The most beautiful surnames in the world. Russian surnames with noble roots Complete list of noble surnames

The documentary film "Noble families of Russia" is a story about the most famous noble families of Russia - the Gagarins, Golitsins, Apraksins, Yusupovs, Stroganovs. The nobles were initially in the service of the boyars and princes and replaced the warriors. For the first time in history, nobles were mentioned in 1174 and this was associated with the murder of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. Already from the 14th century, nobles began to receive possession of estates for their service. But unlike the boyar layer, they could not pass on the land by inheritance. During the creation and formation of a unified state, the nobles became a reliable support for the great princes. Starting from the 15th century, their influence in the political and economic life of the country grew increasingly stronger. Gradually the nobles merged with the boyars. The concept of “nobles” began to designate the upper class of the Russian population. The final differences between the nobility and the boyars disappeared at the beginning of the 18th century, when estates and estates were equated to each other.

Gagarins
The Russian princely family, whose ancestor, Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Golibesovsky, a descendant of the Starodub princes (XVIII tribe from Rurik), had five sons; of them, the three eldest, Vasily, Yuri and Ivan Mikhailovich, had the nickname Gagara and were the founders of three branches of the Gagarin princes. The older branch, according to some researchers, ceased at the end of the 17th century; representatives of the latter two still exist today. Princes Gagarins are recorded in the V part of the genealogical books of the provinces: Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Saratov, Simbirsk, Tver, Tambov, Vladimir, Moscow, Kherson and Kharkov.

Golitsyns
Russian princely family descended from the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas. The immediate ancestor of the family was Mikhail Ivanovich, nicknamed Golitsa, the son of the boyar Prince Ivan Vasilyevich Bulgak. In the 5th generation from the ancestor, the family of princes Golitsyn was divided into four branches, three of which exist to this day. From this family there were 22 boyars, 3 okolnichi, 2 kravchi. According to the genealogy of the Golitsyn princes (see "The Family of the Golitsyn Princes", op. book. N. N. Golitsyn, St. Petersburg, 1892, vol. I) in 1891 there were 90 males, 49 princesses and 87 Golitsyn princesses alive. One branch of the Golitsyns, represented by the Moscow Governor-General, Prince Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn, received the title of lordship in 1841. The family of princes Golitsyn is included in the V part of the genealogical book of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tver, Kursk, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tula and Chernigov provinces (Gerbovnik, I, 2).

Apraksins
Russian noble and count family descended from Salkhomir-Murza. In the old days they were written by the Opraksins. Salkhomir had a great-grandson, Andrei Ivanovich, nicknamed Opraks, from whom the family descended, whose representatives were first written as Opraksins, and then as Apraksins. The grandchildren of Andrei Opraksa (Apraksa), Erofey Yarets and Prokofy Matveevich, under the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, moved from Ryazan to serve in Moscow. From Erofey Matveyevich, nicknamed Yarets, a branch emerged, the representatives of which were subsequently elevated to the rank of count. From Erofey’s brother, Ivan Matveevich, nicknamed the Dark, another branch of the Apraksin family came. Stepan Fedorovich (1702-1760) and his son Stepan Stepanovich (1757/47-1827) Apraksins belonged to it.

Yusupov.
Russian extinct princely family, descended from Yusuf-Murza (d. 1556), the son of Musa-Murza, who in the third generation was a descendant of Edigei Mangit (1352-1419), the ruling khan of the Nogai Horde and a military leader who was in the service of Tamerlane. Yusuf-Murza had two sons, Il-Murza and Ibrahim (Abrey), who were sent to Moscow in 1565 by their father’s murderer, Uncle Ishmael. Their descendants in the last years of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich accepted holy baptism and were written as princes Yusupov or Yusupovo-Knyazhevo until the end of the 18th century, and after that they began to be written simply as princes Yusupov.

