4 replies to this topic

[Jim Thurman]

This has come up in so many different threads that it was difficult to decide where to post it, so difficult I decided to start a new thread (there also was the thought that those most interested in this might not find it were it posted to one of several other earlier threads)...

Straight from Bob Gates, who has done the book on the Vukovich family:

Their name was originally Vucurovic. His father actually changed it twice before it was Vukovich.

The home area for the Vukoviches was Krivose, Boka Kotorska. Vuky's sister, Ann, identified the general area on a 1990 map as Montenegro.

So there it is. I hope this clears this up, and hopefully hasn't led to even more confusion.

I realize I was going to contact Bill Jr. himself and ask this among other things, and despite getting his address, unfortunately many other pressing matters had kept me from that.

[Muzza]

Originally posted by Jim Thurman
[...]
Their name was originally Vucurovic. His father actually changed it twice before it was Vukovich.

[...]

Hummm... Very interesting, Jim!

Does this mean that Bill's name at birth might really be (as I suspect) William Vucerovich?

(that means, that Bill would have been born when the family used an "intermediary name" in a time window between the original one and the ultimate name that Bill's father chose for the clan in the United States)

Has anyone ever seen Bill's birth certificate? Any chance of obtaining a copy of this document?

(I don't recall whether Rick Kelly has checked the Social Security Death Index)

[dmj]

Boka Kotorska, known also as "Gulf of Croatian Saints" is indeed nowadays in Montenegro, near Croatian border, just a few dozen km from Dubrovnik. And Krivosije is a mountain region immediately above it, parallel to border of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From that mountain one probably could see good part of Eastern Herzegovina, including Trebinje region. To complicate it further, peple in these parts are mostly Serbs - actually, as I already mentioned in several discussions here, all Vucurovics I know about are Serbs from Eastern Herzegovina. Krivosije fits into Vucurovic/Vukovich story perfectly and confirms my initial thoughts about it.

[dmj]

Originally posted by Muzza


Hummm... Very interesting, Jim!

Does this mean that Bill's name at birth might really be (as I suspect) William Vucerovich?

(that means, that Bill would have been born when the family used an "intermediary name" in a time window between the original one and the ultimate name that Bill's father chose for the clan in the United States)

Has anyone ever seen Bill's birth certificate? Any chance of obtaining a copy of this document?

(I don't recall whether Rick Kelly has checked the Social Security Death Index)

Bob Gates' book doesn't mention when the family name was changed, but it was first Vucurovic, then Vucurovich, finally Vukovich. All the children were given Montenegrian/Serbian names and they were Americanized only after they entered school. So third son, young Vaso Vukovich, became Bill.

[Ray Bell]

That blows it for this bloke, I think:



Peter Vukovich, mud racer in southern Queensland and northern NSW. His son also races, so he thought he was starting his own Vukovich dynasty that he believed would have been related to Billy Vukovich Jr.