"Spiritual" surnames. Origin of the surname church free Old Russian Christian female surnames

POKROVSKY

The history of the Pokrovsky surname begins in the 17th century in the central regions of Russia and is inextricably linked with the Russian Orthodox Church.

This surname is defined by historians as an “artificial surname.” Such surnames appeared throughout the 17th -19th centuries. among the Russian Orthodox clergy. The clergy was the only one social group in Russia, which systematically introduced artificial surnames into use. This practice began in late XVII century and lasted for over two centuries. Artificial surnames were sometimes given instead of existing ones or assigned in theological schools to students who previously did not have surnames. Because the Orthodox priests could marry, their artificial surnames were inherited by their children and thus became further widespread.

At first, artificial surnames simply served to record the identity of nameless children, but later the creation of such surnames became a widespread practice. They could easily change by the sole decision of the leadership of a theological school, seminary or higher theological academy.

Surnames were usually given as a reward or punishment. The ingenuity of the people who gave surnames was practically inexhaustible, and therefore the surnames of the Russian clergy are not only extremely diverse, but also picturesque. Such surnames were formed: from the name of the area, from the names of saints, from the names church holidays, from exotic animals and plants. Also popular were surnames, which were given in order to highlight behavior and moral qualities their carriers. The seminarians put together a witty formula for the surnames they received: “By churches, by flowers, by stones, by cattle, and as His Eminence will delight.”

Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, established in mid-18th century century during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Leo, in memory miraculous phenomenon The Mother of God, who spread her cover over Constantinople as the heavenly protection of the city from the Saracens who besieged it, took on a peculiar coloring among the newly converted Christians - the Slavs. Of the whole series of legends caused by this holiday in the minds of the Slavs, the following was especially popular.

In ancient times, the Mother of God was wandering the earth; she happened to enter a village where people who had forgotten about God and all mercy lived. The Mother of God began to ask for lodging for the night, but she was not allowed anywhere. Saint Elijah the Prophet, who at that time was passing along the heavenly path above the village, heard the cruel words - he could not bear such an insult inflicted on the Virgin Mary and thunder and lightning fell from the sky on those who refused the Divine Wanderer an overnight stay, fire and stone arrows flew, and hail fell the size of a man's head, a downpour of rain poured down, threatening to flood the entire village. The frightened, wicked people cried, and the Mother of God took pity on them. She unrolled the cover and covered the village with it, which saved her offenders from total extermination. Inexpressible goodness reached the hearts of sinners, and the ice of their cruelty that had not melted for a long time melted: from that time on, they all became kind and hospitable.

Therefore, since ancient times in Rus', the holiday of the “Holy Protection” was celebrated with special solemnity and pomp, and in seminaries, students who stood out for their successes in science and theology and showed great hope were often given a surname derived from the name of this happy holiday. In addition, the surname Pokrovsky was usually given to a priest who served in the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin.

Children of priests, as a rule, had the opportunity to receive a good education, so already at the end of the 18th century among Russian statesmen Representatives of this surname are often found.

If not determine, then at least guess class affiliation one’s ancestors can only be traced if they passed on spiritual surnames to their descendants. Most other Russian families, in general, are of all classes, including the “loud” noble ones. For example, the Gagarins are both representatives of an ancient princely family and Smolensk peasants. It was their descendant who was Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.

Or another example: a wonderful writer of Russian diaspora, Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (1878‒1942), wrote under literary pseudonym. His real name was Ilyin, and the Ufa nobles Ilyin were descendants of Rurik. So the “simple” surname Ilyin could be borne by the Rurikovichs, as well as merchants, townspeople and peasants.

But among the Orthodox clergy there were few Ilins. This is explained by the fact that at the end of the 18th - first third of the 19th century, a unique “surname-forming” process took place in the clergy: everywhere, when a student entered the Theological School or the Theological Seminary, he was assigned a new sonorous or original surname.

An interesting description of this era was left in his memoirs, published in 1882 in the magazine “Russian Antiquity”, by professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy Dmitry Ivanovich Rostislavov (1809-1877)

“At the time that I am describing, and even for a long time, the family names of most clergy were little used... My father, despite his deanship, signed all reports to the consistory and to the bishop as Ivan Martynov. Then my siblings, who studied in religious educational institutions, often had different surnames, for example, among my grandfather’s children, my father was nicknamed Tumsky, Uncle Ivan - Veselchakov, and Uncle Vasily - Krylov.

