Origin of Lithuanian surnames. Origin of the Lithuanian surname
In Lithuania, it is customary to be proud of your surnames. Sometimes the explanation of their origin takes on completely fantastic versions. It’s much simpler, for example, with Koshkinaite: her mother is Koshkinene, her father is Koshkinas, but actually they are Koshkins. Or my favorite singer Shchegolevite: mom - Shchegolevene, dad - Shchegolevas” - from the word “schegol”.
There are many similar examples that can be given, but we will not talk about them, since these are newly formed surnames. It is much more interesting to trace the origin of the surnames of people who have lived here for centuries.
Our interlocutor is Zigmas ZINKEVICIUS, a famous Lithuanian philologist who worked as director of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, was the Minister of Education of Lithuania, and the author of more than 60 books. Recently, by the way, his next book “Surnames of Polish-speaking Vilnius” (“Vilnijos lenkakalbių pavardės”) was published.
The origin of the surnames of Lithuanian citizens is integrally connected with the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL), so we will constantly return to it. Let's start with the following.
In the Middle Ages, not only in Lithuania, but in all European countries, and even beyond its borders, the language of the state chancellery was not the spoken language of one or another people who created the state, but inherited from the languages of the ancient eras of those regions. For example, in the countries of Western Europe this was the Latin language, and it was also the state written language of Poland until the end of the 14th century, that is, before Jogaila came to power there, and even, one might say, until the middle of the 16th century.
In Eastern Europe, this function was performed by the so-called Old Church Slavonic language, and since it was first used in church affairs, we call it Church Slavonic.” Then in Kievan Rus it, with the addition of local Slavic elements, became a written state language.
Before the arrival of Peter I in Rus', it was said that “one must speak Russian and write in Slavic.” Due to the fact that in the Middle Ages the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded its borders up to the Black Sea and the Moscow region, it used two written languages: Latin was used to communicate with the West, Old Slavonic - with the East. During the time of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, there were many elements from Ukraine, from the Lutsk region, since the princely scribes most likely came from there. Later, more and more elements of the Belarusian language began to appear in it, but it did not become either a Ukrainian or a Belarusian language, retaining the entire grammatical structure of Church Slavonic.
An interesting excursion into history, but how is it related to the origin of surnames?
First things first. Lithuanian nobles began to acquire surnames with the advent of Christianity in Lithuania at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries, but only a small part acquired them, and mostly surnames spread among the nobility at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries.
What does "surname" mean? Heritage! Heritage, that is, belonging to one particular family. The people, the residents of villages in Lithuania, did not have surnames until the end of the 18th century, when they were finally approved by the general census of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the issuance of passports. For example, someone’s name was Peter - his son became Petrovich, and his children received the same surname. And this is no coincidence: since the 16th century, the Church Slavonic language established itself in Lithuania as the state clerical language, and the use of Latin decreased.
Let me give you an example: during the time of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Žigimantas Augustas, four and a half times more documents were written in Slavic than in Latin. That’s why during the population census they didn’t pay attention to a person’s nationality or what language he spoke: they simply added the suffixes “-ovich” and “-evich” to the names of fathers. It should be especially noted that on the territory of Poland the Poles did not have such a suffix; they had the suffixes “-owitz”, “-jevic”, which were preserved in the names of cities, for example, Katowice.
Surnames with the suffixes “-ovich” and “-evich” came to Poland in connection with the annexation of the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Poland. An important point that interested me very much: the fact is that these suffixes “-ovich”, “-evich” are complex, consisting of “-ov”, “-ev” and “-ich”. In Muscovy, that is, before the emergence of the Russian Empire, “-ich” meant belonging to the royal family or the nobility closest to the tsar: Petrovich, Orlovich, Yuryevich, etc.
In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, during the census, the opposite happened: the suffix “-ich” was given to everyone, regardless of origin.
Then the following happened: over time, the Lithuanian nobility began, let’s call the process so, “Polishing”, they began to look at surnames with the endings “-ovich”, “-evich”, believing, however, rightfully, that they came to Lithuania from Russia. In addition, these suffixes were foreign to the Poles, and the Lithuanian nobility began to massively change the suffixes “-ovich”, “-evich” to the suffix “-sky”. For example, there was Petrovich - he became Petrovsky, and Orlovich - Orlovsky, and so on.
