Need help Latin Record - Croatia

Kyle Rowberry

I am trying to understand the sex for the 3 different "Mathiam" individuals shown in the attached baptism record. In the first and third records, I see "filium" which I thought shows the child to be a male. In the second record, I see "filiam" which I thought shows the child to be female. Since "Mathiam" is the name for all 3, I am assuming that I do not know how to determine the correct sex for the child. Any guidance on how to correctly interpret these baptism records would be greatly appreciated.

The url for the record in FamilySearch is https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L99X-RYGL?i=163&wc=9R28-GPP%3A391644801%2C392359701%2C392360601&cc=2040054

They are the last 3 baptism records at the bottom of the right side of the image. A copy of the 3 baptism records is also attached.

Thanks,

Kyle Rowberry

births 1734 - right side image 164.jpg

KamillaKovacs3

@Kyle Rowberry To me all 3 "Mathiam" seem to be male (as Mathiam is the accusative of Mathias, which is a male name). I think in the second record it's "filium", too (though the "u" appears to be an "a", but the handwriting may vary).

StH31

Mat(t)hias (Matthew) is always a boy's name. There is no female form. It's something you just have to know.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

The issue is that Matthias is irregular: it's a masculine name but is usually treated as first declension, which is how nearly all feminine names are categorized. This means that the writer is faced with two opposing habits or rules: matching endings versus gendered endings.

Writing about Antonius, it's easy: Antonium filium legitimum Josephi. Likewise with Maria: Mariam filiam legitimam Georgii. (Spelled Giorgÿ in this register.) Notice that the other words match the name that they go with. Antonius, a 2nd declension masculine name, gets the 2nd declension accusative ending -um on everything, while Maria, a 1st declension feminine name, gets the 1st declension accusative -am.

So now we have a masculine name, like Matthias or Thomas, that takes the same endings as feminine names: Matthiam and Thomam for the accusative, Matthi(a)e and Thom(a)e for the genitive, just like Maria - Mariam - Mari(a)e. So do you write Matthiam filiam legitimam, matching the endings, or is it Matthiam filium legitimum, matching the gender? The correct answer is the latter, but the habit of the former is very hard to break.

Kyle Rowberry

Thank you all for your comments! They were very helpful and will help me better understand and interpret the records.