian name Béla (like "noble").

Use in Czech

The proper Czech spelling of the name is 'Vojtěch', pronounced . The name contains two

Czech orthography Czech orthography is a system of rules for proper formal writing (orthography) in Czech. The earliest form of separate Latin script specifically designed to suit Czech was devised by Czech theologian and church reformist Jan Hus, the namesake of ...

elements. The first is the

caron A caron (), háček or haček (, or ; plural ''háčeks'' or ''háčky'') also known as a hachek, wedge, check, kvačica, strešica, mäkčeň, varnelė, inverted circumflex, inverted hat, flying bird, inverted chevron, is a diacritic mark (� ...

, which is a form of a diacritical mark, over the letter 'e'. The caron modifies the pronunciation of the letter 't' immediately preceding the ě. The second is a digraph at the end of the name: the last two letters 'ch' in fact form a single

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...

(pronounced as a

voiceless velar fricative The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in ''loc ...

). (The pair 'ch' is the only formal digraph in the Czech alphabet.) A common shorter version of the name is Vojta, pronounced . According to a 2009 survey of the Czech Ministry of Interior, there were over 41 thousand men with the first name Vojtěch in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, which made it the 28th most used name on Czech territory.Statistical records of the Ministry of Interior

Use in Slovak

The name is spelled without the

above the letter e.

Foreign variants

* Polish: ''

Wojciech Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two components in archaic Polish: * ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojown ...

'', ''Wojtas'', ''Wojtasek'', ''Wojtak'', ''Wojtek'', ''Wojtczak'', ''Wojcik'', ''Wojcicki'', ''Wojt'', ''Wojteczek'', ''Wojtuś''. * Serbian: ''Vojteh'' * Croatian: ''Vojtjeh'' * Bulgarian: ''Vojtech'' * German: ''Woitke'', ''Witke'', ''Voitke'', ''Voytke'', ''Woytke'', ''Vogtke'', ''Wogtke'', ''Woetke'', ''Wötke'', ''Wotke'', ''Woyzeck'', ''Wozzeck'' * American: ''Watke''

Given name

* Saint

(~956–997),

Bishop of Prague The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bi ...

, the first recorded user of this name *

Vojtěch Adam Vojtěch Adam (born 12 September 1950) is a Czech politician. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic from 2008 to 2017, representing Southern Moravia for the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia The Communist Party ...

(born 1950), Czech politician *

Vojtech Alexander Vojtech Alexander ( Slovak), Alexander Béla ( Hungarian) (May 31, 1857, Késmárk ''(today Kežmarok, Slovakia)'' – January 15, 1916, Budapest) was a Hungarian radiologist of Slovak ethnicity, one of the most influential radiologists i ...

(1857–1916), Slovak radiologist *

Vojta Beneš Vojta Beneš (11 May 1878 – 20 November 1951) was a Czech educator, political leader in Czechoslovakia and brother of Edvard Beneš. Life and career Vojta Beneš was born in Kožlany, Bohemia, then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ...

(1878–1951), Czechoslovak educator, political leader and brother of

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

Vojtěch Dobiáš Vojtěch Dobiáš (born July 18, 2000) is a Czech professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing for HC ZUBR Přerov of the Chance Liga on loan from PSG Berani Zlín. Dobias has been a member of Berani Zlín since 2014 where he fea ...

(born 2000), Czech ice hockey player *

Vojtěch Filip Vojtěch Filip (; born 13 January 1955) is a Czech politician and former leader of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM). Early life and legal career Filip was born in 1955, in Jedovary near České Budějovice. After graduating fr ...

(born 1955), Czech politician *

Alberto Vojtěch Frič Alberto Vojtěch Frič (, 8 September 1882 Prague – 4 December 1944 Prague) was a famous Czech botanist, ethnographer, writer and explorer. He undertook 8 voyages to America, discovered, described and catalogued many species of cactus. Sout ...

