© 2000-2001 Michelle Toich
All rights reserved.

information

I was born and raised in California--and so were my parents and grandparents. There are currently only 8 members of the Toich side of my family in California (plus 4 who have the name by marriage). [Incidentally, I recently moved to Oregon so I'm not counting myself in that total.] Because we grew up in a place where we were the ONLY Toiches, I grew up thinking we were pretty unique--I knew there were supposed to be relatives in Croatia, but I didn't imagine there were groups all over the world.

About ten years ago, I was on a weekend trip with some friends in Philadelphia. I stopped by one friend's room as we were getting ready to leave and he said, "Wait just a minute--I have to check the phone book for anyone with my name." Turns out he feels his name is pretty unique, too, so he always looks for it in phone books when he visits other places. So I replied, "Look mine up, too, you won't find it." I thought he was joking when he told me there was a Toich listed! Unfortunately, I was on my way to the airport and never contacted that person. But it was in the back of my mind for a long time.

Finally, with the advent of the Internet, there was an easy way to search for people nationwide. Even worldwide. As Internet search engines became more thorough and more reliable, I kept finding more Toiches! I found large groups of Toiches in Ohio and New York. And others scattered in Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, Canada, South Africa, and Australia. Not to mention the nearly 100 Toiches listed in the Croatian telephone directory.

Over the years, I have made a few attempts at contacting Toiches in various parts of the US. My grandfather told me that our family came from the northern islands off the coast of Croatia, Krk and Cres. Our direct ancestor, my great grandfather, was from Baska on the island of Krk. Those Toiches I've contacted have all said their families are from the island of Cres. Since all of us seem to originate with those same two islands, my guess is we must all be related. Somehow. The question is: How?

That's where this website comes in. I have been interested in genealogy for a number of years, but have had little luck with the Croatian side of my family. I don't know anything beyond what my grandfather has told me about his father and his uncles. I hope that, with this website as a resource and a gathering place, the various Toich families throughout the world will share information and get connected!

[ home | information | genealogy | croatia | bookshop | links | contact us ]