The last name ends with ak nationality. Jewish surnames: list and meaning

You will need

• A sheet of paper, a pen, the ability to do morphemic analysis of a word, an etymological dictionary of the Russian language, a 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 foreign surnames are more common in Russian than other foreign surnames, these can be the following suffixes: “enko”, “eyko”, “ovsk/evsk”, “ko”, “ochko”. That is, if your last name is Tkachenko, Shumeiko, Petrovsky or Gulevsky, Klitschko, Marochko, you should look for distant relatives 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 belong 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 clergy. There are also surnames that came from male (Moses, Solomon) or female names (Rivkin, Beilis), or were formed from the merger of a male name and a 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 contains the English name of the territory (for example, Welsh), the quality of a person (Sweet) or profession (Carver), relatives should be looked for in the UK;
- the same rules apply to German surnames. They are derived from profession (Schmidt), nickname (Klein), name (Peters);
- Polish surnames can be recognized based on their 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 create a family tree or find distant relatives, but not make a mistake in interpreting a 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 Vyazemsky (Vyazma), Shuisky (Shuya) and other noble families appeared. 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. A striking example of the family that reigned in Russia is the Romanovs.

Romanovs

The ancestors of this ancient boyar family were ancestors who at different times bore the 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, Mikhail Fedorovich was chosen to the royal throne.

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, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Russian officials formed and recorded the surnames of the inhabitants of the Russian Transcaucasus and Central Asia.

With each year of his life, a person increasingly expands his choice of communication, meeting new people. In order for a new acquaintance to contact you, you need to make a pleasant impression on him. To avoid uncomfortable situations, it is important to know what nationality the person in front of you is in order to behave in accordance with the moral and ethical standards of his country. By most surnames you can accurately determine the nationality of your friends, neighbors, business partners, etc.

Russians- use surnames with the suffixes -an, -yn, -in, -skikh, -ov, -ev, -skoy, -tskaya, -ikh, -yh (Snegirev, Ivanov, Voronin, Sinitsyn, Donskoy, Moskovskikh, Sedykh);

Belarusians- typical Belarusian surnames end in -ich, -chik, -ka, -ko, -onak, -yonak, -uk, -ik, -ski. (Radkevich, Dubrova, Parshonok, Kuharchik, Kastsyushka); many surnames in the Soviet years were Russified and Polished (Dubrovsky, Kosciuszko);

Poles- most surnames have the suffix -sk, -tsk, and the ending -й (-я), indicating masculine and feminine gender (Sushitsky, Kovalskaya, Khodetsky, Volnitskaya); There are also double surnames - if a woman, when getting married, wants to keep her surname (Mazur-Komorowska); In addition to these surnames, surnames with an unchanged form are also common among Poles (Nowak, Sienkiewicz, Wujcik, Wozniak). Ukrainians with last name endings ending in -y are not Ukrainians, but Ukrainian Poles.;

Ukrainians- the first classification of surnames of a given nationality is formed using the suffixes -enko, -ko, -uk, -yuk (Kreshchenko, Grishko, Vasilyuk, Kovalchuk); the second series denotes the type of craft or occupation (Potter, Koval); the third group of surnames consists of individual Ukrainian words (Gorobets, Ukrainians, Parubok), as well as a merger of words (Vernigora, Nepiyvoda, Bilous).

Latvians- the peculiarity to the masculine gender is indicated by a surname ending in -s, -is, and to the feminine gender - with -a, -e (Verbitskis - Verbitska, Shurins - Shurin)

Lithuanians- male surnames end in -onis, -unas, -utis, -aitis, -enas (Pyatrenas, Norvydaitis), female surnames are formed from the husband’s surname using the suffixes -en, -yuven, -uven and the ending -e (Grinius - Grinyuvene ), the surnames of unmarried girls contain the basis of the father's surname with the addition of the suffixes -ut, -polut, -ayt and endings -e (Orbakas - Orbakaite);

Estonians- male and female genders are not differentiated using surnames, all foreign surnames (mostly German) were at one time Estonianized (Rosenberg - Roosimäe), this process continues to this day. for example, in order to be able to play for the Estonia national team, football players Sergei Khokhlov and Konstantin Kolbasenko had to change their surnames to Simson and Nahk;

French people- many surnames are preceded by the prefix Le or De (Le Pen, Mol Pompadour); basically, dissimilar nicknames and personal names were used to form surnames (Robert, Jolie, Cauchon - pig);

Romanians: -sku, -u(l), -an.