However, I want to note: the suffix “-skiy” existed among both the Eastern Slavs and the Poles, but the difference is that for a long time in Poland the suffix “-skiy” was used to create surnames from local names. To make it clearer: some Volsky definitely comes from the Polish village of Volya, and the surname Petrovsky definitely comes from the name Peter - this surname does not particularly “smell” of Polish, but was “seen” from the fashion that existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at that time.
How can you explain the origin of the names of very rich, famous Lithuanian nobles: Radvil, Sapieha, Oginsky?
- “Radvila” is a typical Baltic Lithuanian proper name, consisting of two stem roots. Everything is clear here. According to the research of our historians, the Sapiehas descended from a certain Semyon, who was the clerk of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kazimiras - this is the middle of the 15th century, he came to Lithuania from the Smolensk lands. Slavic philologists do not have a unanimous opinion about the origin of the surname Sapega: some also see a Turkish origin, since in those days the Mongol-Tatars had enormous influence in those parts.
The Oginski family is an old one (I will not bother readers with unnecessary information about their historical services to Lithuania, all this already belongs to history, but I just want to mention the well-known and famous “Oginski Polonaise”). The ancestor of the family is the grandson of the Smolensk appanage prince Vasily Glushina - Dmitry Glushonok. In 1486, the Grand Duke of Lithuania gave him the Uogintai estate, which is located on the territory of the modern Kaisiadorsky district, and, of course, if you wish, you can hear the correspondence between the name of the court and the newly formed surname.
All over the world, Lithuanians are called “Labas”, well, this is understandable: from the word “labas” - “hello”. However, their belonging to the Lithuanian nation is also determined by the ending of their surnames with “-s”: Deimantas, Budrys, Petkevičius - there are millions of them. When did they appear?
No one knows. In the old days, the suffixes “-aytis”, “-enas”, etc. they determined whose son it was: for example, Baraitis is the son of Baras, Vytenas is the son of Vitas. Lithuanian surnames have been found in lists of servants of estates since the 16th century. However, I want to especially emphasize: Lithuanians used Lithuanian surnames only in oral speech; in official documents the same surnames were written in the Slavic manner until the beginning of the 20th century. For example, the Lithuanian patriarch, the most famous Lithuanian Jonas Basanavičius, was recorded in the metrics as Ivan Basanovich, since in tsarist times it could not have been any other way, since all metrics were done in Russian! In general, it should be noted that the totality of Christian proper names is mainly international.
The oldest layer is the biblical names of the Hebrew language, then comes the Greek layer, Latin, Germanic, etc. - Adams, Solomons, Alexanders, Anatolias, Germans, Georges, and so on. That is why these names do not and cannot show nationality. For example, if the name Victor is recorded in written documents from the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then its bearer could be a Pole, a Lithuanian, or a representative of another nation. The nationality of the conditional Victor can only be established if some suffix was added to him.
For example, if the diminutive form “-el” was added to the name Victor, then the typically Lithuanian name Viktorelis was obtained.
The area around Vilnius is entirely populated by Poles, that is, people who bear Polish surnames and speak Polish. I have heard more than once that they have been living here since ancient times, or at least for a very, very long time. They say that the Polish lords brought their serfs here and thus settled the Vilnius region.
No, no and NO! This is absolutely not how things happened. Scientists have long established that in large areas in the forested part of Central Europe - from Moscow to the Vistula River and even further - the oldest hydronyms, that is, the names of rivers and lakes, are of Baltic origin. Therefore, there is no doubt that a certain Baltic language was spoken in this vast territory.
The Slavs appeared there relatively recently, somewhere around
VI century AD. The Lithuanians lived here for more than two thousand years, one might say, in isolation, and only they from the Baltic massif created a state.
The roads of the Poles and Lithuanians did not intersect - they were separated by the Baltic tribe of the Yatvingians. And only after the crusaders destroyed them, the Poles and Lithuanians began to look for each other. Only then!