Stroganovs.
A family of Russian merchants and industrialists, from which came large landowners and statesmen of the 16th-20th centuries. They came from wealthy Pomeranian peasants. Since the 18th century - barons and counts of the Russian Empire. The direction in Russian icon painting of the late 16th - early 17th centuries (Stroganov school of icon painting) and the best school of church facial embroidery of the 17th century (Stroganov facial embroidery), as well as the Stroganov direction of the Moscow Baroque, are named after them. The Stroganov family traces its origins to the Novgorodian Spiridon, a contemporary of Dmitry Donskoy (first mentioned in 1395), whose grandson owned lands in the Dvina region. According to another version, unconfirmed, the surname allegedly comes from a Tatar who adopted the name Spiridon in Christianity.

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In 1886 V.V. Rummel and V.V. Golubtsov compiled the “Genealogical Collection of Russian Noble Families,” which included the genealogies of 136 families of the Russian nobility.
There are hundreds of noble family surnames in Russia. Among the most famous are the Aksenovs, Anichkovs, Arakcheevs, Bestuzhevs, Velyaminovs, Vorontsovs, Golenishchevs, Demidovs, Derzhavins, Dolgorukys, Durovs, Kurbatovs, Kutuzovs, Nekrasovs, Pozharskys, Razumovskys, Saburovs, Saltykovs, Trubetskoys, Uvarovs, Cherkasovs, Chernyshevs, Shcherbatovs.
Meanwhile, it is very difficult to determine for sure the noble origin of this or that surname these days. The fact is that surnames from names or nicknames could be given not only to representatives of the nobility. Also, serf peasants of one or another landowner often received surnames based on the name of the land ownership that belonged to this landowner, or bore the master’s own surname. With the exception of some particularly rare surnames, only an official pedigree can confirm noble roots.

Before being included in the lists of nobility, the gentlemen of Russia belonged to the boyar class. It is believed that at least a third of the boyar families came from immigrants from Poland and Lithuania. However, indications of the origin of a particular noble family sometimes border on falsification.

In the middle of the 17th century, there were approximately 40 thousand service people, including 2-3 thousand listed in Moscow genealogical books. There were 30 boyar families who had exclusive rights to senior positions, including membership in the royal council, senior administrative positions in major orders, and important diplomatic appointments.

Discord between boyar families made it difficult to govern the state. Therefore, it was necessary to create next to the ancient caste another, more submissive and less obstinate service class.
Boyars and nobles. The main difference is that the boyars had their own estates, while the nobles did not.

The nobleman had to live on his estate, run the household and wait for the tsar to call him to war or to court. Boyars and boyar children could appear for service at their own discretion. But the nobles had to serve the king.

Legally, the estate was royal property. The estate could be inherited, divided between heirs, or sold, but the estate could not.In the 16th century, an equalization of the rights of nobles and boyar children took place.During the XVI-XVII centuries. The position of the nobles approached the position of the boyars; in the 18th century, both of these groups merged, and the nobility became the aristocracy of Russia.

However, in the Russian Empire there were two different categories of nobles.
Pillar nobles - this was the name in Russia for hereditary nobles of noble families, listed in columns - genealogical books before the reign of the Romanovs in the 16-17 centuries, in contrast to nobles of later origin.

In 1723, the Finnish “knighthood” became part of the Russian nobility.
The annexation of the Baltic provinces was accompanied (from 1710) by the formation of the Baltic nobility.

By a decree of 1783, the rights of Russian nobles were extended to the nobility of three Ukrainian provinces, and in 1784 - to princes and murzas of Tatar origin. In the last quarter of the 18th century. The formation of the Don nobility began at the beginning of the 19th century. the rights of the Bessarabian nobility were formalized, and from the 40s. 19th century - Georgian.
By the middle of the 19th century. The nobility of the Kingdom of Poland is equal in personal rights with the Russian nobility.

However, there are only 877 real ancient Polish noble families, and there are at least 80 thousand current noble families. These surnames, along with tens of thousands of other similar noble Polish surnames, got their start in the 18th century, on the eve of the first partition of Poland, when the magnates of their lackeys, grooms, hounds, etc. raised their servants to gentry dignity, and thus formed almost a third share of the current nobility of the Russian Empire.

