Suffixes of surnames of different nations. How to determine the ending of surnames by nationality: features and interesting facts

There are many misconceptions about the nationality of certain surnames. Thus, some surnames are traditionally considered Jewish, while others are considered Russian. Although this may not be the case.

Myths about Jewish surnames

Thus, any of our compatriots identifies as Jewish surnames Abramovich, Bergman, Ginzburg, Goldman, Zilberman, Katsman, Cohen, Kramer, Levin, Malkin, Rabinovich, Rivkin, Feldstein, Etkind.

It is generally accepted that all surnames with the suffix “-sky” or “-ich” are Jewish in Russia. But in fact, these are most often surnames of Polish or Ukrainian origin, indicating the name of the area where the person’s ancestors are from. And they can be worn by both Jews and Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians... And surnames such as Preobrazhensky or Rozhdestvensky were given to seminary graduates, most of whom were Russian.

Another mistake is to consider all surnames with the suffixes “-ov” or “-in” to be Russian. In Russia, indeed, most surnames have such suffixes. But they all have different origins: some were given by the names of their parents, others by their professional affiliation, and others by nicknames. During administrative recording of documents, surnames could be “Russified.” So, who would think that the Russian composer Rachmaninov Jewish roots? But the surname Rachmaninov owes its origin to the Hebrew “Rahman”, which means “merciful” - this is one of the names of God.

What surnames do Jews in Russia have?

Mass emigration of Jews to Russia began during the time of Catherine II, after the annexation of Poland. In order to assimilate with the local population, representatives of the Jewish people sometimes took surnames similar to Russian or Polish ones: Medinsky, Novik, Kaganovich.

There is also a group of surnames not Jewish origin, which, however, are worn mainly by Jews: Zakharov, Kazakov, Novikov, Polyakov, Yakovlev. This is how it happened historically.

Jewish surnames that we mistake for Russian

Russian Jews were often given surnames based on their professional affiliation or the profession of their parents. So, the Russian surname Shkolnikov seems to come from “schoolboy” (that’s what they called a servant in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church). Many Jews have this surname. The surname Shelomov comes from “shelom”. Its representatives were helmet makers. Dyers and Sapozhnikov - these are the names of Jews whose ancestors were engaged in painting and sewing shoes. These were common Jewish professions in pre-revolutionary Russia. We are accustomed to considering the Russian surname Moiseev, but it comes from the Hebrew name Moses! The same thing with the surname Avdeev. But Abramov is really a Russian surname: in Rus' there was also the name Abram!

The surnames Shapkin, Tryapkin, Portyankin come from Jewish nicknames. Few people think that the Jewish surnames Galkin, Dolin, Kotin, Lavrov, Plotkin, Sechin, Shokhin, Shuvalov are Jewish...

Everyone knows that Lenin’s comrade-in-arms, Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov was a Jew. It was even rumored that he real name Katz. But in fact, he never changed his surname: Sverdlov is a fairly common surname among Jews.

By studying the surname, you can find out almost everything: clan membership, nationality or nationality. Although searching for the true meaning of a surname is a rather painstaking task that takes time, it is worth it. Specialists in this field can tell a lot by a person’s last name; after special analysis, they will determine where it appeared and when. But belonging to a certain nationality is a separate feature. You can divide the surname into parts (select the root, suffixes) and determine the origin of the surname and the territory of origin.

For example:

Ukrainian surnames that can be found in the Ukrainian language. Most often, such surnames have a special suffix “enko”: Bondarenko, Timoshenko, Prokopenko, Chernenko, Gradienko, Petrenko. This is the first group of Ukrainian surnames; the second group includes surnames with the suffixes “eyko”, “ko”, “ochka”: Belebeyko, Butko, Sterochko, Bobreyko and the like. And the third, smallest group of surnames with the suffix “ovsky”: Berezovsky, Osinovsky, Kolpakovsky, Mogilevsky, Novosky. Since many Ukrainian surnames have roots in Slavic, then they also contain surnames based on occupation (Gonchar, Butter) or taken from the description of the surrounding world or the names of animals (Voronenko - raven). But from English peculiarity of the merger of two words in a surname in the Ukrainian language there are such examples: Sinegub, Krasnonos, Belogor, Nepiyvoda or Ryabokon.