The Polish language began to penetrate into Lithuania at the end of the 14th century under the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila, who became the Polish king. At that time, Lithuanian nobles “won back” the law, which was written into the Statute: people from the Kingdom of Poland do not have the right to buy land in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania! The only way to acquire land is to marry a Lithuanian woman, and this position was strictly adhered to until the end of the 18th century, until the disappearance of the united state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth! Moreover, we are, of course, not talking about ordinary people, but only about noble Polish families - commoners were serfs then. So this is a myth - they say that the Poles settled the Vilnius region: there was a “Polishing” of the local people through schools and - especially - churches, in which teaching and services were conducted in Polish.
The common people in the Vilnius region began to speak Polish only at the end of the last quarter of the 19th century - all the villages around Vilnius were Lithuanian! Many Poles from Poland came to Vilnius and the Vilnius region at a time when the city and region belonged to Poland - in 1921-1939.
Now we move on to the most fundamental things. When scientists “removed” the Polish and - in general - Slavic layer from the surnames of people speaking Polish in the Vilnius region, that is, phonetics and suffixes acquired from the clerical Old Church Slavonic language - 100% very beautiful personal Lithuanian names remained. That is, the modern surnames of Vilnius Poles are created from former Lithuanian names. And here’s what’s interesting: these personal names, by their meaning, indicate the former past greatness of the ancient Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Mr. Zinkevicius, your statements will not particularly please the Poles living in Lithuania!
I have devoted more than sixty years to science and I am responsible for my words, since I operate only with facts. Let's say the names of officials of the ON. In those days there were no telephones, radio, or television, and couriers, messengers, and heralds played an extremely important role. They were called differently, personal names were used, from which surnames were later derived. For example, Shavkalo, Shavkolovsky, look: if we discard the suffixes, we will see the word “shaukalas”, and in the ancient Lithuanian language it defined the person who “shaukola” - announced the will of the Grand Duke. Or Begunovich, from the word “begunas” - a person who runs fast. Let's take the surnames Leitovich, Leitovsky, Leith, Leitis.
Yeah, from the word “Lithuanian”!
But no: in the clerical state Lithuanian language we find the word “leiti”, it meant a certain social stratum of people of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who were engaged in the so-called “leitian service”. They obeyed only the Grand Duke and looked after the prince's military horses. And the names of the settlements Laičiai and Laitėliai also take us back to ancient times. So the given Polish surnames reflect the social stratum that once existed, let’s call them privileged grooms. And there are many such examples, I have mentioned only a few. Or here’s another: surnames created from the names given at birth. They came to Lithuania in two ways - from Byzantium through Kievan Rus and from the West through the German lands: the Germans christened the Czechs, the Czechs christened the Poles, and the Poles christened us, the Lithuanians. They retain elements of “intermediaries”. For example, the name Vasily comes to us from Byzantium, since it is of Greek origin, meaning “royal”. However, the same name, which came to us from the West, is pronounced "Basilius", since the letter "s", according to German phonetics, turned into a "z". The most interesting thing: the surnames of Poles in the Vilnius region, derived from the names given at birth, mostly have roots from Byzantium rather than from Poland, which means a special influence on this region of Kievan Rus.
From the same Vasily came the Vasilevskys, Vasilkovskys, Vasilevichs, etc. And from Basilius - one or two surnames that came from Poland, for example, Bazilevich.
The parents of the current President of Poland Komorowski are from Lithuania...
The etymology of this surname is unclear, since it is unclear when and where they came from to Lithuania. Perhaps their ancestors in tsarist times could have moved to Lithuania from the Polish hinterland and bought land here, since in those days Polish nobles were allowed to purchase it in Lithuania. I will give you an example of a more interesting fact about the origin of one very famous surname. We are talking about the poet, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz. He comes from a village located in Panevėžys County. I myself visited there several times with the poet, since I knew him well. It’s curious: his neighbors called him not Milos, but Milasius, that is, they used an older form of the surname, and then it became “Polished.”