Serbs: -ich.

English- the following surnames are common: formed from the names of the place of residence (Scott, Wales); denoting profession (Hoggart - shepherd, Smith - blacksmith); indicating the external appearance of character and appearance (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet, Bragg - boastful);

Germans- surnames formed from personal names (Werner, Peters); surnames that characterize a person (Krause - wavy, Klein - small); surnames indicating the type of activity (Müller - miller, Lehmann - geomor);

Swedes- most surnames end in -sson, -berg, -sted, -strom (Andersson, Olsson, Forsberg, Bostrom);

Norse- formed from personal names using the suffix -en (Larsen, Hansen), surnames without suffixes and endings can occur (Per, Morten); Norwegian surnames can repeat the names of animals, trees and natural phenomena (Blizzard - blizzard, Svane - swan, Furu - pine);

Italians- surnames are characterized by the suffixes -ini, -ino, -ello, -illo, -etti, -etto, -ito (Benedetto, Moretti, Esposito), can end in -o, -a, -i (Conti, Giordano, Costa) ; the prefixes di- and - indicate, respectively, a person’s belonging to his clan and geographical structure (Di Moretti is the son of Moretti, Da Vinci is from Vinci);

Spaniards and Portuguese have surnames ending in -ez, -az, -iz, -oz (Gomez, Lopez), surnames indicating a person’s character are also common (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - gallant, Malo - horseless);

Turks- most often surnames have the endings -oglu, -ji, -zade (Mustafaoglu, Ekindzhi, Kuindzhi, Mamedzade); when forming surnames, Turkish names or everyday words were often used (Ali, Abaza - fool, Kolpakchi - hat);

Bulgarians - almost all Bulgarian surnames are formed from personal names and suffixes -ov, -ev (Konstantinov, Georgiev);

Gagauz: -oglo.

Tatars: -in, -ishin.

Greeks- Greek surnames cannot be confused with any other surnames, only they have the endings -idis, -kos, -poulos (Angelopoulos, Nikolaidis);

Czechs- the main difference from other surnames is the obligatory ending -ova in female surnames, even if where it would seem inappropriate (Valdrova, Ivanovova, Andersonova).

Georgians- surnames ending in -shvili, -dze, -uri, -ava, -a, -ua, -ia, -ni, -li, -si are common (Baratashvili, Mikadze, Adamia, Karchava, Gvishiani, Tsereteli);

Armenians- a significant part of the surnames of residents of Armenia has the suffix -yan (Hakopyan, Galustyan); Also, -yants, -uni.

Moldovans: -sku, -u(l), -an.

Azerbaijanis- formed surnames by taking Azerbaijani names as a basis and attaching Russian suffixes -ov, -ev (Mamedov, Aliyev, Hasanov, Abdullaev) to them. Also, -zade, -li, ly, -oglu, -kyzy.

Jews- the main group consists of surnames with roots Levi and Cohen (Levin, Levitan Kagan, Koganovich, Katz); the second group came from male and female Hebrew names with the addition of various suffixes (Yakobson, Yakubovich, Davidson, Godelson, Tsivyan, Beilis, Abramovich, Rubinchik, Vigdorchik, Mandelstam); the third classification of surnames reflects the character of a person, his appearance or profession (Kaplan - chaplain, Rabinovich - rabbi, Melamed - pestun, Schwartzbard - black-bearded, Stiller - quiet, Shtarkman - strong).

Ossetians:-ti.

Mordva: -yn, -in.

Chinese and Koreans- for the most part these are surnames consisting of one, less often two syllables (Tan, Liu, Duan, Qiao, Tsoi, Kogai);

Japanese- modern Japanese surnames are formed by merging two full-valued words (Wada - sweet voice and rice field, Igarashi - 50 storms, Katayama - hill, Kitamura - north and village); The most common Japanese surnames are: Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Suzuki, Yamamoto.

As you can see, to determine a person’s nationality, it is enough to accurately analyze his last name, highlighting the suffix and ending.

WHAT DO SURNAMES WITH “-IN” MEAN? SURNAMES ENDING WITH -IN HAVE RUSSIAN ROOTS OR JEWISH ROOTS?