Jewish surnames are the second most common group of surnames. Since the characteristic feature of the Jewish people is trade, it is not surprising that their communities can be found all over the world. The Jewish people were one of the first to understand that qualities cannot be passed on by inheritance and began to collect their special wealth - knowledge. There are two main roots in Jewish surnames: Levi and Cohen, they form a large group of surnames. Such roots have a sacred origin and among the Jews they are considered as two sources that stood at the head of the Jewish family and are passed on only through the male line. These roots mean that the ancestors of these Jews had a high rank in the clergy and from them the surnames were formed: Katz, Levit, Levitan, Kogan and the like. Another group of Jewish surnames is formed from male names: Solomon, Samuel, Israel. And the third group is surnames that were formed by adding suffixes to male names: Abramson, Mosesan, Jacobson, Mendelson, Fishbein. Jews lived in different territories, but it is by the characteristics of the surname that one can determine its origin. And only by the suffixes in Jewish surnames can one say exactly where this or that surname came from: let’s say in Poland it is “Padva”. For example, on Slavic territory, the surnames of Jews acquired a special Slavic pronunciation: Berkovich, Yakubovich, Davidovich or Abramovsky. Also, when praying, Jews call a person by the name of his mother; nationality is also transmitted through the female line. Thanks to this attitude towards women, another group with a feminine root appears in Jewish surnames: Rivman, Sorinson, Beilis and others. But Jews also have surnames indicating personal qualities or derived from the type of their activity. For example, the surname Rabin, as you might guess, comes from “rabbi.”

Tatar surnames are also widespread, because the history of Rus' is also connected with these people. Tatars are the most numerous ethnic group, this is how it happened historically, which is why similar surnames are common. Almost all Tatar surnames consist of a Tatar word and the original Russian suffixes “ov”, “ev” and “in”: Yunusev, Yuldashin, Abaidullin or Safin. This merger is explained by the interaction of two cultures over time.

English surnames are not as common, but are still sometimes found. There are several ways to form such surnames. One of them is the surname according to the place of residence of the family: Scott, Irish, English, England and others. The second type of surnames was formed, like many in Russia, by occupation: Spooner, Carver. And the third group according to human qualities: Bad, Good or Kind.

French surnames predominated in pre-revolutionary Russia. The French people have always been famous for their wit and special ingenuity in determining names, and the same thing happened with surnames. To form surnames, the French use names or nicknames, to which the prefix “De” or “Le” is added.

German surnames are not a very wide group, but still they have a place. The following surnames are formed from the given names: Peters, Jacobi, Werner or Hartman. Not personal names, but nicknames may be used: Klein or words taken from the profession: Schmidt.

Polish surnames are also found in Russia, the most common of which are Nowak, Mazur or Kowalczyk.

With knowledge about national characteristics surnames, you can determine the group for your surname, and determine what nationality it belongs to. You should break down your last name into its components and deal with them based on the data received.

You will need

A sheet of paper, a pen, the ability to do morphemic analysis of a word, etymological dictionary Russian language, dictionary of foreign words.

Instructions

Take a piece of paper and a pen. Write your last name and highlight all the morphemes in it: root, suffix, ending. This preparatory stage will help you determine which family name your family belongs to.

Pay attention to the suffix. Since in Russian more often than others foreign names occur, these can be the following suffixes: “enko”, “eiko”, “ovsk/evsk”, “ko”, “point”. That is, if your last name is Tkachenko, Shumeiko, Petrovsky or Gulevsky, Klitschko, Marochko, distant relatives should be searched on the territory of Ukraine.

Look at the root of the word if the suffix does not answer the question of what nationality your last name is. Often its basis is one or another object, animal,... As an example, we can cite the surname Gonchar, the Ukrainian Gorobets (translated as Sparrow), the Jewish Rabin ("rabbi").

Count the number of roots in a word. Sometimes the surname consists of two words. For example, Ryabokon, Beloshtan, Krivonos. Similar surnames refer to Slavic peoples(Russians, Belarusians, Poles, etc.), but are also found in other languages.

Evaluate your surname from the point of view of belonging to the Jewish people. Common Jewish surnames contain the roots “Levi” and “Cohen”, found in the surnames Levitan, Levin, Kogan, Katz. Their owners descended from ancestors who were in the rank of clergy. There are also surnames that came from male (Moses, Solomon) or female names (Rivkin, Beilis), or were formed from a merger male name and suffix (Abrahams, Jacobson, Mandelstam).