...Based on this custom, clergy, sending their children to school, gave them surnames or nicknames that for some reason they liked. Simple people, not inventive, not scientists, took into account in this case either:

1) name of the village: for example, of the fourteen villages of the Kasimovsky district belonging to Meshchora, only Cherkasovo and Frol, as far as I remember, did not give nicknames to the children of their clergy, and from the rest came the well-known Tumskys and Tumins, Birenevs, Leskovs, Palinskys , Peshchurovs, Kurshins, Verikodvorskys, Gusevs, Parmins, Palishchins and Prudins;

2) temple holidays: hence the many Ascension, Assumption, Ilyinsky holidays;

3) father's title: hence Protopopovs, Popovs, Dyachkovs, Dyakovs, Ponomarevs; it is remarkable that the words “priest” and “clerk” were not popular; I don’t remember a single seminarian with the surname Priests or Priestnikov;

... Those who studied in seminaries and generally showed a pretension to learning or wit, gave surnames to their children, in accordance either with the qualities that were noticed in them, or with the hopes that were counted on them. Hence the many Smirnovs, Krotkovs, Slavskys, Slavinskys, Pospelovs, Chistyakovs, Nadezhdins, Nadezhins, Razumovs, Razumovskys, Dobrynins, Dobrovs, Tverdovs and others. Here, however, they were very fond of surnames made up of two words, especially those that included the words God, goodness and blessing. Hence the countless number of Tikhomirovs, Ostroumovs, Mirolubovs, Mirotvorskys, Milovidovs, Bogolyubovs, Blagosvetlovs, Blagonravovs, Blagoserdovs, Blagonadezhdins, Chistoserdovs, Dobromyslovs, Dobrolyubovs, Dobronadezhdins, Dobrokhotovs, Dobrotvorskys and others.

...But the Russian language seemed insufficient for many, or perhaps it was necessary to show off knowledge of Latin or Greek languages; hence the Speranskys, Amphitheaters, Palimsestovs, Urbanskys, Antizitrovys, Vitulins, Meshcherovs.

The authorities themselves did not want to not declare their participation in this matter; some because their fathers left it to them to give their sons a nickname, while others even took away the right from their fathers to do so. In this regard, the caretaker of the Skopinsky School, Ilya Rossov, was remarkable. For the names of his students, he used all the sciences, especially natural sciences and history: he had the Orlovs, Solovyovs, Volkovs, Lisitsyns, Almazovs, Izumrudovs, Rumyantsevs, Suvorovs, and so on. and so on. One day he decided to distinguish himself in front of the seminary board and draw their attention to his ingenuity. He sent lists in which the students were included, so to speak, in separate groups, according to the nature of their surnames, i.e. the Rumyantsevs, Suvorovs, Kutuzovs, then the Orlovs, Solovyovs, Ptitsyns, then the Volkovs, Lisitsyns, Kunitsyns, were written down. But the board of the seminary returned the lists with a severe reprimand and ordered them to be compiled according to the successes of the students, and not according to the meaning of their surnames.

...Many fathers-rectors, academicians, and masters liked to make witty jokes about surnames. If for some reason they liked a student, they changed his last name and gave him another one that seemed better to them. The rector of the Ryazan seminary, Iliodor, was distinguished by this ingenuity... He baptized my comrade Dmitrov into Melioransky, the theology student Kobylsky into Theologian, and so on.

When I was already at the academy, the Synod somehow realized that it was necessary to put an end to this disorder, which was the cause of many misunderstandings in inheritance matters. He issued a decree that ordered that all clergy and clergy be named and signed by their first and last names, so that their children would have the surnames of their fathers. At this time, my father decided to do something quite original. He already had four children: I was in office, and the others were still studying, but they all had my last name. He submitted a petition to the bishop that he himself would be allowed to be called Rostislavov. My uncle Ivan Martynovitch did exactly the same thing: he became Dobrovolsky from Veselchakov, because that was the nickname of his eldest son, who was still studying, it seems, at the seminary. I really regretted that I did not know about my father’s intention to change my last name. I don’t know why he wanted to call me Rostislavov, but I didn’t like this surname; it would have been more pleasant for me to be Tumsky.”

Some ecclesiastical or seminary surnames - “tracing copies” - are known. When Petukhov turned into Alektorov (from the Greek “alektor” - rooster), Solovyov - into Aedonitsky, Belov - into Albanov, Nadezhdin - into Speransky, and so on.

There were cases when a surname was chosen in honor of a famous or respected person. In the 1920s, the memoirs of church historian Evgeniy Evsigneevich Golubinsky (1834 - 1912), born in the Kostroma province in the family of a rural priest E.F., were published. Peskova. “When I was seven years old, my father began to think about taking me to school. The first question for him was what surname to give me... he wanted to give me the surname of some famous spiritual world person. It happened winter evening I’ll lie down with my father on the stove in the twilight, and he will begin to sort out: Golubinsky, Delitsyn (who was known as a censor of spiritual books), Ternovsky (meaning the father of the famous teacher of the law at Moscow University, Doctor of Theology, the only one after Metropolitan Philaret), Pavsky, Sakharov ( meant the father of our Kostroma resident and his peer Evgeniy Sakharov, who was the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and died in the rank of Bishop of Simbirsk), ending his enumeration with a question to me: “Which surname do you like best?” After much deliberation, my father finally settled on the surname Golubinsky.”

One can cite another funny episode from the memoirs published in 1879 in the magazine “Russian Antiquity” (the name of their author, a village priest, was not named). In 1835, his father brought him to the Saratov Theological School.

