The household at Zilje 13 is named for the surname in use at the house since the 1700s. The surname Žalec does not appear in either of the tax registers of the 1600s for Zilje. The Horvat surname does appear in these registers. Marriages between Žalec men and Horvat women occurred in the mid 1700s, and the records state the Žalec men were from Zilje. We theorize these Žalec men came to Zilje to work on the Horvat farms, since the Horvat family seemingly had only daughters. These would represent the change in surname from Horvat.
The oldest record we have found to date for a person from this house is for Marko Horvat. He married Katarina. Together, they had at least 5 children, including:
1A. Ana Horvat, m. 1769 to Matija Žalec — they remained at this house.
1B. Barbara Horvat, m. to Johan Moravec — they lived at Zilje 12.
1C. Doroteja Horvat, m. 1783 to Matija Jaketič
1D. Helena Horvat b. 1766, m. 1788 to Štefan Žalec — they remained at this house.
Matija Žalec and his wife Ana Horvat [1A] had at least 4 children, including:
2A. Jurij Žalec, m. 1803 to Katarina Čemas — they remained at this house.
Štefan Žalec and his wife Helena Horvat [1D] had at least 5 children.
Jurij Žalec [2A] and his wife Katarina Čemas had 10 children:
3A. Katarina Žalec b. 1804, m. 1833 to Matija Jaketič (Perušičev)
3B. Peter Žalec b. 1806, m. 1846 to Doroteja Cvetaš (Cvetaševa) — they remained at this house.
3C. Marija Žalec b. ca. 1812, m. 1835 to Johan Šuštar (Drenovec 14).
3D. Ana Žalec b. 1814, m. 1839 to Johan Čemas (Majiščarski).
3E. Jurij Žalec b. 1815, m. 1847 to Marija Čemas (Peričina) — they remained at this house.
3F. Matija Žalec b. 1819, m. 1856 to Helena Balkovec (Škrpelska) — they lived at Zilje 19.
3G. Barbara Žalec b. 1821, m. 1840 to Jurij Balkovec (Maradinov).
3H. Helena Žalec b. 1824, m. 1845 to Matija Čemas (Majiščarski).
3I. Gregor Žalec b. 1827, m. 1863 to Ana Bahorič (Bahoričeva from Dejani) — they lived at Grduni 8.
3J. Magdalena Žalec b. 1830, m. 1848 to Matija Brožič (Gornji Brožičev).
Peter Žalec [3B] and his wife Doroteja Cvetaš had 8 children, including:
4A. Marija Žalec b. 1849, m. 1869 to Jurij Mravinec (Gornji Bertov from Sečje Selo).
4B. Peter Žalec b. 1852, m. 1883 to Marija Brožič (Hrast pri Vinici 37) — they remained at this house.
4C. Ana Žalec b. 1857, m. 1880 to Gregor Jaketič (Dolnji Lugarov) — they lived at Zilje 7.
4D. Helena Žalec b. 1860, m. 1882 to Matija Balkovec (Petrišin).
Jurij Žalec [3E] and his wife Marija Čemas had 5 children, including:
4E. Johan Žalec b. 1856, m. 1892 to Magdalena Žalec (Brdarova) — they lived at Zilje 45.
4F. Nikolaj Žalec b. 1858, m. 1889 to Katarina Čemas (Dolnja Vranešičeva) — they lived at Stara Izbrdova.
4G. Katarina Žalec b. 1864, m. 1887 to Matija Čemas (Izklančev).
4H. Peter Žalec b. 1868, m. 1893 to Marija Perše (Peršečeva from Dolnji Suhor)
Peter Žalec [4B] and his wife Marija Brožič had 8 children, including:
5A. Barbara Žalec b. 1886, m. 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Matija Ivanič.
5B. Matija Žalec b. 1892. At this time, it is unknown what happened to him afterwards.
5C. Marija Žalec b. 1894, m. 1913 to Miha Žalec (Hajdukov iz brda) — they remained at this house.
5D. Katarina Žalec b. 1900, m. 1926 to Miha Videtič.
Miha Žalec and his wife Marija Žalec [5C] had 7 children, including:
6A. Ana Žalec b. 1914, m. 1935 to Mr. Barič from Sela 19.
Matija Ivanič and his wife Barbara Žalec [5A] had 5 children in Pittsburgh:, including:
6B. Barbara C Ivanich b. 1915, m. 1939 to Nicholas Kraniak
6C. Frank N Ivanich b. 1917