In the collection of the famous Slavic linguist B. O Unbegun “Russian Surnames” you can read that surnames with “in” are predominantly a Russian type of surname.

Why the ending “-in”? Basically, all surnames ending in “in” come from words ending in -а/-я and from feminine nouns ending in a soft consonant.

There are many examples of erroneous addition of -in to stems with a final hard consonant: Orekhin, Karpin, Markin, where -ov should have been used. And in another case, -ov turned out to be in the place of -in: Shishimorov from the base of shishimora. Mixing of formants is possible. After all, among Russians -in and -ov have been semantically indistinguishable for more than a thousand years. The meaning of the difference has been lost in the common Slavic language; the choice of -ov or -in depends only remnantly on the phonetic feature of the stem (Nikonov “Geography of Surnames”).

Do you know how the surname of the famous leader of the people's militia of 1611-1612, Minin, came about? Minin bore the personal nickname Sukhoruk, he did not have a surname. And Minin meant “son of Mina.” The Orthodox name "Mina" was widespread in Rus'.

Another old Russian surname is Semin, also a surname with “-in”. According to the main version, the surname Semin goes back to the baptismal male name Semyon. The name Semyon is the Russian form of the ancient Hebrew name Simeon, meaning “listening”, “heard by God”. From the name Semyon in Rus', many derivative forms were formed, one of which - Syoma - formed the basis of this surname.

The famous Slavic linguist B.O. Unbegaun in the collection “Russian Surnames” believes that the surname Semin was formed from the baptismal Russian name according to the following scheme: “Semyon - Syoma - Semin.”

Let's give another example of a surname that we examined in detail in the family diploma. Rogozhin is an old Russian surname. According to the main version, the surname preserves the memory of the profession of distant ancestors. One of the first representatives of the Rogozhins could be engaged in the manufacture of matting or trade in fabric.

Coarse woven fabric made from wash tapes was called matting. In Rus', a matting hut (rogozhnitsy, matting) was a workshop where matting was woven, and a matting weaver or matting dealer was called a matting izba.

In his close circle, Rogozhnik’s household were known as “Rogozhin’s wife,” “Rogozhin’s son,” and “Rogozhin’s grandchildren.” Over time, terms denoting the degree of relationship disappeared, and the hereditary surname Rogozhin was assigned to the descendants of Rogozhin.

Such Russian surnames ending in “-in” include: Pushkin (Pushka), Gagarin (Loon), Borodin (Beard), Ilyin (Ilya), Ptitsyn (Bird); Fomin (from the personal name Thomas); Belkin (from the nickname “squirrel”), Borozdin (Furrow), Korovin (Cow), Travin (Grass), Zamin and Zimin (winter) and many others

Please note that the words from which surnames starting with “in” are derived mostly end in “-a” or “-ya”. We won’t be able to say “Borodov” or “Ilyinov”; it would be more logical and more sonorous to say “Ilyin” or “Borodin”.

Why do some people think that surnames ending with “-in” have Jewish roots? Is it really? No, this is not true; you cannot judge the origin of a surname by one ending. The sound of Jewish surnames coincides with Russian endings simply by pure chance.

You should always research the surname itself. For some reason, the ending “ov” does not cause us any doubts. We believe that surnames ending in “-ov” are definitely Russian. But there are also exceptions. For example, we recently prepared a beautiful family diploma for one wonderful family named Maksyutov.

The surname Maksyutov has the ending “ov”, which is common among Russian surnames. But, if you examine the surname more deeply, it turns out that the surname Maksyutov is derived from the Tatar male name “Maksud”, which translated from Arabic means “desire, premeditated intention, aspiration, goal”, “long-awaited, desired”. The name Maksud had several dialect variants: Maksut, Mahsud, Mahsut, Maksyut. This name is still widespread among the Tatars and Bashkirs.

“The surname Maksyutov is an old princely surname of Tatar origin. Historical sources speak about the ancient origin of the Maksyutov surname. The surname was first documented in the 16th century: Maksutovs (Maksutovs, obsolete Maksutovs, Tat. Maksutovlar) - a Volga-Bulgar princely-Murzin family, descended from the Kasimov prince Maksut (1554), in the genealogical legend Prince Maksut was called an ulan and a descendant of the prince Kashima." Now there is almost no doubt about the origin of the surname.