“Several hundred students crowded in the courtyard... Some of the newcomers, pressed against the wall, with a piece of paper in their hands, were memorizing their last name. We spiritual people, as everyone already knows, have funny surnames. Where did they come from? It was like this: some father brings his boy to school, puts him in an apartment, and certainly into the artel. The artel apartment is certainly already dominated by some giant syntacticist, who has been working on Latin and Greek conjugations for 10 years. Sometimes there would be several of these gentlemen in one apartment. The father turns to someone and asks: what, dear sir, should I give my boy a last name? At that time he was hammering: tipto, tiptis, tipti... What surname should I give?!.. Tiptov! Another, the same athlete, sits at this time, somewhere astride the ridge of a hayloft or cellar and hammers out: diligenter - diligent, male - poorly... He hears what they are asking and yells: “No, no! Give your son the nickname Diligenter, You hear: Diligenterov! "The third, the same brute, sits astride the fence and yells a lesson from geography: Amsterdam, Harlem, Sardam, Gaga..." No, no, - interrupts, - Give a nickname to the son of Amsterdam! Everyone comes running, advice is made, i.e. screaming, swearing and sometimes with teeth cracks, and whose name he takes, his last name will remain. The wild boy cannot even pronounce what these Urvans dubbed him. They write to him on a piece of paper, and he goes and memorizes it, sometimes for almost a month. From month to at least, it was that if a teacher asked someone, ten people would rush into their pockets for a note to find out if it was him who was being called. This is the reason why we, the spiritual ones, formed the surnames of the Above the Bell Tower Walkers! I have witnessed such scenes more than once. I was already in the last class of the seminary in 1847, when the Synod ordered that children bear the surname of their fathers. But for this reason, those who walked above the bells were entrenched forever.”

The uniqueness of surnames in the clergy often became the subject of jokes. So, in the story of A.P. Chekhov’s “Surgery” the sexton has the surname Vonmiglasov (from the Church Slavonic “vonmi” - hear, listen); the sexton in the story “Gimp” is Otlukavin.

On September 27, 1799, by decree of Emperor Paul I, an independent Orenburg diocese was established. At the same time, the place of residence of the bishop was not the then provincial Orenburg, but the city of Ufa. In June 1800, the Orenburg Theological Seminary was opened in Ufa. In this vast region it was the first religious educational institution. And we can assume that, like everywhere else, it was within its walls that active “family creation” began. But it is worth noting that in the 18th century (that is, in the pre-Seminar era) clerics with unusual surnames: Rebelinsky, Ungvitsky, Bazilevsky.

In 1893, in the Ufa Provincial Gazette, local historian A.V. Chernikov-Anuchin published an article about the ancestor of the Bazilevskys, and thanks to his work, the history of the origin of this surname is known. Archpriest of the Sterlitamak Cathedral Feodor Ivanovich Bazilevsky (1757‒1848) was the son of the priest of the Zilair fortress, Fr. Ioanna Shishkova. In 1793, the deacon Theodore Shishkov was ordained a deacon by Archbishop of Kazan Ambrose (Podobedov) to the Church of the Intercession in the city of Sterlitamak. At the same time, the bishop “ordered the newly ordained deacon to write everywhere henceforth not as Shishkov, but as Bazilevsky.” Probably, the surname was formed from the title of the ancient Greek and then Byzantine emperors - basileus. The future millionaire gold miner and the most famous Ufa philanthropist Ivan Fedorovich Bazilevsky (1791‒1876) was one of the first students of the Orenburg Theological Seminary opened in Ufa in June 1800, but he received his last name not there, but from his father, to whom it was assigned at ordination.

Nevertheless, it can be assumed that most of the “indigenous” Ufa spiritual families appeared precisely in the seminary. Sometimes it is possible to trace the process of their formation. Thus, in the 1880s, priest Viktor Evsigneevich Kasimovsky served in the Ufa diocese, his brother Vasily Evsigneevich (1832‒1902) was a teacher at the Ufa Theological Seminary. In the revision tales of the village of Kasimov, Ufa district, information is preserved that the sexton Pyotr Fedorov died in 1798. In 1811, his fifteen-year-old son Evsignei Kasimovsky studied at the Orenburg Seminary. Thus, Evsignei received his surname from the name of the village where his father served.

In 1809, students of the Orenburg Theological Seminary (remember that it was located in Ufa) had surnames such as Adamantov, Aktashevsky, Alfeev, Albinsky, Amanatsky, Bogoroditsky, Boretsky, Bystritsky, Vysotsky, Garantelsky, Geniev, Golubev, Gumilevsky, Derzhavin, Dobrolyubov, Dubravin, Dubrovsky, Evladov, Evkhoretensky, Eletsky and others.

It can also be noted that some of the seminarians are actually early XIX centuries bore simple surnames derived from given names. There were also those who preserved their ancient family roots. So, for example, the Kibardins. Back in the 1730s, in the palace village of Karakulin (now in the territory of Udmurtia), Vasily Kibardin was a sexton. In the next more than 200 years, many Kibardins served in the Orenburg-Ufa diocese.

