Tótok

Tót (plural: Tótok) (sometimes archaic spelling: Tóth or Tóthok) was the former exonym of the collective name for Slovaks, Slavonians and Slovenes, as the Hungarians called them. For example: The old Hungarian name for Slavonia was Tótország (Land of the Tóts/Tóths) until the end of the 19th century.

The original meaning of the word was the umbrella term of Slavic-speaking peoples following Western Christian religions living throughout the territory of Hungary until the beginning of the 20th century (including the few Czech and Polish populations living in historical Hungary). In today’s Hungary, mainly Catholic Tótok speaking South Slavic languages live in the areas west from the Danube (Transdanubia), while Tótok of Slovak origin with Catholic or Lutheran religion live in the areas east of the Danube. Several Hungarian settlements preserve the name Tót. These include Tahitótfalu (originally Tahi and Tótfalu separately), Tótkomlós, Tótszentgyörgy, Tótszentmárton, Tótszerdahely, Tótújfalu and Tótvázsony, Lengyeltóti and Káptalantóti. The surname Tóth is third on the list of most common Hungarian surnames.

From the beginning of the 20th century, the term “Tót” was pushed into the background in official documents, and the word that previously included several different Western Christian Slavonic ethnic groups was limited to Slovaks in common parlance.