The meaning of Russian and Slavic surnames. Slavic names, surnames

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Many of us tried to find out the meaning of our last name, how it came about, what it means. And I think that in most cases popular literature On this topic, we came across primitive interpretations. Like, the surname came from a nickname or nickname given to an ancestor many centuries ago, or, alternatively, from his profession or physical disadvantages - features. Unfortunately, such an opinion about the origin of surnames can be found in most publications, even those written by venerable linguists and philologists. I think that, faced with such a primitive interpretation of surnames, many of you stopped your research at this point, as if everything was clear and there could be no other options.

My friends!
Everything is far from so simple and you still don’t know much about the meaning of your last name. Let us leave primitive interpretations to the conscience of such scientists, if I may say so, who did not tell you anything new that you did not guess about yourself, back in the first grade of school, having barely learned to read.
It doesn’t take much intelligence to notice the consonance of a surname with any word and assume that the surname came from this word...
No, my dears! Initially each nickname - surname(do not confuse the word nickname with a nickname, a nickname in Old Church Slavonic is a surname, for example, in a Ukrainian passport in place of the word surname, you will still read the Old Church Slavonic word - nickname) was conditioned by something and meant something, but why was the person called that If not, we will try to figure it out. I would like to emphasize once again that our surname is living word, the memory of the family, and if one surname carries the history of the family, then all together they make up the history of the people.
Let's try to learn to decipher what our surname means, what our ancestors wanted to convey to us, what they wanted to say, why they took care of it...
We will learn from the example of the surname Razorenov, which is close to me.

So, from the generally imposed point of view, everything seems to be clear, Razorenov means that at one time his ancestors were either ruined, or they themselves ruined. Oh, how simple it is, and was it worth studying linguistics for years and getting academic degrees? I don’t know, you and I did this on our own, we read about the same thing in specialized literature. Well, maybe with minor variations. For example, you can read that Razorenov and Kleimenov, Zhzhenov, Kalenov, Palenov, Razzorenov, Sechenov, Solenov, Studenov, Tolchenov, Chinenov and so on are generally the same thing... One can only be surprised at the wildness and primitiveness of the imagination of scientists who believe that our ancestors were so primitive that they either did not understand the difference between in different words, or could only hear the endings of words - in in this case the only thing that these words have in common is that they are from verbal adjectives, in -en. The logic, as you understand, is absurd.

Using the same principle, we are asked to decipher all other surnames, say, Ptitsyn - from a bird, that is, the ancestor was similar to it or was engaged in poultry farming, or maybe simply - he loved to eat them. By analogy, whistling apparently whistled well; the surname Varenikov (Varenikov) is considered to be associated with food with food. Either the ancestor was a lethargic and soft-tempered person, or he loved dumplings very much. And the similar-sounding surname Varentsov, in their opinion, comes from the name of the milk drink Varenets. However, for Dahl, a varennik is someone who makes jam or sells it, hence Varennik Varennikov could have existed. I think the logic of the interpretation is clear to you, except that when a word is outdated and its meaning is not clear at the moment, you can resort to Dahl’s dictionary, but this does not bring us any closer to the truth. In fairness, it must be said that according to the same logic, Dahl interprets the origin of words, but Dahl can be forgiven, he is German and to Russian - Slavic language had a very distant relationship, being of German origin and by profession a rural doctor, so to speak, a guest worker - an emigrant, he could hardly speak and understand Russian. This is what forced him to keep the dictionary with German meticulousness; you all know the result.

So what other interpretation options are there, you ask?

So.
We take as a basis ancient Slavic word construction, interpretation. And we must categorically reject the assertion that is being imposed on us that surnames appeared in Rus' in the 18th century, and before that there were only nicknames, and even earlier they did not exist, but only wild tribes who could hardly even speak.

The rules are as follows-
- When searching for ancient meanings of words, and in ancient times writing was consonantal, i.e. without vowels, vowel letters (and their possible meanings) are not taken into account.
- When finding the meaning of words taking into account vowel letters, the meanings of vowel letters in a word are taken into account from the time of their introduction into circulation.
- first letter - indicates central actor formulas. This is the “I” of this word. This is the “Face” of the word. It is this person who performs all subsequent actions described by the letters of the word in question following the first;
- the second letter - denotes an action performed by the central person (I), over the person who is described by the next letter in order (behind the second). If there is no next letter in the word, then the second letter simply means the action performed by the central person of the word. For example, the word "Ra" means "God". The word “Rod” means “Ra, who does” (doing - from the verb to act), that is, “God, who does” (cf., for example, to care - Ra+do; give birth - To Ra+dit);
- third letter - denotes the person on whom the action determined by the 2nd letter is performed, the central person of the formula (1st letter);
- fourth letter - denotes an action performed by a person designated by the 3rd letter over a person designated by the 5th letter;
- etc.

