What surnames are most common in Russia today? Which one is most common? You will probably say that the most common surname is Ivanov. And you can't go wrong. We have prepared a list for you that includes the most common surnames in Russia. We will also give several examples of the origin of the most common surnames in Russia.
Balanovskaya list
A group of researchers led by Elena Balanovskaya published a paper in 2005 in the journal Medical Genetics entitled “Family Portraits of Five Russian Regions.”
The criterion for inclusion of a surname in the list was as follows: it was included if, within three generations At least five bearers of this surname lived in the region. First, lists were compiled for five conditional regions - Northern, Central, Central-Western, Central-Eastern and Southern.
- The first 25 surnames from this list, the so-called “all-Russian surnames”:
Smirnov, Ivanov, Kuznetsov, Sokolov, Popov, Lebedev
Kozlov, Novikov, Morozov, Petrov, Volkov, Solovyov
Vasiliev, Zaitsev, Pavlov, Semenov, Golubev, Vinogradov
Bogdanov, Vorobyov, Fedorov, Mikhailov, Belyaev, Tarasov, Belov
A similar list was compiled by V. A. Nikonov based on the Moscow telephone directory in the 80s of the 20th century. Using extensive material (surnames of about 3 million people), he identified the most common Russian surnames (according to his data, Smirnov, Ivanov, Popov and Kuznetsov) and compiled a map of the distribution of these and other most common surnames.
At the end of the 20th century, Nazarov A.I. was compiled new list 100 most common surnames of residents of St. Petersburg, in which 17 new surnames compared to the previous list. Also, many of the names in it are not in the same places as at the beginning of the 20th century. The most popular: Ivanov, Vasiliev, Smirnov, Petrov, Mikhailov.
Zhuravlev's list is a modern edition.
Another list of the most popular Russian surnames (500 surnames), but more modern, was compiled by beginning of XXI century, a team of employees from the Department of Etymology and Onomastics of the Institute of Russian Language of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of A.F. Zhuravlev.
- The first 25 names from this list:
Ivanov, Smirnov, Kuznetsov, Popov, Vasiliev, Petrov, Sokolov, Mikhailov, Novikov, Fedorov, Morozov, Volkov, Alekseev, Lebedev, Semyonov, Egorov, Pavlov, Kozlov, Stepanov, Nikolaev, Orlov, Andreev, Makarov, Nikitin, Zakharov
The origin and meaning of some of them is curious.
The most common surname in Russia is Ivanov.
Initially, this is a patronymic from the form Ivan from the male name John. Ivanov is an original Russian surname, since the derivative name was in use for several centuries; among the peasantry it captured literally all men.
There are now thousands of Ivanovs in the Russian capital, among them there are even Ivan Ivanovichs. And this despite the fact that the surname Ivanov is not very typical for Moscow. But it is widespread in large centers. However, in some areas its absence, although not complete, is due to the fact that the name Ivan was used in other forms, from which patronymics became the progenitors of surnames.
There are more than a hundred of these forms. For example, the surname Ivin can be included here, since almost all Ivins received their surname not from the name of the Iva tree, but from Iva, a diminutive form of a popular male name. Another form of the name is Ivsha. Also diminutive forms of Ivan are Ishko and Itsko. The latter is more typical of Smolensk dialects or the Belarusian language. Ishko is a South Russian dialect or Ukrainian language.
Also, the ancient forms of the name Ivan are Ishunya and Ishuta. Previously, the surname Ivanov was used with an emphasis on the letter a. Nowadays the stress is often placed on the last syllable. It is worth noting that some bearers of this surname often insist on the emphasis on a. This seems nobler to them than the second pronunciation option.
In Moscow, the number of Ivanovs is relatively small. Much more of them live in regional centers. It is also necessary to note the huge number of forms of this surname: Ivanchikov, Ivankov and many others. By the way, other surnames that have names at their core were formed in absolutely the same way: Sidorovs, Egorovs, Sergeevs, Semenovs and many others.
No less common is the surname Smirnov.
- actor About seventy thousand owners of this surname live in Moscow alone. Why so much? It's simple. Previously, in a large family, peasant parents sighed with relief if quiet, not noisy children were born. This is a rather rare quality and is captured in the name Smirna. It, therefore, was often the main name of a person in life, since the church name was immediately forgotten.
The Smirnovs went from the Smirnykhs. Researchers note that this is the most common surname quite over a vast territory that covers the entire Northern Volga region, but most often Smirnovs are found in Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo and neighboring regions. As you move away from this zone, the surname is less common. The earliest mentions of this surname date back to the Vladimir tithe, when the following was written on birch bark: “Ivan Smirnov son of Samarin” or “Stepan the meek son of the Kuchuks.” Gradually the noun meek changed its emphasis. In addition to the usual surname, there are other derivatives that are less common, these are Smirenkin, Smirnitsky, Sminin, Smirensky.
It should also be added that the surname Smirnov is the ninth most common in the world. Today, more than 2.5 million people wear it. In Russia, most people have this surname in the Volga region and central regions: Kostroma, Ivanovo and Yaroslavl.
The surname Kuznetsov is the third most popular
It is easy to guess that the surname comes from the person’s type of activity. In ancient times, a blacksmith was a fairly respected and wealthy person. Moreover, blacksmiths were often considered almost sorcerers and were a little afraid. Of course: this man knew the secrets of fire, he could make a plow, a sword or a horseshoe from a piece of ore.
The surname Kuznetsov comes from the name of his father according to his occupation. The blacksmith used to be a necessary and famous person in his village, so he was called by this surname everywhere. By the way, there are thousands of Kuznetsovs in Moscow, although they are inferior in number to the Ivanovs.