In the 19th century, clergy from the European part of Russia were transferred to the Orenburg region. New spiritual names were transferred and brought from their homeland. The first one is enough full list The Ufa clergy (priests, deacons, psalm-readers) was published in the Reference Book of the Ufa Province for 1882-1883. Among them, of course, were the Andreevs, Vasilievs, Makarovs; there were also those who bore “not quite” spiritual surnames: Babushkin, Kulagin, Polozov, Uvarov, Malyshev. But, nevertheless, for the majority of clergy and clergy they were “seminary”. After the family “disorder” was stopped by the decrees of the Synod in the 1830s-1840s, their share began to gradually decrease, but even in the first third of the 20th century it remained quite high. Thus, according to information from the Address-calendar of the Ufa province for 1917, more than half of the priests had clearly spiritual surnames.

One may wonder why something similar did not happen, for example, among the merchants? Why were the nobles in no hurry to part with sometimes very dissonant surnames, including the Durovs, Svinins, and Kuroyedovs?

In his “Trifles of Bishop's Life” N.S. Leskov wrote about Oryol’s “spiritual” people, who had been of particular interest to him since childhood: “they endeared me to them... with their class originality, in which I sensed incomparably more life than in those so-called " good manners“, with the inspiration of which the pretentious circle of my Oryol relatives tormented me.” In all likelihood, “class originality” stemmed from the fact that the clergy was the most educated class of Russian society.

If in 1767, when drawing up an order to the Statutory Commission, more than half of the Ufa nobles (due to ignorance of literacy) could not even sign it, in the Rebelinsky family of priests already in the middle of the 18th century, and possibly earlier, a home memorial book was kept in which events were recorded. which they witnessed. Subsequently, several Rebelinskys led personal diaries, wrote memos and memoirs. The priest of the Zilair fortress, Ivan Shishkov, since there were no religious schools or seminaries in the region, in the 1770s was able to give his son only a home education. At the same time, the future respected and highly enlightened Sterlitamak archpriest Theodore Ivanovich Bazilevsky learned to read and write, counting, the Law of God, church regulations and singing according to church customs.

The very first secondary educational institution of the vast Orenburg-Ufa province was the Theological Seminary, opened in Ufa in 1800. The first men's gymnasium began its activities almost thirty years later - in 1828.

Until the 1840s, the main subject in seminaries was Latin, which was studied to the point of fluency. In the middle classes, students were taught to write poetry and make speeches in Latin. In higher education, all lectures were given in Latin, seminarians read ancient and Western European theological and philosophical works, took exams in Latin. At the Ufa Seminary, medicine and drawing classes were opened already in 1807, and French and drawing classes in 1808. German languages. Since the 1840s, Latin has become one of the general education disciplines. In addition to theological and liturgical subjects, the following subjects were studied at the Ufa Seminary: civil and natural history, archeology, logic, psychology, poetry, rhetoric, physics, medicine, Agriculture, algebra, geometry, land surveying, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, French, Tatar and Chuvash languages.

The bulk of graduates became parish priests, but there were also those who then served in various secular institutions (officials, teachers). Some seminarians entered the highest spiritual and secular educational establishments– theological academies, universities.

In 1897, according to the first general population census in the Ufa province, 56.9% were literate among nobles and officials, 73.4% in families of the clergy, and 32.7% in urban families. Among the nobles and officials, those who received education above primary school were 18.9%, among the clergy - 36.8%, and among the urban classes - 2.75%.

Especially in the 19th century, the clergy regularly supplied the intelligentsia to the Russian state, and among the names of famous scientists, doctors, teachers, writers, artists there are many “spiritual” ones. It is no coincidence that the embodiment of talent, civilization, originality and general culture‒ this is Bulgakov’s hero Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky, the son of the cathedral archpriest.

This section contains materials from the genealogical mailing list that was sent out by our project in 2002-2003. The author of the newsletter is Lyudmila Biryukova, at that moment the host of the site. The mailing list is currently not functioning.

When they appeared: In the 1440s, the Russian Church ceased to obey the Patriarch of Constantinople and gained autocephaly - independence. In 1589 the first patriarch appeared in the church. Church reform of Patriarch Nikon (making the sign of the cross with three folded fingers instead of two; making procession around the church from west to east, and not vice versa; replacing prostrations with bows while maintaining their number; the use of a four-pointed cross along with an eight- and six-pointed cross; establishing a three-fold hallelujah exclamation instead of a two-fold one; holding the liturgy over five prosphora instead of seven) led to a schism, which I have already written about on various occasions. The fight against him made the church dependent on the state and subordinated it to state power.

In 1720, on behalf of Peter I, Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich compiled the “Spiritual Regulations”, in which supreme authority an emperor was declared in the church, and the management of the church itself was entrusted Holy Synod(collegium of the highest ranks of the church) under the direct control of the state in the person of the chief prosecutor. In 1721, the “Spiritual Regulations” were approved by the ruling bishops and abbots of the monasteries. The church no longer had patriarchs. The church became an instrument of the state, which, however, from a material point of view, benefited it. It was as a result of this that clergymen developed surnames.

The clergy, from the point of view of the state, were the same class as any other, they had to be led, they had to be organized and directed. The practice of inheriting church parishes became established. Details are in one of the first mailings about estates, it also says where to look for evidence of belonging to the clergy estate.

Under Empress Anna Ioannovna (in 1739), a decree followed - to establish theological seminaries in all dioceses, but this decree could not be carried out for a long time, although some theological educational institutions existed before that. At first, the matter was limited to the fact that they decided to send “teaching priests” to all dioceses with the aim of preparing the children of clergy for the clergy. Only after the number of seminaries increased did seminary names begin to appear.