Let me cite a very interesting fact: a statement written by him in 1941 addressed to the rector of Vilnius University, Professor Konchius, has survived. Then the Vilnius region was annexed to Lithuania, and part of Kaunas University was “moved” to Vilnius. So, in that statement, Milosz asks the rector to issue a certificate listing the subjects he studied at the university, since, apparently, he did not finish it, and signed: “Czeslav Milasius”, and at the bottom, in parentheses, wrote: “Milosz”. You see, he, like Marshal J. Pilsudski, dreamed of reviving the disappeared state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within the old borders and considered himself its citizen.
But Pilsudski is also from Lithuania! Where did this surname come from?
I'll tell you an almost anecdotal incident. After the war, a discussion broke out in Polish newspapers about the origin of the Pilsudski surname; there were many versions, even fantastic ones. Wojciech Smoczynski, my student, came to us at Vilnius University to study from Poland. Apparently, he was “sick” of this controversy, and he wrote an article on this topic. After all, everything is very simple: the surname Pilsudski comes from the word “Pilsudy”, which denoted an area in Samogitia, once there was a manor there, but now three small villages have survived. The Pilsudskis are from there: “Pilsudy” plus the suffix “-ski”, which determines their place of residence. Moreover: his grandfather’s surname is originally Lithuanian - Ginetas! But due to the fact that the whole family came from Pilsud, the Pilsudski surname stuck, then they moved to Vilnius, where the future marshal was born.
A quick question: where does Lokis, a very common surname among Poles in the Vilnius region, come from, as well as the surname of the brilliant Lithuanian artist - Ciurlionis and the great Lithuanian basketball player - Sabonis?
It’s not difficult to answer: the surname Lokis is undoubtedly of Lithuanian origin. The fact is that the Slavs did not have the diphthong “au”, and therefore it was transformed into “ov”. The surname Lokis comes from the ancient Lithuanian word “laukas” - this is the name given to the white star on the forehead of a cow or a bull. And Čiurlionis is the son of Čiurlis, Sabonis comes from the name Sebastianas, abbreviated Sabas, that is, Sabonis is the son of Sabas (from Sebastian).
Interviewed by Romuald SILEVICH,
From the editor. The published material may cause mixed reviews. And that's great! But “Review” in this situation would like to especially emphasize that we will publish only those responses and comments that do not offend the opponent, but contribute to clarifying the truth and encourage us all to be more attentive to our roots.
select a country and click on it - a page with lists of popular names will open
Lithuania, 2015
State in North-Eastern Europe. It borders with Latvia, Poland, Belarus, and Russia. The capital is Vilnius. Population: 2,898,062 (2015 estimate: 3,053,800 according to 2011 census). The ethnic composition of the country according to the 2011 census: Lithuanians (84.16%), Poles (6.58%), Russians (5.81%), Belarusians (1.19%). Religious affiliation of the population: Catholics (77.3%), Orthodox (4.1%), non-believers (6.1%). The official language is Lithuanian.
The identification of official statistics of names in the country is carried out by the Resident Registration Service under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania (Gyventojų registro tarnybos). Her website currently (as of June 22, 2016) contains lists of the ten most popular names of newborns registered in the period 01/01/2015–06/30/2015 and in the period 07/1/2015–12/31/2015. Previously, statistics were provided both for the whole of Lithuania and for individual cities: Vilnius, Klaipeda, Kaunas, Siauliai, Panevezys and Alytus, but now such data is not published. The website of the Department of Statistics of Lithuania also publishes lists of the ten most popular names - separately for newborns and for residents of the country of all ages (currently there are statistics for the 1st and second half of 2015, for 2014, 2013 and 2005. In addition, information on the ten most common surnames - both the entire population and newborns (currently for 2014, 2013 and 2005).
On the Internet you can find lists and the 20 most common names of newborns in Lithuania for the period starting from 1999. The source of this data is still indicated by the same Resident Registration Service. There are no such detailed data on its website. They may be found in reports published by the Department of Statistics for the general public. Including names.
For those who wish to learn more about Lithuanian names, I additionally offer information on the etymology of some of the names. In general, Lithuanian names have quite a lot of specificity compared to other Baltic peoples. If in the list of common names of Latvians and Estonians well-known Christian names are easily recognized, then the phonetics of the Lithuanian language adapts names from the common European fund more radically and they are not always recognizable to an outside observer. In addition, among the popular names of Lithuanians there are several original personal names, i.e. formed from words of the Lithuanian language.
