A Nashville woman realized she didn’t know how to pronounce her incredibly rare Croatian last name and turned to the Internet for help.
Katie Garapic-York, 27, was watching the Serbian women’s basketball match at the Olympics when she realized the ending of her Garapic surname, the -ic, was shared by the majority of the team.
But she became curious when she noticed that those surnames had a dash above the c.
Garapic said in a TikTok video, posted on August 27, that her family had always pronounced their last name GAIR-uh-pick, but with the addition of the hyphen, her last name would actually sound a -ch.
Katie Garapic-York, 27, was watching the Serbian women’s basketball match at the Olympics when she realized the ending of her Garapic surname, the -ic, was shared by the majority of the team
Garapic became confused when she noticed that those surnames had a “hyphen” above the c
She discovered from TikTok users that the dash above the c in -ic is actually the grapheme Ć
The 27-year-old made the video to ask the internet what her surname would sound like from a Croatian perspective.
One user wrote: ‘Gah-tongrol R almost like a soft “d”-ah-Pitch. Gotta pitch is the most American way I can describe it.”
Another wrote: ‘Croatian here, also with an ić surname. The G is pronounced like the g in guitar. All vowels in your name are short. The stress is on the 1st syllable. Rolled r. Gara pitch.”
But in the comments, Garapic was still confused about which syllable had the verbal emphasis.
She did discover that the dash above the -ic is actually the grapheme that was adopted into Serbo-Croatian by the Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj in the 19th century.
It is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet in the Serbo-Croatian language.
Garapic (right) told People Magazine that her last name is an important part of her identity. After marrying her wife Bailey (left) on September 21, the couple decided to hyphenate both their last names
GAH-rah-PITCH was how Croatian residents said it was pronounced Garapic, revealed in an update video posted Friday
Garapic said People magazine that her last name is an important part of her identity. After marrying her wife Bailey on September 21, the couple decided to hyphenate both their last names.
The 27-year-old’s family history surrounding her last name dates back to when her great-grandfather arrived at Ellis Island to immigrate to the United States.
There was probably no exact English letter that would accurately represent what the surname should sound like, so it was changed.
The mystery would end on Friday when Garapic posted another one TikTok video with news that she finally knew how to pronounce her last name, when an acquaintance who knew Croatian locals reached out on her behalf.
GAH-rah-PITCH was how Croatian residents said it was pronounced.