How do you know if a surname ending in -in is of Jewish origin or is it an original Russian surname? Always analyze the word that underlies your last name.

Here are examples of Jewish surnames with the ending “-in” or “-ov”: Edmin (derived from the name of the German city of Emden), Kotin (derived from the Hebrew קטן- in the Ashkenazi pronunciation “kotn”, meaning “small”), Eventov (derived from Hebrew "even tov" - "precious stone"), Khazin (derived from the Hebrew "khazan", in the Ashkenazi pronunciation "khazn", meaning "person leading worship in the synagogue"), Superfin (translated as "very beautiful") and a lot others.

The ending “-in” is simply an ending by which one cannot judge the nationality of a surname. You always need to research your surname, analyze the word that underlies it and try to look for the first mentions of your surname in various books and archival documents. Only when all the information has been collected will you be able to confidently determine the origin of your surname and find answers to your questions.

SURNAMES ENDING IN SKY/-SKAYA, -TSKIY/-TSKAYA

Many Russians have a firm and unfounded belief that surnames in -skiy are certainly Polish. From history textbooks, the names of several Polish magnates are known, derived from the names of their estates: Potocki and Zapotocki, Zablocki, Krasinski. But from the same textbooks the surnames of many Russians with the same suffixes are known: Konstantin Grigorievich Zabolotsky, okolnichy of Tsar John III, late 15th - early 16th centuries; clerk Semyon Zaborovsky, early 16th century; boyars Shuisky and Belsky, close associates of Ivan the Terrible. Famous Russian artists are Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Makovsky, Kramskoy.

An analysis of modern Russian surnames shows that forms in -sky (-tskiy) exist in parallel with variants in -ov (-ev, -in), but there are fewer of them. For example, in Moscow in the 70s of the twentieth century, for every 330 people with the surname Krasnov/Krasnova, there were only 30 with the surname Krasnovsky/Krasnovskaya. But the rather rare surnames Kuchkov and Kuchkovsky, Makov and Makovsky are represented almost equally.

A significant part of surnames ending in -skiy/-skaya, -tskiy/-tskaya are formed from geographical and ethnic names. In letters from our readers who want to know about the origin of their surnames, the following surnames in -sky / -tsky are mentioned.

Brynsky. The author of this letter, Evgeniy Sergeevich Brynsky, himself sent the history of his surname. We present only a small fragment from the letter, since it is not possible to publish it in its entirety. Bryn is a river in the Kaluga region, flows into the Oka Zhizdra tributary. In the old days, large dense Bryn forests stretched along it, in which the Old Believers took refuge. According to the epic about Ilya Muromets, it was in the Bryn forests that the Nightingale the Robber lived. Let us add that there are several settlements of Bryn in the Kaluga and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The surname Brynski/Brynska, found in Poland, is derived from the names of two settlements Brynsk in different parts of the country and also, apparently, goes back to the names of the rivers Bryn and Brynica. There is no uniform interpretation of the names of these rivers in science. If the suffix -ets is added to the name of a populated place, then such a word denotes a person from this place. In Crimea in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, winegrower Maria Bryntseva was well known. Her surname is derived from the word brynets, that is, a native of the city or village of Bryn.

Garbavitsky. This Belarusian surname corresponds to the Russian Gorbovitsky (in the Belarusian language, the letter a is written in place of the unstressed o). The surname is derived from the name of some settlement of Gorbovitsy. In the materials we have, there are only Gorbov, Gorbovo and Gorbovtsy. All these names come from the designations of the terrain: hump - a hillock, a sloping hill.

Dubovskaya. The surname is derived from the name of one of the many settlements: Dubovka, Dubovo, Dubovoe, Dubovskaya, Dubovsky, Dubovskoye, Dubovtsy, located in all parts of the country. It is possible to find out from which one exactly, only from the information preserved in the family, where the ancestors who received this surname lived, or where they came from to their future place of residence. The emphasis in the surname is on “o”: Dubovsky/Dubovskaya.

Steblivsky. The Ukrainian surname corresponding to the Russian one is Steblevsky; formed from the names of the populated places Steblevka in the Transcarpathian region or Steblev - Cherkassy. In Ukrainian spelling, i is written in place of the second e.

