You should check the Croatia subforum. The region has been hit heavily by the last wars. Try contacting the Croatian archives first.

Hello my friend....

Sestan family originated from SHESTANI MONTENEGRO...

you can see more from my site... www.shestani.com

They were Albanians evading turks in Montenegro (then a vallet - shkoder, albania)

Up until 1851 they maintained there Albanian names until Krajl Nikola made many families use the standard "VIC"

if you have any other questions email me... [email protected]

You should be happy, today you found out your part ALBANAIAN

Thank you so much Sergej and Livari for the help!

Livari, I'm very happy to be of Albanian and Croatian decent!
Your website: Shestani.com is wonderful! I have been there many times before and read about the Arbanasi, listened to music etc.
I just sent you an e-mail with some questions!

~ Mrs.Wilson ~

Sestan(original is Šestan)is an old family name that came from a place named Šestan(singular),in Montenegro.Your family is one of the oldest Slavic tribes.They were amongst the first tribes that accepted christianity,first ortodox,and in the 14th century some of them converted to catolicism(they moved to Croatian part of the Adriatic sea where towns Zemunik and Zadar are).First data about them leads us to the place called Škrelja,also in Montenegro,and afterwards they moved to the upper and lower Šestani(plural).
Šestan was never in Albania.It was the part of old Serbian kingdom under the Emperor Dusan the Mighty,and before that a part of Serbian old kingdom Zeta,and before that..well..historians are still battling about that
Back in those days,when your ancestors took your family name,it was common that residents of a village take village name as their family name.Later on,they`ve spread through Bosnia,along the coast of the Adriatic sea,to the Krajina in Croatia,to Kosovo and Metohija in Serbia..tbh-all across Balkanian peninsula..
Venetian government often called ortodox and catolic Slavs Arbanasi,in an attempt to diminish their culture.You have nothing in common with Albanians(or Shqiptar like they call themselves).
"Today's generation in Zemunik does not regard themselves as being of Albanian descent even though names such as Paleka, Šestan, Pinčić, Prenđa, and Čurković strongly confirm their ancestry."
I must LOL on this.All of these names are Slavic.Albanians are not Slavs.It`s just another attempt from Shqiptars to try inventing their history,cause they have almost none-they came to Balkan with the Otomans(Turkish dinasty)somewhere around 16th or 17th century,from Caucaz as mercenaries-there are still Shqiptar tribes in Caucaz .Only south Slavic family names have the sufix ić and vić,and nothing can change that historical fact.Also,only about 1 percent of Albanians all over the world are not mooslims.Are you a mooslim?
Grgica is croatian female name,version of Croatian male name Grga.Benka also Croatian.
Jure and Stiepo-exact would be Jura or Jure and Stipe or Stipan or Stepan or Stjepan or Stevan,Stefan,etc.Slavic names.
Vladovic derived from Slavic name Vladimir(Putin),Vladan,Vlada,Vladislav,etc.
Vuk - Slavic word for wolf.
Jovic - derived from Jovan,another Slavic name,english John.
Jelenkovic - derived from jelen,which means dear in serbian and croatian,probably an old family totem(protector of the family-slavic tradition).
Radojcevic - derived from Radoje,Radivoje,Radovan,Slavic names.
And so and so on.
So,have no doubt-your ancestors are either Serbs or Croats.
If you have been reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbanasi_%28group%29,then..what can I say-continue living in a delusion
And if you ever come to Montenegro or Croatia or Serbia,don`t tell any Šestan that he is an Shqiptar(Albanian,Arbanas),it wouldn`t end up well for you - they are proud people ))

Best regards
Vladan Obradović

If it`s the truth that king Nikola made them take vic and ic in their family names,how come that they had those sufixes in 1726.,when they moved to Zadar and Zemunik?
I`ll explain that-you are again trying to forge an unexisting history.
Soon,you`ll say that Jesus Christ was an Albanian lol

A caution to everyone  researching their origin in the Balkans - the web resources available in Englsih are lay person's  interpretations of history, (often)  prejudiced and utterly unscientific.

Always establish the ethnicity and religion of your ancestors based on church vital records at the point of emigrating. Only after you have documented and researched all of your direct ancestors for which the  original records are available, you can try to trace back the family origin by researching the migrations documented in original historical documents. Keep in mind that the point of view of the occypying empires such as Venetia or Austria (-Hungary) or the Ottomans will be similar to the view of the Native Americans and their culture and history of the new settlers and British Empire -   ignorant, biased and serving a political or military purpose these empires had at the time.

A good source would be this: an article from a scientific conference, with all citations and references, that explores the possible common origin according to the legends and historical accounts. :

http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-al/zbornik1990/mbarjaktarevic-predanja_l.php

additional original academic and historical  resources:

http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-al/istorija/index_l.php

http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-cg/index_c.html

Onomastics and etymology - linguistic aspects of the word that is the root of this surname, adjective form it is used in and its regional usage :

ŠEST -  number six

Slavic basic numeral system -concepts and  morphology analysis (in English)

http://www.jandacek.com/download/Jandacek_Base_Ten_Counting.pdf

compare with:

http://www.digitaldialects.com/Albanian/numbers_1I.htm

ŠESTAN - adjective, regional usage, from the root šest

-in Dalmatia and Bunjevci dialects denotes the characteristic of " a sum of measured, pleasingly arranged parts"

 -šestan čovik = a handsome man

As far as onomastics and etymology are concerned, you can be very proud of your *handsome* surname and its  Slavic origin .

EDIT:

ŠESTAN family from ZADAR county  lived in village of DONJI ZEMUNIK. All that are listed in public records as ethnic Croats. ( born second half of the XIX century & first half  of the XX century) .

ŠESTAN families in Montenegro for the same period are listed as ethnic Montenegrins.

hi,

I have a mother from Zemunik, croatia.

maiden name is Sestan

310-592-0799

Church vital records for ZEMUNIK parish of the Roman Catholic Church are available online via familysearch:

Births (Rođeni) 1824-1847
Births (Rođeni) 1848-1864
Births (Rođeni) 1865-1884
Deaths (Umrli) 1824-1857
Deaths (Umrli) 1857-1878
Marriages (Vjenčani) 1825-1898

https://familysearch.org/search/image/index#uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch.org%2Frecords%2Fwaypoint%2FMM5K-GLD%3An2012515313%3Fcc%3D2040054

You have to be registered and logged in to browse the images.

( dostupne putem interneta besplatno matice župe Zemunik, morate biti regitrovani na stranici familysearch . org i ulogovani da biste mogli pregledati. ako znate imena za pretke sa majčine strane iz druge polovine XIX veka, ili kućni broj od pre drugog svetskog rata, ima tu dosta da se nađe )