“Magd Tocht”

In this 1835 death record in the Kunčice-Vratimov parish, this child is described as, “Anna der Marina Waschiczek Mgd Tocht.”

In these Czech records, typically the format of a child’s death is like this:

[given name] of [father’s given and surname], [father’s occupation] of [place]

This entry doesn’t fit that format. Instead, it’s:

Anna of [mother’s given and surname] Mgd Tocht

Tocht means daughter.

I think “Mgd tocht” stands for, “Magdalene tocht.” Mgd Tocht stands for “magd tocht”, or maiden’s daughter. The meaning of this is, “illegitimate child.”

It seems that there’s a lot of confusion surrounding Mary Magdalene, and whether or not she was a woman of ill repute. It’s likely that by the 1830’s, she had already gained a reputation as a “sinful woman” (prostitute?), perhaps the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet in Luke 7:36-50.

Whether or not that is true, who knows. However, this is the first time I have seen this particular abbreviation, and I found it interesting enough to dust off my keyboard and write my theory as a blog post. Maybe it will help you in the future!