We take as a basis the ancient Slavic Russian alphabet with the interpretation of A.A. Tyunyaev and my additions

Ancient Slavic-Russian alphabet of letters and combinations
Letter God Meaning
R r Ra
Rod, [Sun God] The word “Ra” meant sunlight.
“Joy” - get the light!
A warm-hearted person with a bright soul.
Ra-arc, heat, p-ra-vda,
The name of the god Ra in Egypt was written without the vowel “a”. Therefore, sources give different spelling options for this name: Ra, Re, Re, RN, and the most interesting is RC. Let's try to insert any vowel between these consonants, we get: Ras (Russian), Res, Ris, Ros (Russia), Rus (Rus), Rys (Lynx), Res, Ryus (Rusian), Ryas (Ryazan).
I i Indra AND SO ON [O-A S
Phoneme, connector of vowels o = a depending on the area and pronunciation, where it is customary to okat, where to okat
CR Blood, red. Beautiful, cross (as protection), beauty of the Sun/Red Sun, strength (of the Sun, Roda)
SH-SH Dark, dark (forces), evil, underground-underwater world

The surname Razorenov consists of 3 main syllables of the words Ra-Zor-Enov

Ra - Sun, light, God
Dawn - the dawn of light - those sunrise, the light before the sun or Z + R
We don’t consider Enov-, this is nothing more than an ending that came into the language later and does not carry a semantic load, that is, in ancient times this Surname was written as Rzor, later, more familiar to us, Razor. I can’t help but digress and say that, initially, vowels were not written in words at all for sacred reasons.

It was believed that if you write vowels, the word acquires strength and soul, and what is written can come to life and materialize. How in Chinese parable about an artist who drew a dragon without eyes, and when he was asked why without eyes, he answered, if I draw eyes, he will come to life and fly away.

P - in the word Razor we have it 2 times, which means that the meanings in this surname (P) were different for them, the first should be the dominant meaning, in this case, it is God
It turns out - Razor means - meeting God with light or, alternatively, meeting the Sun with light.

In fact, this was the case, the Priests always went out with fire in their hands to meet the Sun at dawn, as if showing it the way, and saw it off in the evening, going out with fire, as if keeping light and hope for the dawn in the night. And the surname shows us the purpose of the family - priestly, to carry and preserve light, divine good. Actually, the rarity of this surname indirectly confirms what has been said; there could not be many priests.

Let's consider, for practice, another surname, for example Ulyanov.
So, Ulyanov = ul-y-yan
There is a meeting, a call, the threshold of something
L l Lada[Rainfall (flow of something)]
yang = yang = Yang - male energy, which was identified with the soul.
u=ahead=meeting=hello=call for something
We get Ulyanov = st-y-yan = calling a soft stream-shower of male power = military

My friends! I’ll make a reservation right away. In this article of mine, of course, not all interpretations are given, not all possible meanings are revealed. Why? I just didn’t want to complicate something that in itself is very voluminous and multifaceted, so that the apparent complexity would not push you away from further research. For now, start with this. Reveal the main meanings of your surname and not only your surname, this is the key to revealing the essence of many words.

What else is important to know - never Old Russian-Slavic there were no offensive or evil meanings in the surnames, there simply were no “dirty” word-images, this came later from the outside. And any Russian-Slavic the surname carries only positive meaning and strength.

For example, the last name is Smirnov, cm+i+r
cm - combination with and m we find in such a word as smrt (death), c-axis, core, that is, the essence + m (M- Mara (Goddess of Death, closing the essence)), that is, the essence of Mara Death, as it would seem a negative concept , but then we have the letter P, so what is it like death bringing light, the sun? Exactly! In other words, peace. We get - Smirnov is nothing more than calm, and the purpose of the family is to bring peace, the calming power of light, one might say, to spread peace around oneself, that is, not just to be calm oneself, but with the power of this Ra to calm those around him, and this includes people and animals, and the natural elements.

In addition, the surname, which now seems unpleasant to the ear, and attracts ridicule today, when understanding the meaning as the ancestors saw it, shows that in ancient times it did not evoke anything other than pride in one’s family.

Well, for example, let's look at the surname Krivosheev. Modern associations and interpretations of the origin, I think many had the same before reading this article. Crooked neck and that says it all.