How many nobles were there in Russia?
“In 1858 there were 609,973 hereditary nobles, 276,809 personal and office nobles; in 1870 there were 544,188 hereditary nobles, 316,994 personal and office nobles; According to official data for 1877-1878, there were 114,716 noble landowners in European Russia.” Brockhaus and Efron. Article Nobility.

According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd ed.), in total in the Russian Empire (without) Finland) the big bourgeoisie, landowners, high officials, etc. of both sexes were: in 1897 - 3.0 million people, in 1913 4 ,1 million people. The share of the social group in 1897 was 2.4%, in 1913 - 2.5%. The increase from 1913 to 1897 was 36.7%. USSR article. Capitalist system.

The number of nobility (male): in 1651 - 39 thousand people, 108 thousand in 1782, 4.464 thousand people in 1858, that is, over two hundred years it has increased 110 times, while the country's population has only five times: from 12.6 to 68 million people. Korelin A.P. Russian nobility and its class organization (1861-1904). - History of the USSR, 1971, No. 4.

In the 19th century in Russia there were about 250 princely families, more than half of them were Georgian princes, and 40 families traced their ancestry to Rurik (according to legend, in the 9th century called to “rule in Rus'”) and Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who ruled in XIV century in what is now Western Belarus (“Cornet Obolensky” belonged to the Rurikovichs, and “Lieutenant Golitsyn” belonged to the Gediminovichs).

Even more amusing situations arose with the Georgians than with the Poles.

Since in St. Petersburg they were afraid that the princes would again turn to oligarchic freedom, they began to count the princes carefully, namely, they ordered everyone to prove their right to the principality. And they began to prove it - it turned out that almost none of the princes had documents. A large princely factory of documents was set up in Tiflis, and the documents were accompanied by the seals of Heraclius, King Teimuraz and King Bakar, which were very similar. The bad thing was that they didn’t share: there were many hunters for the same possessions. Tynyanov Y. Death of Vazir-Mukhtar, M., Soviet Russia, 1981, p. 213.

In Russia, the title of count was introduced by Peter the Great. The first Russian count was Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev, elevated to this dignity in 1706 for pacifying the Astrakhan rebellion.

Barony was the smallest noble title in Russia. Most of the baronial families - there were more than 200 of them - came from Livonia.

Many ancient noble families trace their origins to Mongolian roots. For example, Herzen’s friend Ogarev was a descendant of Ogar-Murza, who went to serve Alexander Nevsky from Batu.
The noble Yushkov family traces its ancestry from the Horde Khan Zeush, who went into the service of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy, the Zagoskins - from Shevkal Zagor, who left the Golden Horde in 1472 for Moscow and received estates in the Novgorod region from John III.

Khitrovo is an ancient noble family that traces its origins to those who left in the second half of the 14th century. from the Golden Horde to the Grand Duke of Ryazan Oleg Ioannovich Edu-Khan, nicknamed Strong-Cunning, named Andrei in baptism. At the same time, his brother Salokhmir-Murza, who left, was baptized in 1371 under the name John and married the sister of Prince Anastasia. He became the founder of the Apraksins, Verderevskys, Kryukovs, Khanykovs and others. The Garshin family is an old noble family, descended, according to legend, from Murza Gorsha or Garsha, a native of the Golden Horde under Ivan III.

V. Arsenyev points out that the Dostoevskys descended from Aslan Murza Chelebey, who left the Golden Horde in 1389: he was the ancestor of the Arsenyevs, Zhdanovs, Pavlovs, Somovs, Rtishchevs and many other Russian noble families.

The Begichevs were descended, naturally, from the Horde citizen Begich; the noble families of the Tukhachevskys and Ushakovs had Horde ancestors. The Turgenevs, Mosolovs, Godunovs, Kudashevs, Arakcheevs, Kareevs (from Edigei-Karey, who moved from the Horde to Ryazan in the 13th century, was baptized and took the name Andrei) - all of them are of Horde origin.

During the era of Grozny, the Tatar elite strengthened even more.
For example, during the Kazan campaign (1552), which in history will be presented as the conquest and annexation of the Kazan Khanate to the Moscow state, the army of Ivan the Terrible included more Tatars than the army of Ediger, the ruler of Kazan.