Tersky. The surname comes from the name of the Terek River and indicates that one of the distant ancestors of this person lived there. There were the Terek region and the Terek Cossacks. So bearers of the Tersky surname may also be descendants of Cossacks.

Uriansky. The surname, apparently, is derived from the name of the settlement of Urya. In our materials, this name is recorded in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Perhaps there are similar names in other places, since the name of the populated place is associated with the name of the river and with the designation of the Ur ethnic group, as well as with the name of the medieval Turkic people Urianka. Similar names could be found in different places, since medieval peoples led a nomadic lifestyle and assigned the name of their ethnic group to those places where they stayed for a long time.

Chiglinsky. The surname comes from the name of the Chigla settlement in the Voronezh region, which, apparently, is associated with the designation of the union of the medieval Turkic tribes Chigil.

Shabansky. The surname is derived from the names of the settlements Shabanovo, Shabanovskoye, Shabanskoye, located in different parts of the country. These names come from the Turkic name Shaban of Arabic origin. In Arabic, Sha'ban is the name of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. The name Shaban is also attested in Russian peasant families in the 15th-17th centuries. In parallel with this, the spelling variant Shiban was noted in the Russian language - obviously, by analogy with the Russian shibat, zashibat. Records from 1570-1578 mention Prince Ivan Andreevich Shiban Dolgoruky; in 1584 - the grooms of Tsar Feodor Ioannovich Osip Shiban and Danilo Shikhman Ermolaevich Kasatkin. The servant of Prince Kurbsky was called Vasily Shibanov - executed by Ivan the Terrible in 1564.

In addition, the name of the ethnic group of the Siberian Tatars is known, the Shibans and the generic name of the Crimean Tatars, the Shiban Murzas. In the Perm region there is a settlement called Shibanovo, and in the Ivanovo region there is Shibanikha.

This is how different types of proper names are closely related to each other: personal names, geographical and ethnic names, as well as surnames.

Step 2:

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Step 5:

Hint

If your surname is of Jewish origin, you can use it to determine the territorial affiliation of your ancestors. Slavic Jews may have surnames Berkovich, Rubinchik, Davidovich. In their sound, they are very similar to Russian patronymics or diminutive names of objects. The surnames of Polish Jews differ in suffixes.

Step 6:

Step 7:

If the surname contains the prefix “de” or “le”, the roots can be looked for in France;

If you can hear the English name of a territory (for example, Welsh), a profession (Carver) or a quality of a person (Sweet), you can easily have relatives in the UK;

The same rules apply to German surnames. They are formed from a nickname (Klein), profession (Schmidt), name (Peters);

The origin of a Polish surname can be determined based on its sound - Sienkiewicz, Kowalczyk. If you have any difficulties regarding the relationship of a surname to a particular language, you need to look at a dictionary of foreign words.

Hint

In order to find distant relatives or create a family tree, but at the same time correctly interpret surnames by nationality, you need to rely not only on the suffix and root, but also on the environment. One of the most common names, Ivan, is of Hebrew origin, and surnames that are derived from it can be found among Russians, Mordvins, Chuvash, Mari - Ivanaev, Ivashkin, Ivakin, Vankin, etc. That is why you should not be lazy and look into etymological dictionary.

So, the most common suffix Ukrainian surnames- “-enko” (Bondarenko, Petrenko, Timoshenko, Ostapenko). Another group of suffixes is “-eiko”, “-ko”, “-ochka” (Belebeyko, Bobreiko, Grishko). The third suffix is ​​“-ovsky” (Berezovsky, Mogilevsky). Often among Ukrainian surnames you can find those that come from the names of professions (Koval, Gonchar), as well as from combinations of two words (Sinegub, Belogor).

Among Russian surnames The following suffixes are common: “-an”, “-yn”, -“in”, “-skikh”, “-ov”, “-ev”, “-skoy”, “-tskoy”, “-ikh”, “ -s.” It is easy to guess that the following can be considered examples of such surnames: Smirnov, Nikolaev, Donskoy, Sedykh.

Polish surnames most often they have the suffixes “-sk” and “-tsk”, as well as the endings “-iy”, “-aya” (Sushitsky, Kovalskaya, Vishnevsky). You can often find Poles with surnames with an unchangeable form (Sienkiewicz, Wozniak, Mickiewicz).