Boys names
Girls names
Some differences by city in 2015
Boys names
Girls names
(1, 2, 3 – place in the frequency list)Etymologies of male names (selected)
Adomas – “relative” of the name Adam, Hebrew (“man”). Lithuanians also know variants of this name Adam, Adamas, Adanas, Adem, Adomis.
Arnas – a derivative of full names with a component Arn-. This is first of all Arnoldas. Arn- goes back to ancient Germanic arn"eagle".
Dovydas – “relative” of the name David, Hebrew (“beloved”).
Gustas – 1. From Lithuanian gustas(“taste, desire, mood”) or from gusti("learn"). 2. Short form of the Latin name Augustas(“sacred, majestic”) 3. Derivation of a Scandinavian name Gustavas(“battle” + “rod”).
Kajus – 1. Matching Latin name Gaius(“rejoice”) 2. Possibly Greek (“earthly”).
Mantas – Lithuanian, possibly from mantus(“smart”) or from mantas(“property, treasure”).
Matas – “relative” of the name Matvey, Hebrew (“gift of [god] Yahweh”).
Nojus – “relative” of the biblical name Noah, Hebrew (“rest, peace”).
Rokas – “relative” of the name Rochus (Latinized from German Rochwald, “battle cry” + “to rule, dominate”)Etymologies of female names (selected)
Austėja - In Lithuanian mythology, Austėja is the female deity of bees (there was also a male deity - Bubilas). Etymologically related to the words austi("weave"), audėja("weaver"), audimas("weaving"). Short form of the name - Auste
Gabija – In Lithuanian mythology, Gabija is the goddess of fire. The fire of the hearth, which was considered sacred, was also called by the same name. Etymologically related to the word gaubti(“to cover, to protect”).
Goda – from Lithuanian goda(“thought, dream”, also “honor, glory, respect”).
Ieva – “relative” of the biblical name Eve, Hebrew (“life, life”).
Miglė – from Lithuanian migla"fog".
Rugilė – from Lithuanian rugys("rye").
Saulė – in Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, this is the name of the daughter of the supreme god. Lithuanian sáulē and Latvian saũle mean "sun" and are related to Russian Sun. Name Saulė in Lithuania in 2009 it rose to 12th place. In some cities it was among the most frequent ten (in Alytus in 2010, in Vilnius and Kaunas in 2006). I would not focus on this name if not for one interesting coincidence. Kazakh women have a well-known and very often female name Saule, which etymologists trace back to Kazakh sәule"a ray of light".
Ugnė – from Lithuanian ugnis("fire"). Having a male name Ugnius from the same word suggests that a male name first arose, and from it a female one Ugnė.
Urtė – 1. Old German (“sword”). 2. There is a probable connection with the name of the source Urd in Scandinavian mythology - it was located under the roots of the world tree and is supposedly translated as “fate”. 3. Also derived from Lithuanian words urtas("great desire; self-confidence"), from Danish urt"plants, herbs" and even from Albanian urti"wise". 4. Also considered as a variant of the Hebrew name Ruth(possibly "girlfriend") and Dorothea– Greek (“gift” + “god”).
Viltė – from Lithuanian viltis("hope").
I couldn’t sleep one night... So I decided to google a list of the most common Lithuanian surnames.
Funny? Nothing funny.
The reason for this was a dispute that arose the day before with a friend and relative, my son’s godfather, Andrei Andrijauskas. Lithuanian, as the surname suggests.
So here it is. For some reason we got hooked on the Lithuanian language, Lithuania is still nearby, we travel sometimes... Andrei said that despite his origin, “well, he just can’t learn this damn language.” But I, on the contrary, noticed that “..how can it be, the languages are related, of course nothing is clear at first, but it’s very easy to learn, the roots of the words are mostly the same Slavic, it’s easy to remember..” To which Andrei, his eyes bulging, stated that this is a Scandinavian (!!!) group of languages, which has nothing in common with continental European (especially Slavic) languages, the language is ancient and incomprehensibly mysterious.