The Yusupovs came from the Nogai Tatars. Naryshkins - from the Crimean Tatar Naryshki. Apraksins, Akhmatovs, Tenishevs, Kildishevs, Kugushevs, Ogarkovs, Rachmaninovs - noble families from the Volga Tatars.

The Moldavian boyars Matvey Cantacuzin and Scarlat Sturdza, who emigrated to Russia in the 18th century, received the most cordial treatment. The latter's daughter was a maid of honor to Empress Elizabeth, and later became Countess Edling.The Counts Panins traced their ancestry back to the Italian Panini family, which came from Lucca back in the 14th century. The Karazins came from the Greek family of Karadzhi. The Chicherins descend from the Italian Chicheri, who came to Moscow in 1472 in the retinue of Sophia Paleologus.

The Korsakov family from Lithuania (Kors is the name of the Baltic tribe that lived in Kurzeme).

Using the example of one of the central provinces of the empire, one can see that families of foreign origin made up almost half of the provincial nobility. An analysis of the pedigrees of 87 aristocratic families of the Oryol province shows that 41 families (47%) have foreign origins - traveling nobles baptized under Russian names, and 53% (46) of hereditary families have local roots.

12 of the traveling Oryol families have a genealogy from the Golden Horde (Ermolovs, Mansurovs, Bulgakovs, Uvarovs, Naryshkins, Khanykovs, Elchins, Kartashovs, Khitrovo, Khripunovs, Davydovs, Yushkovs); 10 clans left Poland (Pokhvisnevs, Telepnevs, Lunins, Pashkovs, Karyakins, Martynovs, Karpovs, Lavrovs, Voronovs, Yurasovskys); 6 families of nobles from the “German” (Tolstoys, Orlovs, Shepelevs, Grigorovs, Danilovs, Chelishchevs); 6 - with roots from Lithuania (Zinovievs, Sokovnins, Volkovs, Pavlovs, Maslovs, Shatilovs) and 7 - from other countries, incl. France, Prussia, Italy, Moldova (Abaza, Voeikovs, Elagins, Ofrosimovs, Khvostovs, Bezobrazovs, Apukhtins)

A historian who studied the origin of 915 ancient service families provides the following data on their national composition: 229 were of Western European (including German) origin, 223 were of Polish and Lithuanian origin, 156 were Tatar and other eastern, 168 belonged to the house of Rurik.
In other words, 18.3% were descendants of the Rurikovichs, that is, they had Varangian blood; 24.3% were of Polish or Lithuanian origin, 25% came from other Western European countries; 17% from Tatars and other eastern peoples; The nationality of 10.5% was not established, only 4.6% were Great Russians. (N. Zagoskin. Essays on the organization and origin of the service class in pre-Petrine Rus').

Even if we count the descendants of the Rurikovichs and persons of unknown origin as pure Great Russians, it still follows from these calculations that more than two-thirds of the royal servants in the last decades of the Moscow era were of foreign origin. In the eighteenth century, the proportion of foreigners in the service class increased even more. - R. Pipes. Russia under the old regime, p.240.

Our nobility was Russian only in name, but if someone decides that the situation was different in other countries, they will be greatly mistaken. Poland, the Baltic states, numerous Germanic nations, France, England and Türkiye were all ruled by aliens.

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If we take the Russian nobility, then there is a special collection of clans, compiled at the end of the 19th century, where 136 surnames are mentioned. Of course, time has made its own adjustments in terms of adding to the list based on the results of various studies, but the basic data is still relevant. When the need arises to establish the reliability of a particular noble family, one must turn to this collection.

The nobility in Rus' appeared around the 12th - 13th centuries as a military service class, membership in which could be obtained through diligence in the service of a prince or boyar. Hence the meaning of the word “nobleman” - a person “courtier”, “from the princely court”. This lower stratum of nobility was distinct from the boyars, who were considered an aristocracy, and the title was inherited. In a couple of centuries, the two classes will be equal in rights, including the right of succession of titles and regalia.

