I must admit to being a little confused here, I've looked at the Geni docs and compared that to what I see argued here in this discussion, and there are problems reconciling the two.
It seems that we are looking at things from quite different perspectives, in particular regarding the usage of "nadimak" or "clan-name".
Firstly, two points must be clarified;
1) Nadimak (clan-name) is NOT part of the surname - it is NOT a legal requirement. The Surname, on the other hand, is a formal and legal requirement.
2) Nowhere, in the Geni help or FAQ, is it explicitly stated that the clan-name or nadimak is to be used as part of the Surname.
Within the "Hrvatski portal - pitanja i odgovori _ Croatian portal - questions and answers", there is a reference to "double surnames" viz.
"Velik broj obitelji koristio je dvostruka prezimena"
"Along with two first names, many families used to have 2 surnames to distinguish the different clans within the greater family. If the second family surname is known, it needs to be recorded. For example: Marko Staničić Barbaresko is different from Marko Staničić Buzolić"
Here we have a specific reference to "prezimena" or "surnames" and but not to "nadimak" or"clan-name", so it is understood that this refers to FORMAL SURNAMES.
It is unfortunate if this is not what was intended.
These "double surnames" occur fairly regularly, the surnames are not always hyphenated and at times do occur both with and without hyphens. In some cases, but not all cases, they occur when a woman adds her husbands surname to her own.
From the Rab telephone directory come the following examples, (this town was chosen at random, merely to show that the double surnames are quite common);
Debelić Pecive, Kos Kaštelan, Travaš Mandalenić, Šimunić Žabčić, Vidas Ružić, Kukuruzović Borić, Paparić Miletić, Nadalić Šotić, Pijaža Mikelić Aleksić Ličina, Blagdan Katalin, Brdovnik Črnjak, Gusić Šebešćen, Grahovac Mezdjić, Guščić Debelić, Krstačić Furić, Kordić Gružić, Lovrić Andreškić, Macolić Miško, Maračić Faflja, Mlacović Fureš, Pahljina Bakota, Puljar Matić, Ribarić Perica, Ribarić Semenčić, Španjol Berke, Španjol Faflja, Španjol Mlacović, Vidas Butorac, Halle Guertl, Holjar Vujin, Jureša Padelin, Pereza Rstić, Salopek Debelić, Šimunelić Španjol, Španjol Pandelo, Šubić Bedenicki, Vidas Vidović, Bosnić Kovačić, Buza Vidas, Kajfeš Pende, Lušić Đurić, Sursić Kurelić, Sušić Gabrić , Šubić Zeneral, Tomulić Kurelić
I will now only refer to the towns that I have knowledge about, looking at the phone directories, I see that in Selca on Brač, the following double surnames are listed in the telephone directory -
Kovačić Ursić, Poljak Rešković, Stanić Jakšić, Trutanić Carević, Ursić Bukorović, Ursić Glavanović.
None of these are surname / clan-name combinations.
In Vrbanj, there are Lušić Bulić, Pavičić Ivelja and Pavičić Donkić. Tresić Pavičić is not listed as the family has moved to Split, similarly, Matković Mikulčić is listed in the Hvar directory.
Again, these are formal surnames and not surname / clan-name combinations.
This reinforces the idea that the "dvostruka prezimena" referred to earlier are formal surnames and not surname / clan-name combinations.
Thus the conclusion is that documentation available on Geni's "Hrvatski portal - pitanja i odgovori" does not deal with clan-names.
Furthermore, according to my interpretation of the Geni guidelines, the usage of nadimak or clan-name in the surname field is incorrect.
I refer you to the following Geni documentation http://wiki.geni.com/index.php/Naming_Conventions
Main Principles
- Name as close to original name as possible
- All names a person is known by in any source should be listed in Nicknames: bynames (especially in English), additional titles, variations
Names in original languages
- we should always try to use the original name where known and possible
- All varieties of a name should always be added in Nicknames
Alternative Names, Aliases and Nicknames
- It is important that all varieties of a name be recorded, as all forms are found in search and users
will know historical people under different names
- Names recorded in different forms in different records by various officials: Maud, Matilde, Mathilda, Matilda
- Bynames not already included with the First or Middle name
From the above points, it is obvious that "nadimak" or "clan-name" is covered in the phrase "All names a person is known by in any source should be listed in Nicknames", even though the Geni documentation does not specifically use the term "clan-name".
In conclusion, the guidelines in "Hrvatski portal - pitanja i odgovori _ Croatian portal - questions and answers" do not cover the usage of clan-names and therefore according to the Geni Help docs, "clan-names" must to be treated as what they are, i.e. nicknames or aliases.
Perhaps you are under the assumption that the "Hrvatski portal - pitanja i odgovori" has addressed the issue of using clan-names but this is not the case, as I have shown above, and I can see no reason why
Croatian genealogy needs to deviate from the accepted norms and use the Surname/Clan-name combination, when this has already been provided for.