Remember, does Tatar blood flow in your veins? If your surname consists of a combination of words and suffixes “in”, “ov” or “ev”, then the answer is obvious - there were . This is especially clearly seen in the example of such names as Bashirov, Turgenev, Yuldashev.

Determine which language the surname belongs to, based on the following clues:
- if it has the prefix “de” or “le”, look for roots in France;
- if the surname sounds like English name territory (eg Welsh), quality of person (Sweet) or profession (Carver), relatives should be sought in Great Britain;
- the same rules apply to German surnames. They are derived from profession (Schmidt), nickname (Klein), name (Peters);
- Polish surnames can be recognized based on the sound - Kowalczyk, Sienkiewicz.
Look in a dictionary of foreign words if you have difficulty assigning a surname to a particular language.

Video on the topic

note

If your surname is of Jewish origin, it can be used to determine the territory where your ancestors lived. Thus, Slavic Jews bear the surnames Davidovich, Berkovich, Rubinchik. They sound very similar to Russian patronymics and diminutive names of objects. The surnames of Polish Jews differ in their suffixes. For example, Padva.

Helpful advice

To compose family tree or find distant relatives, but not make a mistake in interpreting the surname by nationality, you should rely not only on the root and suffix, but also on the environment. After all, the most common name Ivan has a Hebrew past, and surnames derived from it are found among Russians, Mari, Mordvins, Chuvash - Ivanaev, Vankin, Ivashkin, Ivakin, etc. Therefore, do not be lazy to look into the etymological dictionary.

Sources:

what is the nationality of the name
If your last name ends in ov/-ev, -in then I will

The word surname in translation means family (Latin familia - family). A surname is the proper name of a clan community - united primary social units connected by blood ties. How do the names of surnames arise, what is the principle of the formation of Russian surnames, in particular, surnames starting with “-ov”.

The emergence of surnames

The emergence and spread of surnames in Rus' was gradual. The first nicknames were acquired by the citizens of Veliky Novgorod and the lands under its jurisdiction. Chronicle evidence draws our attention to this fact, telling about the Battle of the Neva in 1240.

Later, in the 14th – 15th centuries, princes began to acquire family names. Called by the name of the inheritance they owned, having lost it, the princes began to reserve its name for themselves and their descendants as a family name. This is how the Vyazemskys (Vyazma), Shuiskys (Shuya) and others appeared noble families. At the same time, they began to take hold, originating from the nicknames: Lykovs, Gagarins, Gorbatovs.

Boyar and then noble families, due to their lack of inheritance status, were formed largely from nicknames. The formation of a surname on behalf of the ancestor has also become widespread. Bright to that the reigning family in Russia - the Romanovs.

Romanovs

The ancestors of this ancient boyar family were ancestors who wore different time nicknames: Mare, Koshka Kobylin, Koshkins. The son of Zakhary Ivanovich Koshkin, Yuri Zakharovich, was already called by his father and by his nickname - Zakharyin-Koshkin. In turn, his son, Roman Yuryevich, bore the surname Zakharyev-Yuryev. The Zakharyins were also the children of Roman Yuryevich, but with their grandchildren (Fyodor Nikitich - Patriarch Filaret), the family continued under the name of the Romanovs. With the surname Romanov and was chosen for royal throne Mikhail Fedorovich.

Last name as personal identification

The establishment of passports by Peter I in 1719 for the convenience of collecting poll taxes and carrying out recruitment gave rise to the spread of surnames for men of all classes, including peasants. At first, along with the name, a patronymic and/or nickname was written in, which then became the owner’s surname.

Formation of Russian surnames into –ov/-ev, -in

The most common Russian surnames are derived from personal names. As a rule, this is the name of the father, but more often the grandfather. That is, the surname was fixed in the third generation. At the same time, the personal name of the ancestor became a possessive adjective, formed from the name using the suffixes –ov/-ev, -in and answering the question “whose?”
“Whose Ivan? - Petrov."

In the same way in late XIX– at the beginning of the 20th century, Russian officials formed and recorded the surnames of the inhabitants of the Russian Transcaucasus and Central Asia.

Wikipedia:

Most surnames in the Russian nominal formula are derived from patronymics (based on the baptismal or secular name of one of the ancestors), nicknames (based on the type of activity, place of origin, or some other characteristic of the ancestor) or other family names.