In fact, Krivosheev = KR-i-VoSh- (we do not take them into account)
KR - beauty, beautiful
V- Know, Magic, Power
Sh - dark, unkind
We get - with beauty the leader (having) power over the dark (darkness) or, as an option, dispelling darkness with beauty

It may be difficult for you at first to operate and reveal images, in a similar way. And it’s not surprising - after all, you haven’t done this before, don’t let it bother you, very quickly this ability of our ancestors will return to you, and you will begin to understand the language in its essence, you will see the light of ancient images of words, many of which have been distorted (from the gates or (turned) them into darkness), and we, deprived of the key to understand the images, agreed with this, believed.

What else do you need to know? Many surnames have still retained their ancient spelling (as a rule, they are Ukrainian, Belarusian, etc.), but let’s say to a modern person, if I may say so to a Russian, in this case even the external meaning will not be visible. For example, Spivak will not evoke any associations other than with the musician of the same name, but the Ukrainian will immediately translate it as a nightingale.
The most amazing thing is that for the concept of an image - a hidden meaning, we do not even need such a translation, because this is only a superficial meaning. You can immediately reveal this word using our key without translation. The only thing else in similar cases you need to know that foreign names just require reverse translation, here your common sense will help you. For example, the surname Sakharov, it is clear that in Rus' there has never been any sugar, the word was sugar, but in Slovenian tsukr, and the surname originally sounded like tsukerman, but even in this case the meaning is not lost (tsukr - shedding blood, by the way and symptoms and consequences of sugar disease), Tsukerman - shedding the blood of men.

You also need to understand that there are surnames for Russians, the purpose of their appearance is clear, we don’t take other people’s surnames and don’t hide, raise it, because I forge documents and surnames for the most part scammers and robbers. Those who did this understood why they were changing their surname, they knew the power contained in words, and could not simply take and appropriate bright surnames devoid of evil; in this case, they would have betrayed their owner, and not only would have lost his patronage, but they would also have been they are punished, therefore, no matter how sweet their surnames may seem at first glance, when deciphering, the thirst for death and death becomes visible early on

As for changing your surname in marriage, you can know your backstory by knowing your mother’s maiden name, but with a change of surname you move to another clan and begins to live in it, and it becomes important and decisive for you new surname. Therefore, those who wanted to preserve the line of their parents (if its branches were interrupted by you) did not change it in marriage.

For whom will the described keys of understanding be valid, for all Russians, who is it? These are Kalmyks and Tatars, Mordvins and Ukrainians, all who live and lived (in their ancestors) initially in vast Russia-Tartary, those who will always be strangers in another place and country, those who understand that they will not belong among strangers...

I can't give you more than you can understand, so this is enough for now, but we're on our way...

Doctor of Psychology Valery Rozanov-Razorenov-Razomir

P.S. If you couldn’t read your last name correctly, don’t worry, write it down and we’ll try together.

To be continued…

Reprinting of this article is possible only in full, with the consent of the author; quoting and partial use is prohibited.

Every year, historians expand the list of personal nicknames of Slavic origin. Many people would be interested to know their origins. But sometimes it is impossible to determine this by the sound itself, since over the years people have been adding to the derived word different suffixes, prefixes and prefixes that distort its original meaning.

To determine the origin of a person’s family, his passport data is used. The key points are the root of the word, which forms Russian names and surnames. They differ in prevalence.

By the sound you can determine the eminence of the family or the belonging of ancestors to different social groups and castes of society: peasants, boyars, clergy.

The etymology of some includes archaisms and strange stems; you can use a reference book to determine these yourself.

Derivatives and roots can originate from the nicknames of ancestors, funny nicknames, names, areas of activity. The origin of Russian surnames, in most cases, is unraveled in its etymology.

You should take an interest in this clue, because through it you can find out about an outstanding ancestor or the eminence of the family.

For those who want to determine the origins of their family nickname, there are alphabetical collections that are replenished and updated annually; on their pages, almost everyone can find out the history of their name.

The most popular derivatives:

• On behalf of the ancestor (whose? Whose will you be?) - Ivanov, Sidorov, Kuzmin, Petrov.
• From the geographical names - Vyazemsky, Stroganov, Smolensky.
• From the nicknames of the clergy - Rozhdestvensky, Preobrazhensky, Uspensky.
• From the names of plants and animals - Sokolova, Orlova, Hare, Lebedeva, Golubeva.
• From count and boyar titles - Minin, Tikhomirov, Tikhonravov, Godunov.

Meaning

Etymology and the formation of the name of one’s own genus are of interest to everyone large quantity of people. The meaning of Russian surnames is determined by determining the root part of the word; it indicates the meaning.

The meaning of family names like Bondarev, Kovalev, Shevtsov - indicate the craft that someone from the family was engaged in. Muzzle, Stoyan, Brave - on external or internal characteristics an individual person.

All members of the family were called by the nickname of the head of the family, and this was passed down from generation to generation.