English surnames often come from the name of the area where a person lives (Scott, Wales), from the names of professions (Smith - blacksmith), from characteristics (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet).

In front of many French surnames there is an insertion “Le”, “Mon” or “De” (Le Germain, Le Pen).

German surnames most often formed from names (Peters, Jacobi, Wernet), from characteristics (Klein - small), from the type of activity (Schmidt - blacksmith, Müller - miller).

Tatar surnames come from Tatar words and the following suffixes: “-ov”, “-ev”, “-in” (Yuldashin, Safin).

Italian surnames are formed using the following suffixes: “-ini”, “-ino”, “-ello”, “-illo”, “-etti”, “-etto”, “-ito” (Moretti, Benedetto).

Majority Spanish and Portuguese surnames come from characteristics (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - brave). Among the endings, the most common are: “-ez”, “-es”, “-az” (Gomez, Lopez).

Norwegian surnames are formed using the suffix “en” (Larsen, Hansen). Surnames without a suffix at all are also popular (Per, Morgen). Surnames are often formed from the names of natural phenomena or animals (Blizzard - blizzard, Svane - swan).

Swedish surnames most often end in “-sson”, “-berg”, “-stead”, “-strom” (Forsberg, Bosstrom).

Estonians have a last name you cannot understand whether a person is masculine or feminine (Simson, Nahk).

For Jewish surnames There are two common roots: Levi and Cohen. Most surnames are formed from male names (Solomon, Samuel). There are also surnames that are formed using suffixes (Abramson, Jacobson).

Belarusian surnames end in “-ich”, “-chik”, “-ka”, “-ko”, “-onak”, “-yonak”, “-uk”, “-ik”, “-ski” (Radkevich, Kuharchik ).

Turkish surnames have the ending “-oglu”, “-ji”, “-zade” (Mustafaoglu, Ekinci).

Almost all Bulgarian surnames formed from names using the suffixes “-ov”, “-ev” (Konstantinov, Georgiev).

Men's Latvian surnames end with “-s”, “-is”, and female ones end with “-e”, “-a” (Shurins - Shurin).

And men's Lithuanian surnames end in “-onis”, “-unas”, “-utis”, “-aytis”, “-ena” (Norvidaitis). Women's endings in “-en”, “-yuven”, “-uven” (Grinyuvene). The surnames of unmarried girls contain a part of the father’s surname and the suffixes “-ut”, “-polut”, “-ayt”, as well as the ending “-e” (Orbakas - Orbakaite).

Majority Armenian surnames end with the suffix “-yan”, “-yants”, “-uni” (Hakopyan, Galustyan).

Georgian surnames end in “-shvili”, “-dze”, “-uri”, “-ava”, “-a”, “-ua”, “-ia”, “-ni” (Mikadze, Gvishiane).

Greek surnames The endings “-idis”, “-kos”, -“poulos” are inherent (Angelopoulos, Nikolaidis).

Chinese and Korean surnames consist of one, sometimes two syllables (Tang Liu, Qiao, Mao).

Japanese surnames are formed using one or two words (Kitamura - north and village).

Feature of women's Czech surnames is the obligatory ending “-ova” (Valdrova, Andersonova). (via)

It's amazing how many differences there are between the names of different nationalities and peoples!

Since ancient times, family nicknames and names have been used to emphasize a person’s belonging to his family. Previously, it could denote professional activity, characteristic features of the appearance or personal nature of its owner. That's whyfind out the history of the origin of the surnamefor researchers it means finding out a lot of interesting and important information from its carriers. Who they were, what they did and where they lived - all this information can be hidden and encrypted in the name of your family.

If previously nicknames were used for practical purposes and could be forgotten over time or changed due to circumstances, then the surname in the modern sense has a completely different meaning. It is directly related to pedigree, family history and continuity of generations. Unfortunately, we often take it for granted. We have been wearing it since childhood, without thinking about what family secrets are hidden in it. It is rarely seen as a source of pride, since now everyone receives it from birth. But previously this was the privilege of only nobles and noble families. This was a kind of reflection of the superiority of the nobility and the unity of family members.