Russian surnames in most cases were single or hyphenated, and were passed strictly through the male line. IN mid-19th century, especially after the abolition of serfdom in 1861, surnames were formed for the majority of people of the peasant class. By the 1930s, the process of obtaining surnames by various nationalities was completely completed.

Russian surnames most often end in -ov/-ev. From 60% to 70% of Russian surnames have the ending -ov/-ev. Surnames in -ov/-ev are formed as follows:

Surnames formed mainly as patronymics or by the name of the grandfather (the name of the grandfather, from whom the temporary surname of the father came) from church or Slavic personal names or nicknames, for example, Ivan → son of Ivan - Ivanov, Alexey → son Alexey-Alekseev, a man nicknamed Bezborody → son of Bezborodoy - Bezborodov, etc.

This also includes surnames derived from nicknames associated with the profession. For example, a person by profession is a blacksmith → the son of a blacksmith - Kuznetsov.

The authorities of the Don Army Region did not recognize surnames ending in -in and -i/y. During the population census, such surnames were changed to -ov, for example, the surname Kuzmin turned into Kuzminov, Bessmertny - into Bessmertnov, etc.

Russian surnames ending in -in occupy the second place in prevalence among Russian surnames, after surnames ending in -ov / -ev. In some places in Russia, especially in the Volga region, surnames starting with -in cover more than 50% of the population. Everything that is written about family names in -ov/-ev fully applies to surnames in -in. Surnames ending in -in are present among Belarusians and are less popular than among Russian surnames. Among Belarusians, the ratio of the suffixes -ov/-ev and -in is completely different, 90% to 10%. This is due to the fact that the basis of surnames was not perceived in the original Russian diminutive form names in -ka, and with the Belarusian form in -ko (Ivashkov, Fedkov, Geraskov - from, respectively, Ivashko, Fedko, Gerasko, instead of Ivashkin, Fedkin, Geraskin).

The Russian North is the historical homeland of Russian surnames, having the suffixes -ih and -ih. These surnames appeared at the turn of the first and second millennia and later spread to central regions Rus' and the Urals. The appearance and widespread distribution of surnames in Siberia occurred much later and was associated with the beginning of the period of conquest of Siberia in the second half of the 16th century.

Surnames on -i/-s come from the nickname that characterized the family - Short, White, Red, Large, Small, etc. - and are a form of the genitive (or prepositional) case plural possessive adjective, which was formed by adding a patronymic suffix to the root of the nickname. Doctor philological sciences A.V. Superanskaya describes the mechanism for the formation of these surnames as follows: “The head of the family is called Zolotoy, the entire family is called Zolotoye. A native or descendants of a family in the next generation - Zolotykh"

Surnames in -skiy / -tskiy are more common among Poles. Despite this, a fairly large percentage of the Russian population have surnames in -sky / -tsky. The surname originates from areas that were previously occupied by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This method of word formation includes surnames derived from names:

Localities or settlements- this method of education is especially typical for princely families or the Western Russian gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, however, is not so characteristic of the Great Russian noble families(Unlike Western Europe). Examples: Belozersky is the owner of the Beloozero estate, Vyazemsky is the owner of the estate in Vyazma.

Church parishes (churches), in turn, formed from the names church holidays, names of saints. Examples: Voznesensky, Holy Cross, Rozhdestvensky, Trinity, Uspensky, Yaransky.

Artificially created in the seminary. Examples: Athenian, Athos, Dobrovolsky

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. Next type – 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. AllJewish names and surnamesare 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.

Until the 18th century, Jews who lived in Russia and Europe did not have generic names.Origin of Jewish surnamesbegan in the Russian Empire, when a law was passed obliging people to have their own 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 one's own. The second option was used by wealthy Jewish families, because appropriation cost a lot of money.

Meaning

The names of the male 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 first or patronymic name 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 was added: Abrahams, Israels, Samuels. Anothermeaning 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. The mostbeautiful 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.

The first place in the ranking is occupied by the Rabinovichs and Abramovichs. Not lesspopular Jewish surnameswho have German roots - 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 surnamesat 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 of the ancient people sometimes took Russian generic names for themselves. Usually,Jewish surnames in Russiaended 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. Stillcommon Jewish surnamescorrespond to the place of residence of their ancestors, for example, Poznery, 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 surnamesamong 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: