Lhota

Lhota is the most common name of villages in the Czech Republic.

Geography
There are 309 villages which contain Lhota or Lhotka (diminutive form of Lhota) in their name, which makes it the most common name of villages in the Czech Republic. In addition, there are dozens of villages with derivation of this name (Lhotice, Lhoty, Lhůty in the Czech Republic; Lehota or Lehótka in Slovakia). The largest of them are Komorní Lhotka and Dolní Lhota in the Moravian-Silesian Region and Francova Lhota and Ostrožská Lhota in the Zlín Region, all of them with about 1,500 inhabitants.

History and etymology
Lhotas were founded during the middle-age colonization in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. Most of them were founded in the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century. The name was first mentioned in 1199 (but the village was later renamed Svatý Jiří).

The inhabitants of newly founded villages had obligations towards suzerains, but those duties were usually suspended for a certain period (such as 5–8 years) as a compensation for felling of forests and making the land available for agriculture. This period used to be called "lhóta" (i.e. 'grace period') and often became a part of the village name.

They were usually established by local inhabitants, namely smaller noblemen close to their own village. The name of the founder, usually of a Slavic origin, became sometimes a part of village name (e.g., Vlachova Lhota). In other cases, the adjective in village name relates to its size (Dlouhá Lhota – Long Lhota) or other characteristics (Dolní Lhota – Lower Lhota, Písková Lhota – Sandy Lhota).