When did surnames appear in Russia?

The assignment of a generic nickname to identify each genus began to take shape in the 15th century. When surnames appeared in Russia, they initially referred to representatives of the upper strata of society: boyars and aristocrats, later, in the 18th century, to church ministers.

Until the 19th century, peasants and artisans received their nicknames. Their genus names were derived from the nicknames of one of the members of the family or occupation.

In historical scrolls and records, listings were found that explain this phenomenon: “Vasily, son of the Kuznetsov... Ivan, son of the Khlebnikov”

How many surnames are there in Russia

The study of these data is still in question.

There is no absolutely correct numerical value that could accurately answer the question of how many surnames exist in Russia today.

For such difficult task researchers took it only a few times, about 250 thousand meanings were officially included in the collection, and these lists are constantly replenished with new forms of once given nicknames.

Declension of surnames in Russian

The rules of the Russian language strictly determine the writing and pronunciation of passport data.

Declension of surnames in Russian occurs according to the following basic rules: standard ones are declined as adjectives, and those of foreign origin are declined as nouns.

They do not decline with a zero ending, or ending in a consonant (Bondar, Nitsevich, Ponomar), ending in -o (Petrenko, Shevchenko, Kovalenko), foreign ones ending in -a, -ya (Varnava, Okidzhava, Zola).

Boris Ubengaun was the first to begin compiling a directory that lists the names of Russia. It contains various variations due to the process of transformation of folk nicknames.

Each position has an explanation (highlighted parts of word formation that explain the essence of a particular word). There are positions that can be found more often, and there are those that are very rare.

The data was taken based on the population census of the city of St. Petersburg.

Common surnames in Russia:

• Vladimirov;
• Sergeev;
• Petrov;
• Ivanov.

Beautiful Russian surnames

There are people whose generic nicknames captivate with their sound. These include those derived from geographical names or long nicknames given to church ministers.

This etymology is rare and sounds aristocratically melodic. Many people change their birth details in their passports in order to get a name that is beautiful and stands out from the crowd.

People to whom it was inherited are considered lucky.

The most beautiful surnames in Russia:

• Preobrazhensky;
• Caesar;
• Christmas;
• Vyazemsky;
• Uspensky.

Slavic

There are genus names that originate from the ancient Slavs. These nicknames are very rare and therefore valuable to historians.

They are not a large number of due to the fact that derivatives begin with names pagan gods or Old Slavonic names.

With the advent of Christianity, such nicknames were categorically prohibited, people were baptized and renamed en masse, therefore those who have preserved them to this day are a godsend, a shining example pagan culture.

Old Slavonic surnames, examples:

• Yarilo;
• Dovbush;
• Putyata;
• Lada;
• Saint;
• Dobrynin;
• Peaceful.

Popular

According to the population census conducted in the 80s of the last century, with former USSR, about 50% of the rural and 35% of the urban population have generic nicknames, formed on the principle of patronymics with the addition of suffixes.

This study is recognized as the highest quality and most detailed up to our times. Popular Russian surnames: Sidorov, Smirnov, Kuzmin, Vasiliev.

The second place in frequency is occupied by nicknames that indicate the type of activity: Kuznetsov, Bondarev, Reznikov, Khlebnikov, etc.

Rare Russian surnames

It is difficult to create a reliable list that includes all items. But the main ones have been selected. It is not often that you meet people who have a family nickname that completely coincides with a geographical name or is formed from a combination of two words. There are few who are lucky enough to become namesakes of famous historical figures and heroes of literary novels.

Rare surnames in Russia:

• Astrakhan;
• Kamchatka;
• Goddess;
• Krutiperets;
• Crusoe;
• Karenin.

funny

Sometimes among acquaintances there are family nicknames that involuntarily make you smile with their comical nature.

They surprise fellow citizens, and especially foreigners, with their pronunciation, they consist of adding the stems of some nouns or verbs, they can denote a funny or strange action, name objects whose names sound strange in a human name. A person who has to wear them can hardly be called lucky.

Funny Russian surnames:

• Kostogryzov;
• Mozgoedov;
• Popkin;
• Rzhach;
• Login;
• Khachapuri;
• Shit grandfathers;
• Snot.

Russian noble families

Their owners can have no doubt about the high title of someone from their family; they were assigned exclusively to nobles, boyars, and high-ranking officials. People close to high positions and the ruling power.

They can also be merchants. The presence of such titular nicknames among the peasantry, workers from the common population or artisans is excluded; their mere presence spoke of a high social status its owner.

Russian noble families:

• Stroganov;
• Godunov;
• Tikhomirov;
• Minin;
• Novgorodtsev;
• Tikhonravov;
• Ventsenostsev.

