This is a genealogy about Václav (1525-1575) of Trhonice, Policka, Bohemia, Austria and his descendants who lived in what is now the Czech Republic and United States of America.

The Burval Name

The Burval surname is very rare, unique and of distinct Bohemian Czech origin. The surname first appears in the year 1627 in the 1575 Land Book of the Bohemian town of Policka. This land book shows Jan Burzvala as the father of Ondrej, Rehor and Valentin Burzvala.

Earlier entries in the 1575 Land Book of Policka shows that Václav held the right to occupy a small farm in the village of Trhonice. Václav did not have a surname. Václav's son, Vitek, inherited the rights to the farm in 1575. Vitek died in 1593, leaving son Jan, heir to the farm. In 1594 Jan married Markéta Gzmplová of the nearby village of Sedlište. This Jan, heir to the farm, who married in 1594, is the Jan Burzvala listed as the father of Ondrej, Rehor, and Valentin Burzvala in their 1627, 1634, and 1641 marriage record entries in the 1575 Land Book. Thus Jan Burzvala, whom we call Jan Burval (1570-1634), is the first to use the Burval name.

The Burval name is consistently found in 1600 to 1800 Czech Church records spelled in Latin as Burzvala, in German as Burzwal, and in Czech as Buřval. With few exceptions the spelling was found to be very consistent, which is remarkable for records spanning several hundred years. This consistency in spelling and rarity of the name provides considerable assurances that when that name is found in a record the person found is a member of this family. The name is spelled with a hacek accent mark over the r in the Czech Republic and in the United States the hacek mark is not used. We have standardized the name as Buřval or Buřvalová for all people who where born in the Czech Republic and as Burval for all people born in the United States. We estimate that in the Czech Republic there are less than 300 living people with the Buřval surname and in the United States there are less than 30 living persons with the Burval surname.

The Burval name thus originated in the village of Thronice about 1620. Trhonice was a bohemian village geographically located on the east bank of the Svratka River, the traditional boundary between Bohemia and Moravia and was under the administrative jurisdiction of bohemian authorities in Policka. In 1964, upon the creation of the Czech Republic, Trhonice (and near-by Sedlište) became part of and under the administration of the Moravian town of Jimramov by moving the Moravian/Bohemian border a few kilometers east of the Svratka River.

Our work shows that all persons with the Burval surname descend from Václav (1525-1575) through his grandson, Jan Burval (1570-1634) the first to use the Burval name. From the year 1627 to present day, persons with the Burval name are found concentrated in two aress of the Czech Republic. The first area is the towns of Policka and Jimramov and nearby villages of Sadek, Korouhvev, Teleci, Sedlište, Boronice, Novy Jimramov, Vríšt, Dankovice, Vecov and Ubusin. The second area is in the town of Chrudim and nearby villages of Janovice, Pohled, Hermanuv Mestec, Morašice and Stolany.

Family Trees

A family tree starting with the progenitor or earliest known person of this family is listed below. By clicking on any family members name in that tree that individual's personal page will appear showing what we know about that individual.

List of Family Members

Notable People

A listing of notable persons who are members of this family.

Buřval of Trhoniice Land Abstracts

  • Buřval of Trhonice Land Abstracts Czech Abstracts of Burval land records in the Village of Trhonice from the Land Books (gruntovní knihy) of Polička. Abstracted by Jaroslav Dobiáš in 2014 from mircofilm copies in the Regional Archives at Litomyšl, Czech Republic

Selected Branches of the Burval Family

A listing of selective branches of the Buřval Family which contains information on that branch of the family.