This page is the new home for Palcic surname research. This page will gradually reflect the results of twenty-five years of collaborative work by my cousin Daniel Palcic and myself. Any and all who are interested in this name are welcome to comment or collaborate. Please contact me if you would like to contribute.

After Palcic, the most common spelling variant of the name in the United States is Palcich. Other variants in the US and Canada include Palsic, Palsich, Palcie, and Paulcic. In Slovenia, the surname is spelled with carons over each "c" (Palčič) to create a "ch" sound. Some families who immigrated to the US kept the surname unchanged without the carons, while others sought to preserve the sound of the name adding the letter "h" to the end of it. The typical Croatian spelling substitutes an acute accent over the final "c" (Palčić), which produces a sound that is subtlely different from the Slovenian pronunciation. This subtle difference is difficult to detect for those who are not native speakers of Croatian. The name also occurs in Serbia with the initial caron and final acute accent.

A search of historical US city directories yields the following variant and deviant spellings, some of the latter possibly based on the sound of the name as reported to the person recording the information for publication:

Variants in boldface type are in use today. The variant in italics shows a surname where the connection to the Palcic family is not verified. The variant in blue is carried by one family descended from known Palcic immigrants from Slovenia. The Palsich variant can be traced back to a known Palcic immigrant from Slovenia. The remaining surnames appear to be deviants in historical records not used by any family in the past or present. I am also investigating the possibility of a connection between the Palcic and Pelcic surnames, but as yet have no positive or negative evidence.

The surname may have originated in Croatia, most likely on the Dalmatian island of Pag. It also has roots in the Lož Valley region in Slovenia. It may have originated in different places at different times independently, as it is a descriptive surname indicative of a physical trait (a small thumb) or possibly a small wren.

I am currently analyzing data collected from the US Census years between 1900-1940, passenger arrival manifests, and old city directories to derive some numbers and locations for historical occurrences of the name and its variants in the United States. I am also using church records from Matricula to help connect immigrants and their families back to their local place of origin in the Lož Valley region.

Analysis of DNA results from Palcic(h) descendants who have submitted their DNA to Family Tree DNA may indicate a possible distant relationship between as yet unrelated immigrant families from Slovenia. The sample size at present is too small for definite proof, but there appears to be chromosome overlap between some of these unrelated people.