Old Russian

This term denotes not only Old Slavonic nicknames from the times of paganism, but also those that, by their etymology, designate outdated concepts and words of ancient use, eradicated from modern speech.

Interesting to consider are generic nicknames that name old monetary units, household items, crafts that are not found in modern world. All these signs indicate a long history of the family and roots that go far.

Old Russian surnames:

• Kunin;
• Altynov;
• Kalita;
• Zlatnikov;
• Pryalkin;
• Kozhemyaka;
• Bandurov.

surnames in Russia

The top 100 items that can often be found in the passports of fellow citizens have been compiled. All of them were selected based on the directory and ordered during the census during the year.

This information will be especially interesting for girls, because everyone dreams of meeting her man and getting married. Statistics say that in 89% of cases, women switch to a male generic nickname upon marriage.

Such a top will clearly show the most likely options that everyone may encounter. The section includes the first 10 positions.

surnames in Russia:

• Ivanov;
• Smirnov;
• Kuznetsov;
• Popov;
• Sokolov;
• Vasiliev;
• Fedorov;
• Novikov;
• Egorov;
• Kozlov.

Famous Russian surnames

Their list is compiled based on the frequency of use among the population. The most popular surname in Russia - Ivanov. Even foreigners know about this, associating with her all the names of Russian compatriots. It went down in history and became a classic. For example in German this nickname became Muller, in America and Britain - Smith, in Poland - Novak or Kowalski, in Georgia - Mamedov.

Famous Russian surnames:

• Sidorov;
• Ivanov;
• Petrov;
• Kozlov;
• Smirnov;
• Popov;
• Sokolov.

Source: https://sovets.net/8521-russkie-familii.html

Cool first and last names: list of male and female names, origin, meaning

All Russian names have Slavic origin and differ from others by the presence of two bases. The Orthodox are very beautiful and have a good good sense. Modern parents choose them as names for their children. Let's talk about cool first and last names in this article.

The mystery of the two foundations

Our ancestors believed that a person and his name are interconnected and inextricable. In ancient times, only his close relatives knew about the child’s real name; for everyone else, a false name was invented.

During adolescence the person already used his real name, which determined his character and outlook on life. Among the cool names and surnames there were both strong and funny ones.

In the modern world, parents continue the traditions of their ancestors and during baptism they give other names to their children, thereby trying to protect their child from damage and the evil eye. Children born outside our homeland are also given Russian names.

History of the origin of female names

An interesting fact is that many names are not originally Russian. Most of them have their origins in Christianity. After acceptance new faith Greek, Byzantine and Jewish names. Cool names and the surnames partially came to us from completely alien history.

Original Slavic female names

Alena, Bogdana, Vanda, Darina, Lada, Lyubov, Nadezhda, Vera, Miroslava, Lyudmila, Yaroslava, Vlada, Svetlana, Oksana. Among the unusual options are Yesenia, Berislava, Iskra, Assol, Zabava, Radmila, Radosveta, Milana, Tsvetana, Vanda, Vesna.

Cool first and last names borrowed from the Greeks

A lot of names were borrowed from the Greek peoples. If you look at this list, you can’t even believe that they were once foreign. These are such as Galina, Irina, Evgenia, Angelina, Ekaterina, Veronica, Daria, Elena, Angelica, Ksenia, Tamara, Sofia, Nina, Asya, Lydia, Evgeniy, Timofey, Peter, Alexander, Kirill, Leonid.

Among the rare names that came to us from the Greek people, we can highlight: Stefania, Vasilina, Avdotya, Feodosia, Agnia, Evdokia, Glafira, Kuzma, Arkady.

Greek surnames were formed from personal names. For example, Nikolaev from Nikolaos. One name can create many interesting surnames.

Roman roots

The names of this people are known not only in Russia, they are worn by women and men all over the world. Among them are: Natalya, Christina, Valentina, Ulyana, Victoria, Inna, Antonina, Rosa, Marina, Valeria, Dina, Yulia, Karina, Victor, Pavel, Maxim, Sergey.

Incredibly beautiful, but rare names: Lana, Pavla, Venus, Carolina, Stella, Lolita, Tina, Aurora, Vitalina.

Jewish names

And in Russia you can meet girls and boys with the names Marta, Evelina, Elizaveta, Maria, Anna, Zhanna, Yana, Rimma. Less common are Leah, Edita, Ada, Seraphima, Amalia, Suzanne, David, Daniel, Elizar, Ilya, Maximilian, Mikhail, Savely, Thomas.

The tradition of choosing a name

Like all ancient peoples, the Slavs believed that a person’s name determines his further fate. Children were given good names because they believed that they would bring joy, love and a certain meaning into their lives.