(1882–1944), Czech botanist and ethnographer *

Vojtěch Jarník Vojtěch Jarník (; 1897–1970) was a Czech mathematician who worked for many years as a professor and administrator at Charles University, and helped found the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. He is the namesake of Jarník's algorithm for ...

(1897–1970), Czech mathematician *

Vojtěch Jasný Vojtěch Jasný (30 November 1925 – 15 November 2019) was a Czech director, screenwriter and professor who has written and directed over 50 films. Jasný made feature and documentary films in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria, USA & Canada, and ...

(born 1925), Czech director *

Vojtěch Kubašta Vojtěch Kubašta (1914, in Vienna – 1992) was a Czech architect and artist. He created pop-up books. Vojtěch Robert Vladimír Kubašta was born in Vienna. His family moved to Prague when he was four years old and he lived there his entire li ...

(1914-1992), Czech artist and illustrator *

Vojtěch Machek Vojtěch Machek (born 28 February 1990) is a Czech professional footballer who plays FK Ostrov. Career Machek began his career in the youth team of Sparta Prague before moving to Feyenoord, and made his professional debut on loan at Excelsior dur ...

(born 1990), Czech footballer * Vojtech Milošovič (born 1992), Czech footballer *

Vojtěch Náprstek Vojtěch Náprstek (often called Vojta) (17 April 1826, in Prague – 2 September 1894), was a Czech philanthropist, patriot and politician, as well as a pioneering Czech language journalist in the United States. Background Vojtěch Náprste ...

(1826–1894), Czech journalist * Vojtech Plat (born 1994), Czech chess grandmaster * Vojtěch Preissig (1873–1944), Czech type designer * Vojtěch Šafařík (1829–1902), Czech chemist *

Vojtech Tuka Vojtech Lázar "Béla" Tuka (4 July 1880 – 20 August 1946) was a Slovak politician who served as prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs of the First Slovak Republic between 1939 and 1945. Tuka was one of the main forces behind the depor ...

(1880–1946), Slovak prime minister * Vojtech Zamarovský (1919–2006), Slovak writer * Vojtěch Matyáš Jírovec (Adalbert Gyrowetz) (1763–1850) Bohemian composer.

Surname

Adam Vojtěch Adam Vojtěch (born 2 October 1986) is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as Minister of Health from 13 December 2017 to 21 September 2020, in both the first and second cabinets of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, and then for a second time f ...

, Czech singer and minister of health * Adolf Vojta-Jurný, Czech actor * Alexandr Vojta, Czech director of documents * Billy Vojtek (born 1943), Australian soccer player * Elmer Voight (born Elemír Vojtko), American golfer of Slovak origin and father of actor

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...

* Hermína Vojtová, Czech actress * Ivan Vojtek, Slovak actor *

Jaroslav Vojta Jaroslav Vojta (27 December 1888 – 20 April 1970) was a Czechoslovak film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1921 and 1970. Selected filmography * ''Karel Havlíček Borovský'' (1925) * '' The Lantern'' (1925) * '' Hraběn ...

(1888–1970), Czech actor *

Jaroslav Vojtek Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin. There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that originally the two elements of the nam ...

, Slovak director * Jiří Vojta, Czech actor *

Josef Vojtek Josef Vojtek (born 21 June 1965 in Teplice) is a Czech rock singer. He has been the lead singer of the Czech band Kabát since 1988. He was a judge on ''The Voice Česko Slovensko The Voice Česko Slovensko (Czech and Slovak for ''The Czech / ...

, Czech musician * Josef Vojtech (born 1925), Austrian weightlifter * Linda Vojtová (born 1985), Czech model * Martin Vojtek (born 1975), Czech ice hockey player *

Roman Vojtek Roman Vojtek (born 14 April 1972) is a Czech actor, television presenter, and singer. Life and career Early life and education Vojtek, born in Vsetín in the former Czechoslovakia, had to take care of himself from the age of fourteen due to th ...

, Czech actor * Václav Vojta (1917–2000), Czech physician (inventor of the Vojta method)

References