When the nobles began to receive land plots under the condition of service (a semblance of a feudal militia was formed), it became necessary to designate them in the lists as independent units, and not attached to princes and boyars. We decided that it would be more convenient to do this based on the location of his lands. This is how the first noble families appeared: Arkhangelsk, Ukhtomsky, Suzdal, Shuisky, Belozersky.

Another option for the origin of noble families is from nicknames: Toothed, Persky.

Sometimes, for clarification, they made a double surname, taking as a basis the place of the allotment and the nickname: Nemirovichi-Danchenki.

Gradually, the penetration of representatives of foreign powers into the territory of Rus' was reflected in the family noble families: Matskevich, von Plehwe, Lukomsky.

The era of the reign of Peter I was marked by many changes in the structure of the Russian state, including the strengthening of the role of the nobility. It was possible to obtain a title through diligent service to the sovereign, which was taken advantage of by many active and landless people of the lower classes. This is how the noble family of the Menshikovs appeared on the list, named after the Tsar’s associate, Alexander Menshikov. Unfortunately, the ancient family has died out in the male line, and it is this factor that is decisive in the transfer of inheritance rights.

Based on the origin and antiquity of the family, existing wealth and proximity to the highest power, as well as the trace left in the history of the state, the nobility was divided into several categories. These are: pillar, titled, foreign, hereditary and personal. They can also be identified by their last names. For example, the descendants of the noble princely and boyar families of the Scriabins and Travins formed branches of the ancient nobility, or pillars.

The weakening of the position of this class in the 19th century was due to changes in the political structure of the state, as well as ongoing reforms. The abolition of serfdom in 1861 had a great impact, after which the dominant role of the nobility weakened. And after 1917, all classes were completely abolished.

But the names remain! True, it is possible to determine their belonging to a specific family only after a careful study of the documents, because over the past centuries too many events have happened. You can also refer to the “List of noble families included in the general coat of arms of the Russian Empire” for clarification (there is one). And only those with rare surnames need not worry - they are known even without reference literature. All they have to do is live up to their high rank.

Royal families

In Rus', surnames were also born along the branches of the family tree. This happened in the ruling dynasties of the Rurikovichs, Romanovs, and other princely and boyar families. The chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” mentions that the legendary Varangian Rurik came to Novgorod with his retinue and began to rule there in 862. Rurik’s successor was Oleg, one of his close warriors, who moved south and conquered Kyiv. After Oleg, power in Kyiv passed to Igor, and then to his wife Olga. According to some chronicle sources, Igor was considered the son of Rurik, so all the descendants of Igor and Olga began to call themselves Rurikovich. The Rurik dynasty ruled the Russian lands from the 9th to the 16th centuries. They stood at the head of small and large principalities during the period of feudal fragmentation, and then at the head of the Old Russian state.

The name of the founder of this dynasty turned into a surname. To understand the meaning of the surname Rurikovich, you need to look at the translation of the name Rurik. There are two versions of the origin of this name. According to one of them, Rurik was not a personal name, but a kind of titular nickname, indicating a person’s high rank. Translated from the Scandinavian "hrodra rikr" means "glorious ruler." Among the representatives of the Rurik dynasty there were indeed many famous rulers who corresponded to this meaning of their surname.

And according to the second version, the name Rurik could come from the Scandinavian word “rorik” - “falcon”. Since it is necessary to consider all possible meanings in a surname, let us pay attention to this version. The falcon, on the one hand, is a high-flying bird, and on the other hand, falcons were tamed and kept for royal hunting. This is a bird of power, but its power is based on submission to someone. This distinguishes the falcon from the eagle, which rules on its own. Although the falcon flies high, it obeys the falconer’s command, and upon returning, a cap is placed on its head. This bird personifies the principle of service, the warrior. This meaning of the surname was very much lost in the history of the entire Rurikovich dynasty.