The choice was a certain ritual with its own rules and characteristics. In the modern world, parents choose cool first and last names for girls and boys according to the principle: what they like in sound and what goes with the child’s middle name.

Sometimes children are called funny names. They associate them with celebrities or relatives.

When choosing a name for a child, you should remember that its rough sound will indicate insolence, and its soft sound will indicate tenderness and sensitivity.

IN Lately It is customary to call a baby old Orthodox names. These are people like Zlata, Yarina, Milana, Lyubomira, Milena.

For the convenience of the reader, the information is collected in a table.

Cool first and last names for boys

There are many more beautiful male names than female ones, so expectant mothers sometimes have a hard time making right choice. First of all, you should seriously think about the fact that the name will be with the child all his life. The coolest first and last name should be within reason and not bring discomfort to the child when he grows up.

Some mothers read aloud a list of names during late pregnancy. Whichever one the baby responds to with a push in the tummy is what you should choose.

Among the beautiful male names we can highlight: Alexander, Andrey, Bogdan, Savely, Zakhar, Ilya, Nikita, Matvey, Grigory, Ivan, Konstantin, Dmitry, Sergey, Timur, Timofey, Vladimir, Nikolay, Miron, Maxim, Alexey, Anton, Roman .

What are children called abroad?

Cool english names and surnames also have a place. In England and the USA they can consist of two words, without the patronymic we are used to. In addition, in these countries names are divided into official and everyday names. Sometimes relatives and friends may not even be aware of the existence of an additional part that is used only in documents.

Popular American names: William, Daniel, Jackson, Joseph, Mason, Noah, Michael, Benjamin, Aiden, David.

Popular nicknames on social networks

Modern youth spend a lot of time online, and it’s no secret that everyone wants to stand out with something unusual. Cool first and last names for boys are not as important here as nicknames. Among the unusual ones we can highlight: VERY ALIEN, Doctor Chokopai, Klaviaturovich, LOrik, ~pro100y~.

For girls it’s a Shard of_Happiness, ˜”*° .Shiny” data-author=” “>

Today there is huge selection popular names and nicknames, so everyone can stand out from the crowd and be original. Look for the best for yourself and your child, choose beautiful names and come up with unusual nicknames with us.

Surnames Slavic peoples sometimes it is difficult to divide into “national apartments”, although recently they have been trying to do this in Ukraine. For many centuries the so-called writing people strived for Slavic unity. They studied from the same books in both Russia and Serbia. The Kiev monk Pamvo Berynda, who created an excellent lexicon, believed that he was writing in a “roman” language (that is, Russian), although his own language by that time was already Ukrainian. The famous lexicographer Vladimir Ivanovich Dal included words from all East Slavic languages ​​in his dictionary, without dividing them into Ukrainian and Belarusian, but only noting “western”, “southern” (East Slavic).

Moreover, all this applies to surnames. After all, people do not sit still; in the history of our homeland there were mass migrations, and movements of individual people, and marriages between representatives of different branches of the Slavs. It is especially difficult to determine the linguistic affiliation of the surnames of people in the Smolensk region, in Belarus, in Western Ukraine, where Orthodoxy and Catholicism met, where there were significant Polish penetrations, and in some parts of this zone, at one time, documentation was conducted in Polish.

The most clearly Polish (and Belarusian) elements are felt in surnames that include a combination of letters dz, dl, partially - LOL. For example, a Belarusian surname Dzyanisau corresponds to Russian Denisov and this is how it is written in Russian. Polish surname Dzeshuk formed on behalf of Dzesh, derived from Dzieslaw(a two-part name formed from the stem of the verb do(Xia) + component glory) with suffix -uk, indicating to them that Dzeshuk- the son of a man named Dzesh.

Polish surname Orzhekhovskaya corresponds to Russian Orekhovskaya , Grzhibovskaya - Gribovskaya. Since these last names end in - sky, they do not come directly from words mushroom or nut, but, most likely, are formed from the names of places with such bases.

Polish surname Szydlo corresponds to Ukrainian Awl, Polish Sverdlov- Russian Sverlov.

Polish surname Dzenzelyuk derived from a name or nickname Dzendzel, coming from the word zenzol- woodpecker Breaking away from the original word, surnames develop dozens similar options. Surnames go back to the same basis Dzenzelovsky , Dzenzelevsky(with the transformation of the second dz V h) and mentioned by the author of the letter, Elena Dzenzelyuk, Ukrainianized surname Dzynzyruk .