You can pay tribute to your ancestors, honor their memory, strengthen kinship and family ties even today. You just have to put in a little effort and find outHow to find out the history of your family by last name. Online services for freeoffer access to archives containing large lists detailing the supposed location, cause and approximate time of origin, down to the century. You can use them, or contact specialists who will help you calculate your roots, tell you why the genus was named that way, and even draw up a family tree.

If you have enough patience and enthusiasm, try to find out the meaning of your last name yourself. You will learn how to do this from our article, where we have collected a variety of useful tips on this topic.

How to find out the origin of your last name: freeexcursion into history

First, let's remember how the nicknames of our ancestors were formed in Ancient Rus'. We call them nicknames, since it is impossible to attribute them to the modern definition of a surname. They were given to make it easier to recognize a person or contact him, and changed over time. As for forced peasants, their family name could generally change at the whim of the master. The owners especially liked to have fun by inventing offensive and offensive nicknames. For example, someone born Ignatov (by the name of an ancestor) became Shcherbakov (by external sign - the absence of front teeth).

Find out the meaning of your last name,associated with the ancient roots themselves, easiest for those whose ancestors lived in the Veliky Novgorod region. Chronicles dating back to approximately the 13th century indicate that it was there that the very first generic nicknames originated. In ancient archives there are references to Novgorodians who died in the Battle of the Neva.

They appeared among princes and boyars in the 14th century. The loudest and most famous of them were worn by representatives of influential and ruling dynasties: Shuisky, Nevsky, Donskoy. A little later, the nobles also acquired words borrowed from foreign languages: Fonvizin, Yusupov, Karamzin.

However, ordinary, not famous and not noble people remained with nicknames. Even the reforms of Peter the Great could not restore order to peasant families. So, it was he who introduced the word, it comes from the Latin familia - family, in everyday life. Conducted censuses of the population, including the peasant population - the so-called “audits”. Of course, it would be much more convenient for the emperor if each clan had a permanent name passed on by inheritance, but that was still a long way off. The absence of a permanent surname indicated a person’s low origins and the stigma remained among the general population throughout almost the entire existence of the Russian Empire.

Remember the works of Russian classics. There are never any indications or information about the surname of the serfs. Let’s take Gogol’s “Dead Souls” as an example. There, peasants were listed by nicknames.

Naturally, the names for the families were not taken from anywhere. They were assigned according to certain characteristics. If now we don’t think about the roots and meaning, then before the generic nickname made sense. Sohow to find and find out the history of the origin of your last name - freea way to find out interesting details of the life of your ancestors, we suggest you study the most common options in Rus', which are still found in modified, and sometimes even in their original form:

• By analogy with animals: Lisitsyn, Medvedev, Khomyakov, Volkov, Kobylkin.
• By occupation: Stolyarov, Kuznetsov, Rybakov, Streltsov.
• By place of residence or geographical names: Belozersky, Kareltsev, Sibiryak, Vyazemsky, Donskoy, Bryantsev.
• By the names of ancestors: Fedotov, Ivanov, Fedorov.
• By the name of the religious holidays during which the child was born: Preobrazhensky, Assumption, Blagoveshchensky.
• For household items that a person used in his work: Shilov, Spitsyn, Molotov.
• By external characteristics: Ryzhov, Krivtsov, Krivoshein, Sleptsov, Nosov, Belousov, Sedov.
• By home nicknames: Malyshev - baby, Menshikov - the youngest child in the house.
• By nationality: Tatarinov, Ordyntsev (from the word “horde”), Nemchinov.

As you can see, having determined the origin of your surname, you can find out about the profession of your ancestors, what they did, who they were or where they were born. If you are the Tolmachevs, then there were once interpreters and translators in your family. Muromov’s distant ancestors could have been born or lived in the city of Murom, while the Pobezhimovs’ ancestors probably arranged an escape. This data may be useful to you in compiling your family's pedigree.

A very interesting phenomenon are the so-called seminary surnames. They arose much later, in the 17th century among representatives of the clergy. People also called them “priestly”, since they were worn mainly by clergy. They were created artificially, the priests explained this by saying that they wanted to be closer to the people. They were specially made to be harmonious and beautiful, which emphasized the special status of the wearer. They are formed mainly with the help of the suffixes skiy/-tskiy. Here are some of them:

• Aquilev
• Blagonadezhin
• Vetrinsky
• Bethlehem
• Damascene
• Demosthenes
• Euclidean
• Zlatoumov
• Kristallevsky

Their origin is based mainly on Latin words. Also found are the names of birds, animals and plants, the names of philosophers, clergy and saints. Often they are also transliterations of Russian names from Latin. Such surnames sound somewhat unnatural for our language and it is almost impossible to meet them today. However, if instead of the usual Russian language suffixes ov/-ev, in/-yn you have skiy/-tskiy, then most likely your ancestors belonged to the clergy.