Most of the surnames of priests were created in the 19th century. Before this, priests were usually called Father Alexander, Father Vasily, Father or Father Ivan, without any surname being implied. Their children, if necessary, often received the surname Popov.

Not all priests received education at the seminary, so a significant part of the priests' surnames are seminary, in literally this word is not.

Many priests, and especially their children, received surnames from the names of the churches where they or their fathers served: Ilyinsky, Sergievsky, Predtechensky, Trinity, etc. A number of surnames are associated with the name of the icons: Znamensky (icon of the Sign of the Mother of God), Vyshensky (Vyshenskaya icon Mother of God). The names of the icons are associated with the surnames Derzhavin and Derzhavinsky (the “Sovereign” icon), Dostoevsky (the “It is Worthy” icon).

It was written somewhere that most of the surnames of priests ended in -sky, in imitation of Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames, because at that time there were many people from these areas among the church administration, teachers of seminaries and theological academies. But, in my opinion, this is an excess - these surnames are just adjectives, the answer to the question “which one?”

Artificial surnames are typical for the Great Russian clergy; Ukrainian and Belarusian priests, as a rule, retained their hereditary surname in the seminary.

Artificial surnames in the seminary were given not only to those who did not have surnames, but often also to those who already had them. The humorous formula for the resulting surnames is: “By churches, by flowers, by stones, by cattle, and as His Eminence pleases.” Last names could be changed by decision of the management, for example, Unbegaun has an example of changing the last name Landyshev to Krapivin because a student answered poorly in class. He also has an example of the surnames of six siblings: Petropavlovsky, Preobrazhensky, Smirnov, Milovidov, Skorodumov and Sedunov.

Since these surnames were invented, they could not have been formed according to the rules for the formation of surnames. For example, having decided to form a surname from the word bronze, at the seminary they gave the surname Bronzov, although according to the rules, the surname Bronzin should have been derived from the nickname Bronzin (as I already wrote, the answer to the question “whose are you?”). The seminary surnames Nagradov, Palmov, Rozov, and Tainov are also known.

Both among the priests and among those who received their surnames in the seminary, there were surnames formed from the names of all the most important holidays: Annunciation, Epiphany, Vvedensky, Vozdvizhensky, Ascension, Resurrection, Vsesvyatsky, Znamensky, Pokrovsky, Preobrazhensky, Rozhdestvensky, Soshestvensky, Sretensky , Troitsky, Uspensky. The surname Pokrovsky could have been given both in honor of the holiday of the “Holy Intercession”, and to the priest who served in the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin. The surname Subbotin was often given in spiritual circles, since several Saturdays a year were special commemoration deceased.

Seminary surnames from the names of saints or from the church in honor of this saint: Annensky, Anninsky, Varvarinsky, Ekaterinsky, Georgievsky, Savvinsky, Kosminsky, Sergievsky, Andreevsky, Ilyinsky, Nikolaevsky, Dmitrievsky, Konstantinovsky, Petrovsky, Zosimovsky, Lavrovsky, Florovsky. Surnames that combine two baptismal names are associated with saints whose feast days are celebrated on the same day or with churches named in their honor. Examples: Borisoglebsky, Kosmodamyansky, Petropavlovsky.

Surnames from epithets given to certain saints: Areopagite, Theological, Damascene, Chrysostom, Hierapolis, Catania, Corinthian, Magdalenian, Mediolanian, Neapolitan, Neapolitan, Obnorsky, Parian, Persian, Pervozvansky, Predtechensky, Radonezh, Thessalonian, Pobedonostsev, Savvaitov, Vaitsky, Startilatov, Studitov, Studitsky. The surname Pitovranov arose in honor of the prophet Elijah, who was “fed by corvids.”

The names from the Old Testament gave rise to the following surnames: Absalomov, Jerichonov, Israel, Lebanon, Maccabee, Melchizedek, Nemvrodov, Saulsky, Sinaisky, Sodomov, Pharaoh, Peresov. Surnames from names from the New Testament: Bethlehem, Gethsemane, Calvary, Olivet, Emmaus, Jordan, Nazareth, Samaritan, Tabor.

Also seminary surnames are: Angelov, Arkhangelsky, Bogoroditsky, Pravoslavlev, Pustynsky, Raisky, Serafimov, Spassky, Iconostasis, Ispolatov, Ispolatovsky, Kondakov, Krestov, Krestinsky, Krestovsky, Metaniev, Mineev, Obrazsky, Triodin, Khramov, Agntsov, Vertogradov, Vertogradsky , Desnitsky, Desnitsyn, Glagolev, Glagolevsky, Zertsalov, Zlatovratsky, Izvekov, Kolesnitsyyn, Novochadov.