Neither my admonitions nor Google convinced him or my brother’s wife (also Lithuanian) otherwise. They stand their ground and that’s it!
Well, you've probably heard how stubborn Lithuanians can be...
Therefore, I declared in my hearts “.. Andrijauskas is Andriyavsky with the typical Belarusian “long-u” and the replacement of the unstressed vowel ending with the signature Lithuanian “-as, -is.” And this surname cannot be Lithuanian (yes), but and Polish, because Poles replace “r” before a vowel with “-zh-, -sh-”, and there is a typical Belarusian one, because there was once the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was the only original Russia before the start of its polonization And in general - look at Lithuanian words and then at Lithuanian surnames and you will suddenly find yourself dumbfounded by your language and origin...." !!!
Let's get back to last names. The fact remains - no matter how much you change the ending, the origin of the surname is obvious. So “Mamedov” does not automatically become Russian.
Does this mean that there are no Lithuanian surnames? Against. The country is rich in original surnames and given names. Lithuanians have about 3 thousand proper names alone. That's a lot. But these prevail. It is a fact.
And why?
History, guys, look at history.
PS: I would like to say separately about the Lithuanian language. I like this language. And I like it precisely because of that archaic antiquity, from which it emanates Sanskrit and ancient Slavic. This language is a monument. And no Latvian, also included in the subgroup, stands nearby. This language must be protected. And I am with both hands in favor - let the young country, essentially re-creating the nation today, choose this unique ancient language for its future. But there is no need to rewrite the past. Just go to the museum and see in what language all the documents and laws of ancient Lithuania were written. We can be proud of this past.
After all, without a past, we have no roots. And without roots, the contents will sooner or later become dry.
There are many nationalities in the world, and each of them has its own characteristics: in appearance, mentality and lifestyle. This applies to all aspects, including the hereditary family name. Having heard a certain surname, one can already tell what nationality this or that person belongs to and what culture he is a representative of. In this article we will talk in more detail about Lithuanian surnames and consider their origin.
Where did it all start?
Modern Lithuanian surnames are divided into two groups: those that were formed directly on the territory of Lithuania, as well as others that arose outside the country, but over time penetrated into the Lithuanian language. Until the 15th century, this people did not have a surname as such; everyone called each other only by name. The situation changed when Christianity came to the territory of the Baltic country at that time.
In the Middle Ages, church politics began to be actively pursued, and this also affected ancient Lithuania. In this regard, the imposition of Christian names begins, because Lithuanian, in fact, were pagan. As a result, in order not to lose their identity, the Lithuanians came up with surnames, which their ancient ancestral names turned into over time. At first they appeared only among representatives of wealthy families, but they came to the peasantry much later.
How did surnames come about?
Since the 16th century, Lithuania has established itself, but the use of the Latin language began to decline. In the 18th century, after the general census, village residents also began to have surnames, which began to be given to children by the name of their father, and, accordingly, this family name continued to pass from generation to generation. The suffix “-ovich”, “-evich” was added to the name.
In Russia, for example, the suffix “-ich” was given only to those who were close to the tsar and the royal family, but in Lithuania it was assigned to everyone. The Lithuanian nobility did not like the sound of surnames like this: they saw the influence of Russia in this, so over time they began to actively change this suffix to the one that the Poles used - “-sky”. By the way, this prefix to the surname was also used by the Eastern Slavs, but the difference was that the Poles relied specifically on local names. Let’s say a Pole lived in the village of Volya, and for this reason his surname became Volsky. However, it has been noticed that many Lithuanian surnames have Slavic suffixes and roots.
Meaning
The Lithuanian language has survived to this day almost unchanged, so it won’t be difficult to understand what this or that surname means. However, this is not always possible, and in some cases certain difficulties arise. What do Lithuanian surnames mean? For example, Leitis means that the ancestor who gave his family the name was once in the Leith service, that is, he served under the Grand Duke, Vilkas in translation sounds like “wolf”, with the surname Pilsudski - they once lived in the area of Pilsudy. Gintautas means “protecting the people.”
Ancient Lithuanian personal names used to have two bases, and, as a rule, in translation they denoted some qualities of a person or words that carried a deep meaning. The most popular of them were such as taut - people, min - thought, kant - patient, gail - regret, vil - hope.