Where to find out family history: determine the profession of ancestors by last name

When compiling a family tree, it is very important to know what your distant relatives did many centuries ago. Perhaps they did something very important for the state: they were war heroes, saved people, and were engaged in art. This can be an impetus for your future career and determining your life path. Being inspired by the actions of your ancestors makes it much easier to find and understand your purpose. How to do it? Access to ancient archives, historical documents and chronicles is not available to everyone. On the Internet, opportunities are also limited, since resources that offer to find out the history of a family by name for free online do not have a complete list of necessary information. In addition, it is not always reliable and there is no way to verify the data.

It is best for you to handle the task yourself. Listen to your last name, break it down into its component parts (prefix, root, suffix) and think about what word or phrase it came from. Here are the surnames that representatives of different professions and classes in Rus' bore:

Merchants

Merchants have always been a privileged class and enjoyed honor and respect. Therefore, much earlier than ordinary people, they were awarded the right to bear surnames. Initially, this opportunity was provided only to influential and noble merchants of the highest guilds. The most famous of them:

• Bakhrushins
• Mamontovs
• Shchukins
• Ryabushinsky
• Demidovs
• Tretyakovs
• Eliseevs
• Soltadenkovs

Nobles

The etymology of this word means that this is a certain person located at the princely or royal court. Members of the class passed on their status by inheritance from generation to generation, and with it the surname of their ancestors.

• Ancient nobility that received the title in the period before the second half of the 17th century: Scriabins, Eropkins.
• Nobles with the title of count, baron, prince, listed in genealogical books: Urusovs, Alabyshevs.
• Foreign nobility: surnames contain foreign language elements “de”, “von”, “von dem”.

Clergy

For clergy, surnames were most often used to designate the parish in which the priest worked: Uspensky, Voznesensky, Rozhdestvensky. Those who graduated from the seminary were assigned fictitious ones. The euphony depended on how diligent the student was. For example, someone who demonstrated outstanding academic success was given the surname Diamonds.

Service people

Those in government service also enjoyed special status and privileges from the sovereign. This is especially influenced by the fact that the rank of nobility could be obtained in the service. The appearance of such surnames dates back to the XVII - XVIII. They usually reflected the location of the employee or the territory of important battles and battles. These include:

• Kazantsev
• Bryantsev
• Moskovkin
• Kareltsev

Peasants

This class officially received surnames only after the revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy in the Russian Empire, although many rulers of the state made attempts to restore order with their nicknames. The surnames of serfs emphasized their low social status, most often associated with crafts and physical labor, as well as household equipment that was used for this:

• Melnikov
• Khomutov
• Sokhin
• Bochkarev
• Goncharov
• Brewers
• Cab drivers
• Karetin
• Basement
• Nebogatikov
• Bosyakov

If you find your last name on this list, it will be easier for you to understand what type of activity your ancestors had. This means that you have found the answer to one of the mysteries of your ancestry.

How to find and determine the origin of your surname yourself

If you are interested in in-depth independent searches and are committed to serious investigation, then you can make significant progress in the study of your ancestry. Here are tips to help you with this:

Find out more about genealogy

Very often, reading books and studying resources on this topic becomes a source of inspiration for your own research. Devote a few days to this, and then your work will become more orderly and conscious.

Purchase the necessary materials

It's difficult to keep all the information in your head. To make it more convenient for you to draw diagrams and record data, stock up on notepads and folders. You can even make a large table on a piece of Whatman paper indicating all the names of your close and distant relatives.

Dig through family archives

You probably have old documents at home: passports, birth certificates, certificates, extracts.

Get your relatives involved

Ask your parents, grandparents, what surnames were in your family. For women, it is especially important to find out their maiden names, which they had before marriage.

Getting to know your family history is a great opportunity to get together and feel the unity of family members.