Surnames that in one way or another reflected the seminarian’s character traits were given as a reward or punishment. Bogoboyaznov, Myagkov, Myagkoserdov, Dolerinsky (from Latin - to mourn), Liperovsky (from Greek - sad), Smelov, Nerobeev, Veselov, Veselovsky, Smekhov, Zabavin and their “Latin namesakes”. Gilyarovsky, Gilyarov and Gillyarov are formed from Latin word hilaris - "cheerful". Blagovidov, Blagonravov, Boagorassudov, Blagosklonov, Dobrovolsky, Dobrolyubov, Gromoglasov, Zlatoumov, Lyubomudrov, Mirolyubov, Ostroumov, Pesnopevtsev, Prostoserdov, Slavolubov, Smirennomrensky, Tikhomirov, Tikhonravov, Velkiov, Glubokovsky, Lazursky, Obnovlensky, Potseluevsky, Chinnov.

Examples of seminary surnames: Athensky, Dukhososhestvensky, Brilliantov, Dobromyslov, Benemansky, Kiparisov, Palmin, Reformatsky, Pavsky, Golubinsky, Klyuchevsky, Tikhomirov, Myagkov, Liperovsky (from the Greek root meaning “sad”).

The largest group of seminary surnames are “geographical” surnames. They are produced, as a rule, on behalf of not diocesan cities, but settlements less, because they mostly studied at the seminary of their diocese. If the seminarian's surname is derived from the name of the diocesan city, most likely the seminarian came from a neighboring province. For example, the surname Ufimtsev is common, because until 1859 there was no bishopric in the Ufa diocese, so young people left for neighboring provinces. Examples of geographical seminary surnames: Belinsky, Velikoselsky, Vysokoostrovsky, Ilovaisky, Krasnopolsky, Lamansky, Novgorodsky, Tolgsky, Shavelsky.

The church watchman, sending his son to theological school, could register him under the name Mikhailovsky in honor of the landowner Mikhailov, who gave money for this. Examples of such surnames: Aleksandrovsky, Nikiforovsky, Viktorovsky, Sokolovsky, Govorovsky, Chernyshevsky. At the same time, the surname, for example, Alexandrovsky, could be given in honor of the benefactor Alexandrov, on behalf of the village of Alexandrovka, in honor of St. Alexander or a church dedicated to this saint. In all cases, there is a high probability that the surname is seminary.

Sometimes, in cases of charity, the seminarian was given the surname of the benefactor himself or his surname was added. This explains the presence large number surnames, the second element of which is Platonov. Metropolitan of Moscow Platon Levshin in 1789 established five scholarships at the Moscow Theological Academy. Examples: Gilyarov-Platonov, Gorsky-Platonov, Ivanitsky-Platonov, Kudryavtsev-Platonov, Pobedinsky-Platonov.

Surnames derived from the Church Slavonic official form of the baptismal name are also seminary. Examples: Georgiev, Evfimov, Illarionov, Ioannov, Methodiev, Meletiev.

From the names of the plants, the seminary surnames Hyacintov, Landyshev, Levkoev, Lileev, Lilein, Narcissov, Rozov, Rozanov, Tuberozov, Vialkov, Fialkovsky, Tsvetkov, Tsvetkovsky, Abrikoosov, Ancharov, Vinogradov, Vinogradsky, Kedrov, Kiparisov, Mindalev, Mirtov, Palmov, Pomerantsev, Shafranovsky. From the names of animals: Golubinsky, Orlovsky, Kenarsky, Lebedinsky, Pavsky, Barsov, Pantherovsky, Zverev. From the names of minerals: Amethysts, Diamonds, Corals, Kristalevsky, Margarites, Smaragds. From the names of natural phenomena: North, East, South, West, Northeast, Sunset, Vetrinsky, Horizons, Skyslopes, Zarnitsky, Zefirov, Sources, Klyuchevsky, Krinitsky, Mesyatsev, Solntsev, Efirov.

All these surnames could be translated into Latin and Greek. I won’t list everything anyway, I’ll write until I get tired of it. Albov, Albovsky, Alitsky, Grandilevsky, Mayorsky, Minorsky, Robustov, Formozov, Laborinsky, Melioransky, Morigerovsky, Preferansov, Fruentov, Balbutsinovsky, Deploransky, Tutorsky, Ampelogov, Lofitsky, Liberov, Sacerdotov:

In general, I'll tell you this. If you have strange surname, find in the library the book by B.O. Unbegun “Russian Surnames”, there is a alphabetical index, and inside is an explanation. Perhaps you will find out what your last name means. If your surname is not strange, but on the contrary, very understandable, it will still very likely turn out to be a seminary name. Even a surname, clearly formed from a given name, may turn out to be seminary.

Perhaps it was the fact of the existence of seminary surnames that gave rise to such an insane variety of surnames in Russia. In principle, there are all the surnames that you can and even impossible to invent. There were seminary surnames even from pagan gods: Avrorin, Apolonsky, Afroditin, Bakhusov, Dianin, Izidin, Osirisov, etc. Even surnames from foreign names and words could be given in the seminary: Buffonov, Ossianov, Sorbonsky, Alfonsov. They were phenomenal, experimental:

Read Unbegun. If you want to go to the source, so to speak, read the Diocesan Gazette, they are in Historical library, there are a lot of strange names:

But in the end, you finally believed me that you can’t find out your ancestry just by your last name without taking any action?

I can't receive mail, so there won't be any announcements this time.