Polish-Belarusian surname Golodyuk derived from the word hunger(Polish glud). A Polish dictionary of surnames compiled by Professor Kazimierz Rymut (this is the modern Polish pronunciation of the name, which is traditionally written in Russian Kazimir), along with forms Glud And Glod also lists names Hunger, Hunger, Hunger. Form Golodyuk indicates that the bearer of this surname is a descendant of a person with the surname Hunger.

Murienko derived from nickname Mury(Ukrainian Murii), which a person could get from the color of his hair. V. I. Dal explains: mury Murienko(about the fur of cows and dogs) - reddish-brown with a black wave, dark motley. In the Ukrainian-Belarusian dictionary of V.P. Lemtyugova, these meanings of the adjective are confirmed and the addition is made - “with a red, dark face.” Murii Surname indicates that its bearer is a descendant of a person with the nickname, more widespread in the eastern part of Ukraine than in the western part, is similar to the Russian patronymic suffix -ovich/-evich. Compare in fairy tales: the Russian Ivan Tsarevich corresponds to the Ukrainian Ivan Tsarenko.

Ukrainian-South Russian surname Kvitun derived from the verb get even- to pay off, to avenge an insult, to pay a debt; -un- suffix of the person's name, as in screamer, squeaker, talker. There are Polish surnames with the same basis: Quit, Kvitash, Quiten, Kvitko.

Surname Sitar, most likely Czech. It was formed from a nickname by profession: sitar- one who makes sieves.

Very interesting surname Kuts, which can be matched with words different languages. I always perceived it as coming from a short adjective kuts, corresponding to the full form scanty. But the semantics of this word “short-tailed, tailless, short-haired” is far from any characteristic of a person. True, in the XVII-XVIII centuries. a short dress or a short caftan was called a “German dress” in contrast to Russian long-skirted caftans, and there was also an expression: a short captain of a plucked team (according to V.I. Dahl), but this does not explain the surname formed from short form adjective

Surname Kuts is in Polish. It is formed from the same word, which has developed some other meanings there. For example, verb cut- squatting, which indicates short stature. So the nickname Kuts a short person could get it. In a word kuts Poles call a small horse, including a pony.

Lastly, last name Kuts May be German origin, as formed from one of the many derivatives of the name Conrad. Last name of the same origin Kunz.

Surname What - Greek origin. In Greek kako Means evil, damage, loss, misfortune; cacos- bad, evil, no good, compare the word cacophony- bad sounds, bad sound. The surname could be formed from the name given “from the evil eye.”

It is not so easy to answer the question of when Russians got surnames. The fact is that surnames in Rus' were formed mainly from patronymics, nicknames or family names, and this process was gradual.

Novgorod surnames

It is believed that the first in Rus' to bear surnames were citizens of Veliky Novgorod, which was then a republic, as well as residents of the Novgorod possessions, which stretched throughout the north from the Baltic to the Urals. This supposedly happened in the 13th century.

Thus, in the chronicle for 1240 the names of the Novgorodians who fell in the Battle of Neva are mentioned: “Kostyantin Lugotinits, Guryata Pineshchinich.” In the chronicle of 1268, the names of “Tverdislav Chermny, Nikifor Radyatinich, Tverdislav Moisievich, Mikhail Krivtsevich, Boris Ildyatinich... Vasil Voiborzovich, Zhiroslav Dorogomilovich, Poroman Podvoisky” are found. In 1270, as the chronicler reports, Prince Vasily Yaroslavich went on a campaign against the Tatars, taking with him “Petril Rychag and Mikhail Pineshchinich.”

As we can see, these surnames bore little resemblance to modern ones and were formed, most likely, by patronymics, family or baptismal names, nicknames or place of residence.

Originally from the North

Perhaps the most ancient surnames should still be considered surnames ending with the suffixes -ih and -ih. According to experts, they appeared at the turn of the 1st-2nd millennium and originated mainly from family nicknames. For example, members of one family could be given nicknames such as Short, White, Red, Black, and their descendants were called in the genitive or prepositional case: “Whose will you be?” - “Short, White, Red, Black.” Doctor philological sciences A.V. Superanskaya writes: “The head of the family is called Golden, the whole family is called Golden. A native or descendants of a family in the next generation are Golden.”

Historians suggest that these surnames were born in the north, and subsequently spread to central regions Rus' and the Urals. Many such surnames are found among Siberians: this was associated with the beginning of the conquest of Siberia in the second half of the 16th century. By the way, according to the rules of the Russian language, such surnames are not declined.

Surnames from Slavic names and nicknames

There were also surnames that arose from Old Russian secular names. For example, from the Slavic proper names Zhdan and Lyubim, the surnames Zhdanov and Lyubimov later evolved. Many surnames are formed from so-called “protective” names: it was believed that if you give a baby a name with a negative connotation, it will scare him away dark forces and failures. So from the nicknames Nekras, Dur, Chertan, Zloba, Neustroy, Golod came the surnames Nekrasov, Durov, Chertanov, Zlobin, Neustroyev, Golodov.