The Novgorodians hired Rurik along with the Varangian squad and invited them to defend the city. Prince Rurik was supposed to perform the functions of a warrior-commander, serve the townspeople, and the government of the city was to be carried out by an elected veche. The first princes of the Rurik dynasty actually corresponded to the meaning of the surname associated with the image of a falcon; they were warriors, led all conquests, and themselves collected tribute from the territories under their control. Svyatoslav Rurikovich, the son of Igor and Olga, who was the first of this dynasty to receive a Slavic name, most embodied the image of a prince-commander, and spent his entire life in long military campaigns and battles.

The princes of the Rurik dynasty had to voluntarily submit to someone else's influence; they actually played out the image of a falcon obeying someone's hand. First Olga and then Vladimir bowed to Byzantium and accepted Christianity. Then the Mongols kept Rus' under their hood for 200 years, the Rurikovichs had to receive a label to reign in the Golden Horde. But without such subordination to external conditions, they would not have been able to cope with internal strife and civil strife, or to unite the scattered lands into a single state.

The mystery of the surname shows the true role that its bearers should play in human history. If the Rurikovichs tried to deviate from their assigned role, they immediately lost. When the Grand Duke of Kiev Igor felt too free and tried to collect tribute from the Drevlyans a second time, he immediately paid the price and was brutally killed.

Another Rurikovich, Andrei Bogolyubsky, the son of Yuri Dolgorukov, was killed by the conspirators after he began to strive for absolute power. They wrote about him in the chronicle: “although he will be an autocrat.” Starting with Andrei Bogolyubsky, the Rurik dynasty began the period of formation of absolute monarchical power, which ultimately led them to a sad ending. In 1547, Ivan Vasilyevich Rurikovich, nicknamed the Terrible, was crowned king. The Rurik dynasty became royal. But this contradicted the meaning of their surname, and in 1598, with the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, this dynasty was interrupted.

Let us note that after the formation of a centralized state, many of the Rurikovichs lost their fiefdoms, appanage possessions and constituted the highest stratum of Moscow service people, becoming the so-called “princes,” continuing to embody the mystery of their surname associated with service.

After the decline of the Rurik dynasty, power passed to the Romanov dynasty. The surname Romanov comes from the name Roman. This boyar family began to call itself the Romanovs from the 16th century, and before that they were Koshkins, then Zakharyins. Archival records indicate that in the first half of the 14th century there lived a boyar of the Moscow princes, Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla. One of his sons, Alexander Elka Kobylin, continued the Kobylin family. Another son, Ignatius Zherebets Kobylin, became the ancestor of the Zherebtsovs, while the younger Fedor Koshka Kobylin became the ancestor of the Koshkins. Until the 16th century, the ancestors of the Romanovs were called Koshkins, and then the Zakharyins branch emerged from this family.

The rise of the Zakharyins began after the marriage of Tsar Ivan the Terrible to the daughter of Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin, Anastasia. The third son of Roman Yuryevich, Nikita Romanovich, became the founder of the Romanov family. Nikita Romanovich's son was tonsured a monk under the name Filaret, and later became a Russian patriarch. At the Zemsky Sobor in 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the son of Fyodor-Filaret, the grandson of the founder of the Romanovs, was elected Russian Tsar. First, the Romanov family became a royal dynasty, and from 1721 - an imperial one.

Only when this humble family began to call themselves the Romanovs did they really have a chance to gain power and the question of their election to the kingdom immediately arose. The Romanovs were able to establish themselves in Moscow precisely because in the 16th century it was announced as the Third Rome. And as soon as this happened, the Romanovs appeared. The name Roman is translated as “Roman, Roman” and refers to the history of the formation of Ancient Rome. The Romanovs were able to eliminate all their competitors for royal power, since the archetype of their surname was in demand at that time. Ivan the Terrible declared himself a king, i.e., Caesar, Caesar, and manifested the archetype of the Roman Empire. After this, the Romanovs began to rise and replaced the Rurikovichs, since they were better suited in their clan scenario to carry out the program of creating an empire, the Third Rome.

The Roman principle, which the Romanovs carried in their surname, predetermined their choice and path in life. The fate of this dynasty is very reminiscent of the fate of Ancient Rome. Having come to power, the Romanovs turned Russia into an empire. They also had a Senate, which played a ceremonial and decorative role under the emperor, as in Rome of later times.

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