The first Russian surnames appeared in the 13th century, but most remained “nicknameless” for another 600 years. All you needed was your first name, patronymic and profession.

The fashion for surnames came to Rus' from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Back in the 12th century, Veliky Novgorod established close contacts with this state. Noble Novgorodians can be considered the first official owners of surnames in Rus'.

The earliest known list of the dead with the names: “Novgorodets that day: Kostyantin Lugotinits, Gyuryata Pineshchinich, Namst, Drochilo Nezdylov son of a tanner...” (First Novgorod chronicle of the older edition, 1240). Surnames helped in diplomacy and in recording troops. This made it easier to distinguish one Ivan from another.

Boyar and princely families

In the XIV-XV centuries, Russian princes and boyars began to take surnames. Surnames were often formed from the names of the lands. Thus, the owners of the estate on the Shuya River became the Shuiskys, on Vyazma - the Vyazemskys, on Meshchera - the Meshcherskys, the same story with the Tverskys, Obolenskys, Vorotynskys and other -skys.

It must be said that -sk- is a common Slavic suffix; it can also be found in Czech surnames(Comenius), and in Polish (Zapototsky), and in Ukrainian (Artemovsky).

Boyars also often received their surnames from the baptismal name of the ancestor or his nickname: such surnames literally answered the question “whose?” (implied “whose son?”, “what kind?”) and included possessive suffixes.

The suffix -ov- was added to worldly names ending in hard consonants: Smirnoy - Smirnov, Ignat - Ignatov, Petr - Petrov.

The suffix -Ev- was added to names and nicknames with soft sign, -y, -ey or h: Medved - Medvedev, Yuri - Yuryev, Begich - Begichev.

The suffix -in- received surnames formed from names with the vowels “a” and “ya”: Apukhta -Apukhtin, Gavrila - Gavrilin, Ilya -Ilyin.

Why are the Romanovs - Romanovs?

The most famous surname in the history of Russia - the Romanovs. Their ancestor Andrei Kobyla (a boyar from the time of Ivan Kalita) had three sons: Semyon Zherebets, Alexander Elka Kobylin and Fyodor Koshka. From them descended the Zherebtsovs, Kobylins and Koshkins, respectively.

After several generations, descendants decided that a surname from a nickname was not noble. Then they first became the Yakovlevs (after the great-grandson of Fyodor Koshka) and the Zakharyins-Yuryevs (after the names of his grandson and another great-grandson), and remained in history as the Romanovs (after the great-great-grandson of Fyodor Koshka).

Aristocratic surnames

The Russian aristocracy initially had noble roots, and among the nobles there were many people who came to Russian service from abroad. It all started with surnames of Greek and Polish-Lithuanian origin at the end of the 15th century, and in the 17th century they were joined by the Fonvizins (German von Wiesen), the Lermontovs (Scottish Lermont) and other surnames with Western roots.

Also, the surnames that were given to illegitimate children of noble people have foreign language bases: Sherov (French cher “dear”), Amantov (French amant “beloved”), Oksov (German Ochs “bull”), Herzen (German Herz “heart” ").

By-product children generally “suffered” a lot from their parents’ imagination. Some of them didn't bother to come up with new name, but simply shortened the old one: so from Repnin Pnin was born, from Trubetskoy - Betskoy, from Elagin - Agin, and from Golitsyn and Tenishev the “Koreans” Go and Te came out. The Tatars also left a significant mark on Russian surnames. This is exactly how the Yusupovs (descendants of Murza Yusup), the Akhmatovs (Khan Akhmat), the Karamzins (Tatar punishment “black”, Murza “lord, prince”), the Kudinovs (distorted Kaz.-Tatar. Kudai “God, Allah”) and other.

Surnames of servicemen

Following the nobility, ordinary service people began to receive surnames. They, like the princes, were also often called by their place of residence, only with “simpler” suffixes: families living in Tambov became Tambovtsevs, in Vologda - Vologzhaninovs, in Moscow - Moskvichevs and Moskvitinovs. Some were satisfied with the “non-family” suffix, denoting a resident of a given territory in general: Belomorets, Kostromich, Chernomorets, while others received the nickname without any changes - hence Tatyana Dunay, Alexander Galich, Olga Poltava and others.

Surnames of clergy

The surnames of the priests were formed from the names of churches and Christian holidays (Rozhdestvensky, Uspensky), and were also artificially formed from Church Slavonic, Latin and Greek words. The most interesting of them were those that were translated from Russian into Latin and received the “princely” suffix -sk-. Thus, Bobrov became Kastorsky (Latin castor “beaver”), Skvortsov became Sturnitsky (Latin sturnus “starling”), and Orlov became Aquilev (Latin aquila “eagle”).

Peasant surnames

Peasants' surnames late XIX centuries were rare. The exceptions were non-serf peasants in the north of Russia and in the Novgorod province - hence Mikhailo Lomonosov and Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva.

After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the situation began to improve, and by the time of universal passportization in the 1930s, every resident of the USSR had a surname.

They were formed according to already proven models: the suffixes -ov-, -ev-, -in- were added to names, nicknames, places of residence, and professions.

Why and when did they change their names?