Noble names

Only later, in the XIV-XV centuries, surnames began to appear among princes and boyars. Most often, they were formed from the name of the inheritance owned by a prince or boyar, and subsequently passed on to his descendants: Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Obolensky, Vyazemsky. Some of the noble families came from nicknames: Gagarins, Hunchbacks, Glazatyes, Lykovs, Scriabins. Sometimes the surname combined the name of the inheritance with a nickname, as, for example, Lobanov-Rostovsky. One of the most ancient noble families, Golitsyn, originates from the ancient word “golitsy” (“Galitsy”), meaning leather mittens used in various works. Another ancient one noble surname- Morozov. The first to wear it was Misha Prushanin, who especially distinguished himself in 1240 in the battle with the Swedes: his name was glorified in the Life of Alexander Nevsky. This family also became known thanks to the famous schismatic - boyar Fedosya Morozova.

Merchant names

In the 18th-19th centuries, service people, clergy and merchants began to bear surnames. However, the richest merchants acquired surnames even earlier, in XV-XVI centuries. These were mainly, again, residents of the northern regions of Russia - say, the Kalinnikovs, Stroganovs, Perminovs, Ryazantsevs. Kuzma Minin, the son of salt worker Mina Ankudinov from Balakhna, received his own surname at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. Merchant surnames often reflected the occupation of their owner. So, the Rybnikovs traded fish.

Peasant surnames

Peasants did not have surnames for a long time, with the exception of the population of the northern part of Russia, which once belonged to Novgorod, since there was no serfdom there. Take, for example, the “Arkhangelsk peasant” Mikhail Lomonosov or Pushkin’s nanny, the Novgorod peasant Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva.

They also had surnames of Cossacks, as well as the population of lands that were formerly part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: the territory of present-day Belarus to Smolensk and Vyazma, Little Russia. Most of the indigenous inhabitants of the black earth provinces had surnames.

They began to assign surnames to peasants en masse only after the abolition of serfdom. And some even received surnames only during the years of Soviet power.

Origin Slavic surnames.

History of Slavic surnames covers more than one century and combines their similarities and features characteristic of all Slavic cultures. In almost all Slavic lands, hereditary names began to be formed in the 14th-15th centuries among landowners, when the need arose to consolidate the hereditary right to property.

Educational features of Slavic surnames.

Usually meaning such Slavic surnames was associated with any geographical names. Here strong influence into Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames rendered Polish generic names with the ending -sky, -tsky - Verbrzhitsky (Polish), Steblivsky (Ukrainian), Vyazemsky (Russian), Belsky (Belarusian).

Perhaps in dictionary of Slavic surnames endings -ov, -ev, -in, which are more characteristic of the Russian language, can be considered just as common. They are found in Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Bulgarian surnames. True, in men's Czech surnames usually there are no endings, but in female version such hereditary names end in -ova - Novak-Novakova, Shpork-Shporkova. Very many Bulgarian surnames formed in exactly this way - Mitkov, Panchev, Tikhov. Among the Southern Slavs, surnames in -ich are common - Vutečić (Serbian), Babic (Serbian), Lalich (Khovatian), Krešemirović (Croatian).

Of course, there are a large number of ways to form Slavic surnames, differing national characteristics. In russian language Declension of Slavic surnames obeys the laws of Russian grammar. For example, male surnames those ending in a consonant are declined, but feminine ones are not. Surnames in -skiy and -skaya change according to cases in both genders like adjectives.

Meanings of Slavic surnames.

If you study list of Slavic surnames in alphabetical order, then you can see that they have a lot in common in semantic meaning. In all languages, some surnames were formed from personal names (Nikolich, Sidorov, Lukash, Petrenko, Aleshkovsky). Interpretation most of Slavic surnames associated with a person’s profession, his nickname, the names of plants and objects. So, perhaps the first carrier Polish surname Dzenzelyuk had the nickname “woodpecker”, the Czech Sklenarz was a stacker, the Ukrainian Koval was a blacksmith. The Polish-Belarusian surname Golodyuk is derived from the word “hunger”, Ukrainian surname Kvitun corresponds to the Russian Kvitunov, and both of them come from the verb “get even,” that is, “to take revenge for an insult, to pay a debt.” The Poles have a similar surname, Kvitash.

Even this brief analysis shows how much Slavic surnames have in common, despite all their diversity. A top Slavic Slavic surnames will show which ones are the most common and popular in their countries.