The most popular Lithuanian surnames (male)
The English Wikipedia provides a list of the most popular Lithuanian surnames. Here is the original version and its translation into Russian. Kazlauskas - Kozlovsky, Petrauskas - Petrovsky, Jankauskas - Yankovsky, Stankevičius - Stankevich, Vasiliauskas - Vasilevsky, Žukauskas - Zhukovsky, Butkevičus - Butkevich, Paulauskas - Pavlovsky, Kavaliauskas - Kovalevsky.
You can also note such beautiful Lithuanian surnames as Astrauskas, Bluejus, Rudzitis, Simonaityte, Vaitonis, Mazeika, Kindziulis. As you can see, surnames often end in -s.
Original Lithuanian surnames
What do surnames with endings in “-aytis” and “-enas” mean? For example, such as Deimantas, Budrys, Petkevicius. They arose according to the following scheme: during the large census, the surname was given to the children by their father’s name. For example, the son of Vytas became Vytenas. But it should be noted that Lithuanians used such surnames only in colloquial speech. Officially, they were recorded in documents according to Slavic metrics.
The purely Lithuanian endings of surnames, therefore, are the following: -aitis (Adomaitis), -is (alis), -as (Eidintas), and there may also be an ending -a (Radvila).
In such endings as -auskas, -evichyus, -inskis, which translated into Russian will sound like -ovich, -evich, -ovski, -evski, -ski, the influence of Slavic culture can be traced, and they are no longer originally Lithuanian.
Female surnames: rules of formation
If we consider modern female Lithuanian surnames, they have received a significant difference from male ones. They have the suffixes -ut-, -ayt-, and -yut-, the father's surname is displayed in the root, and the ending e- is often present. For example, the male version of the surname Butkus in a woman will already sound like Butkute, Orbakas turns into Orbakaite.
The surnames of married women already have slightly different differences from the one that the husband has. The husband will have the last name Varnas, and the wife will have Vernene. Thus, we see that the suffix -en is added, or, in some cases, -uven, -yuven, as well as the ending -e. It should be noted that the rules regarding the formation of a female version of a surname apply only in Lithuania. If the family lives in Russia, it will sound the same for both spouses. But if the girl is free, then on the territory of our country her surname will sound as if she lived in Lithuania. As you can see, there are many nuances here that you simply need to delve into.
Do surnames decline?
The Lithuanian language has a developed case declension system. Lithuanian surnames often end with the letter -s, but there are two options: either this letter is an integral part of it, or it simply indicates the nominative case. That is, in other cases, when declension, this very letter -s disappears. For example, the surname Landsbergis, in the genitive, already sounds like Landsberg. Many Latvians attach this letter to Russian surnames, for example, “Lenin” in their language sounds like Lenins, as the rules of grammar require it. Women's surnames are the same as men's. In the Latvian language everyone declines. But if they are used in Russian translation, then a different rule applies: for women they do not bow, but for men it’s the other way around.
Nuances in the difference
Let's look at the example of popular surnames, how they will sound in two versions: male and female, thus, the same family name among spouses sounds differently.
Kazlauskas - Kazlauskienė, Petrauskas - Petrauskienė, Jankauskas - Yankauskienė, Stankevičius - Stankevičienė, Vasiliauskas - Vasiliauskienė, Žukauskas - Žukauskienė, Butkus - Butkienė, Palauskas - Palauskienė, Urbonas - Urbonieniė, Kavaliauskas - Kavaliauskienė.
In the course of this article, we found out what surnames mean, and also figured out the history of their origin and how Lithuanian surnames are declined. They contain the richness of one of the Baltic languages, which is famous for the fact that it has survived to this day unchanged.
A surname is one of the most basic identifiers of a person, which indicates his belonging to a certain family, clan, people, culture, and social class. In different cultures and languages, surnames are formed and declined in completely different ways. Let's listen to Lithuanian surnames.
Origin
Conventionally, all Lithuanian surnames can be divided into 2 large groups:
- Actually Lithuanian.
- Borrowed.