When the peasants began to acquire surnames, for superstitious reasons, from the evil eye, they gave their children surnames that were not the most pleasant: Nelyub, Nenash, Nekhoroshiy, Blockhead, Kruchina. After the revolution, queues began to form at passport offices from those who wanted to change their surname to a more euphonious one.

Generic names whose bearers are Jews are called Jewish. They can be divided into several types. The most numerous variant of their formation is considered geographical names. The next type is characteristics or external data of a person. A particularly interesting option for the emergence of Jewish surnames is artificial creation.

Jewish names and surnames

The currently popular Israeli names are very diverse. No nation can boast of so many beautiful generic names. All first and last names of a nationality are unique, and each has its own meaning and origin. The history of most of them fits into only three centuries, because the ancient people were scattered throughout the world and did not need identification and a system for a long time. In Russia, Western and Eastern Europe the process began only after the corresponding laws were adopted at the state level.

Origin of Jewish surnames

Until the 18th century, Jews who lived in Russia and Europe did not have generic names. The origin of Jewish surnames began in Russian Empire, when a law was passed obliging people to have proper gender names. They were created hastily, which explains their diversity in modern world. Officials sometimes came up with a name for a person in their own way, depending on appearance, weather conditions and mood. Sometimes Jews came up with family names on their own. The second option was used by wealthy Jewish families, because appropriation cost a lot of money.

Meaning

The names of the men - the founders of the clan - gave rise to many surnames around the world. Often Jews did a simple thing: they took their or their father’s name or patronymic and made it a nickname. The most common name of the genus is Moses (Moshesa, Moses). In difficult cases, to own name an ending or suffix (the letter “s”) was added: Abrahams, Israels, Samuels. Another meaning of Jewish surnames: when they end in “son”/”zon”, then the bearer is the son of a particular person. Davidson means he is a descendant of David. Abramson is the son of Abram, Yakobson is the son of Jacob, and Matison is the son of Mathis.

Beautiful Jewish surnames

Jews often pray for their loved ones, calling them by their mother's name. This religious factor played a big role in the fact that the ancient people perpetuated both male and female names who performed an important political or economic mission in its history. Most beautiful Jewish surnames- these are those that arose on behalf of the mother. And there are many of them:

• Riva – Rivman;
• Gita - Gitis;
• Bayla - Beilis;
• Sarah - Sorison, etc.

As already mentioned, beautiful surnames Jews were created by wealthy representatives ancient people. The dictionary contains many examples. List of the most popular ones in alphabetical order:

• Goldenberg – golden mountain;
• Goldenbloom - golden flower;
• Hartmann is a solid (strong) person;
• Tokman is a persistent person;
• Muterperel - sea pearl;
• Mendel is a comforter;
• Rosenzweig - rose branch;
• Zuckerberg is a sugar mountain.

Popular

The first place in the ranking is occupied by the Rabinovichs and Abramovichs. No less popular are Jewish surnames whose roots are German - Katzman, Urgant, Bleistein, Brull. Family names associated with religion are also often found among Jews: Shulman (synagogue minister), Soifer (text writer), Levi (priest assistant), Cohen (priest). In the list of popular genus names, the third ones are those that are formed on a professional basis:

• Kravets (tailor);
• Melamed (teacher);
• Shuster (shoemaker);
• Kramer (shopkeeper);
• Shelomov (helmet maker).

funny

As modern Jews joke: “Funny Jewish surnames when certain circumstances can be formed from any word in the dictionary." Subject names of the genus include such as Hat, Rag, Footcloth, Starch, Peat. Mothballs, Medallion, Barrier, Penthouse, Sole, Nagler are considered cool. The list is complemented by funny generic names related to flora and fauna: Gelding, Lysobyk, Tarantula, Haidak (microbe).

Russian Jewish surnames

On the territory of Russia, mass emigration of Jews occurred after the annexation of Poland during the reign of Catherine II. Trying to infiltrate society, representatives ancient nation sometimes they took Russian generic names for themselves. As a rule, Jewish surnames in Russia ended in “ovich”, “ov”, “on”, “ik”, “sky”: Medinsky, Sverdlov, Novik, Kaganovich.

Common

Jewish immigrants chose their generic names based on the city, region or country from which they came. This distinguished them from other members of the community for identification purposes. Until now, common Jewish surnames correspond to the place of residence of their ancestors, for example, Pozner, Warsaw, Byaloblotsky, Urdominsky. Another row consists of frequently heard generic names, which are derived from male personal names: Yakubovich, Levkovich.

Famous

Currently, many Jews occupy prestigious positions in Russian politics and show business. Famous Jewish names among politicians: Avdeev, Lavrov, Dvorkovich, Shuvalov, Sechin, Shokhin, Sobchak. The list can be continued for a very long time, because it started a long time ago, with V.I. coming to power. Lenin, who did not hide his Jewish origin. Today, according to unofficial data, the number of Jews in the Russian government is 70%. On Russian stage Many of our favorite musicians are also representatives of the ancient people:

• Varum;
• Agutin;
• Linnik;
• Galkin;
• Gazmanov;
• Milyavskaya;
• Valley (Kudelman);
• Moiseev and many others.

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