It is interesting that until the 15th century, all Lithuanians used to call themselves exclusively by their name, which was pagan, that is, of local origin.
Christianity penetrated the territory of Lithuania from about the 14th century. The policies pursued in the Middle Ages made this religion dominant. Christian names began to be used more and more widely. However, the Lithuanians did not want to give up their original names so easily, and gradually they transformed into surnames. In the 15-16 centuries, only rich and noble families with some weight in society could have surnames. But the widespread distribution of surnames began only in the 18th century.
Basic meanings of surnames
The Lithuanian language has hardly changed over the past centuries. However, despite this, it is still difficult to understand some Lithuanian surnames.
If a surname has the suffixes –enas or –aytis, then it obviously came from the name of a distant ancestor, because the meaning of such a suffix is the son of someone. That is, Baltrushaitis is literally the son of Baltrus, and Vytenas is the son of Vitas.
If a Lithuanian surname has the suffix -sky, which is familiar to the Russian ear, then it indicates the place of origin of the family. The famous Piłsudski family, for example, came from the Samogit region of Piłsudy. But the Oginsky family most likely received their surname in honor of the Uogintai estate given to him in 1486 for his high services to the fatherland.
Of course, in Lithuanian surnames, like in all others, the occupation of the ancestor is often encrypted. For example, the surname Leitis indicates that the ancestor was in the “Leith service”, that is, he was the caretaker of the military horses of the Grand Duke himself and his closest subjects. Such a caretaker was subordinate only directly to the prince and to no one else.
Some Lithuanian surnames are derived from the names of animals. For example, Ozhialis comes from “ozhka”, which means “goat”, and Vilkas from “vilkas”, that is, “wolf”. In Russian it would sound like Kozlov or Volkov.
In interpreting Lithuanian surnames, a certain amount of caution must be observed, because etymology is a delicate matter, and sometimes the origin of a surname can have several versions.
Men's surnames
Let's name the 10 most common surnames in today's Lithuania. This:
- Kazlauskas.
- Petrauskas.
- Jankauskas.
- Stankevicius.
- Vasiliauskas.
- Žukauskas.
- Butkevicius.
- Paulauskas.
- Urbonas.
- Kavaliauskas.
All male surnames end in -s. This is their main feature.
Women's surnames
If the surname ends in -e, then this indicates that it belongs to a woman. Women's surnames may also differ from men's surnames by a suffix, which will directly depend on whether the woman bears the surname of her father or husband.
From paternal surnames, female surnames are formed using suffixes:
- -it.
The ending -e is added to the suffix.
For example, Orbakas - Orbakaite, Katilyus - Katilyute, Butkus - Butkute.
The following suffixes are added to the root of the husband's surname:
- - less often;
- -uven;
- -juven.
The ending is still the same. Examples: Grinius - Grinyuvene, Varnas - Varnene.
In 2003, the formation of female surnames was somewhat simplified at the legislative level and women were allowed not to form a surname using these suffixes.
A woman's surname can now be formed like this: Raudis - Raude.
Declension
All Lithuanian surnames are declined according to case (like all nouns). The cases are almost similar to Russian: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental and locative (analogue of prepositional).
Let's look at the case declension of the surnames Kiaulakine and Kiaulakis.
Kaulakienė (female)
Them. P. – Kaulakienė
R.P. – Kaulakienės
D.P. – Kaulakienei
V. P. – Kaulakienę
T.P. – Kaulakiene
M.P. – Kaulakienę
Kaulakys (male)
Them. P. – Kaulakys
R.P. – Kaulakio
D.P. – Kaulakiui
V.P. – Kaulakį
T.P. – Kaulakiu
M.P. – Kaulakį
Declension, as in the Russian language, is carried out by changing endings. When translated into Russian, female Lithuanian surnames are not declined, but male surnames are declined according to the rules of the Russian language.
Until recently, in official documents of Lithuanians, the given name, surname and given name of the father were written in the genitive case. Today there is no middle name in the passport. All Russians moving to Lithuania also lose their middle name.
Most Lithuanian surnames, as we see, have ancient roots, so studying surnames can provide extensive information about the history and culture of the Lithuanian people.