The surname was most often found in the Penza province. Well, in the country as a whole, the distribution of the Kuznetsovs is limited due to the use of Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian dialects, but from the west to the southwest the surname with the stem “smith” still spreads. It is worth noting that other nations also have very common surnames where the stem means “blacksmith.” The British have the surname Smith, and the Germans have Schmidt.
Here it is worth noting such a fairly common Russian surname as Kovalev. Although the words “koval” in Russian literary language and no. But in Ukraine and southern Russia this is what a blacksmith was called.
But Kuznechikhin and Kovalikhin are derived from the name of a woman - the wife of a blacksmith. Kovankov and Kovalkov are Russified Belarusian and Ukrainian surnames. The names of birds and animals are also one of the sources of surnames and nicknames.
The origin of the surname - Popov - is also quite obvious.
- Russian physicist and electrical engineer, professor, inventor, state councilor Initially, Popov meant “son of a priest,” “son of a priest.” And here it is worth noting that not all Popovs or Popkovs are descendants of priests. Pop (or Popko) as a personal name was quite common among the laity. Religious parents happily named their children Popili and Popko. However, sometimes the surname Popov was given to a priest's worker, a farm laborer.
This surname is common especially in the north of Russia. The Popovs' calculations showed that in the Arkhangelsk province there are quite often a person with such a surname per thousand people.
There are thousands of Popovs in the Russian capital. Researchers suggest that in the north of Russia the surname spread due to the fact that the election of the clergy there, including priests, took place among the residents.
The basis of the Vasiliev surname was the church name Vasily.
Alexander Vasiliev “Spleen” The male baptismal name Vasily goes back to the Greek word basileus - “ruler, king.” Among the patrons of the name are the holy martyr Basil the Athenian, the holy martyr of the 4th century Basil of Ankyria, the Novgorod saint Basil the Blessed, who accomplished the feat of foolishness and tirelessly denounced lies and hypocrisy.
It should be noted that surnames formed from the full form of the name were mainly owned by the social elite, the nobility, or families that enjoyed great authority in the area, whose representatives were respectfully called by their neighbors by their full name, in contrast to people from other classes, who were usually called , diminutive, derivative, everyday names.
In addition, some Vasilyevs have noble origin. Several noble families of Vasiliev are known in the history of Russia.
No less interesting is the origin of the surname - Petrov.
Alexander Petrov - actor The surname Petrov goes back to the canonical male name Peter (translated from ancient Greek - “stone, rock”). Peter was one of the apostles of Christ, he founded Christian Church and was considered a very strong patron for humans.
The surname Petrov is one of the 10 most common in Russia (in some territories up to 6-7 people per thousand).
The name Peter became especially widespread in the 18th century, when this name began to be given in honor of Emperor Peter I. Surnames formed from the full form of the name were mainly used by the social elite, the nobility, or families that enjoyed great authority in the area, whose representatives were respected by neighbors were called by their full name, in contrast to other classes, who were called, as a rule, by diminutive, derivative, everyday names.
The patron of the name Peter was the Christian saint, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ - Peter. In Catholicism, it is believed that the Apostle Peter was the first Roman bishop, that is, the first pope. He was canonized in both the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
In Rome, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul was introduced, as the two most revered apostles, called the supreme holy apostles for their especially zealous service to the Lord and the spread of the faith of Christ.
In Rus', they believed that if you give a child the name of a saint or great martyr, then his life will be bright, good or difficult, because there is an invisible connection between the name and the fate of a person. Peter, over time received the surname Petrov.
The surname Mikhailov is no less popular.
Stas Mikhailov - artist The basis of the surname was church name Michael. The male baptismal name Michael translated from Hebrew means “equal, like God.” The surname Mikhailov was based on its ancient everyday form - Mikhailo.
Among the patrons of this name is the most revered biblical character. The Revelation of John the Theologian tells of the heavenly battle of the Archangel Michael and his angels with the seven-headed and ten-horned dragon, as a result of which the great dragon, the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, was cast down to earth.
Also in Russia, surnames that were based on the names of birds and animals have always been popular. Medvedevs, Volkovs, Skvortsovs, Perepelkins - this list can be continued endlessly. Among the first hundred most common Russian surnames“animal” ones are very common.
According to researchers, Russian surnames are more often associated with birds than with animals or fish. This is partly justified by the Russian cult of birds.
However, on the other hand, the main reason is not the cult of birds, but the everyday and economic role of birds in the life of Russian people: this includes widespread industrial hunting, poultry farming, which was celebrated in every family, and much more.
Among the “birds,” the most common surname in Russia is Sokolov.
Andrey Sokolov - actor This is a patronymic from the non-church Russian male name Sokol. According to some estimates, in St. Petersburg the surname ranked 7th in frequency, and of the surnames that were formed from non-canonical names, Sokolov was second only to Smirnov.
However, this surname, as mentioned above, appeared not only thanks to the name of the bird, but also thanks to the old Russian name. In honor of the beautiful and proud bird, parents often gave their sons the name Falcon. It was one of the most common non-church names. In general, it should be noted that the Russians very often used the names of birds to create names. Some scientists even believe that this is due to the cult of birds that our ancestors had.
"Bird" surname Lebedev
Another “bird” surname that made it onto our list. Researchers debate its origin. Most plausible version The appearance of the surname Lebedev is its origin from the non-church name Lebed.
Some scientists associate this surname with the city, which is located in the Sumy region.
There is a version that connects the origin of this surname with a special group of people - the “swan crowers”. These are the slaves who were supposed to deliver the swans to the prince's table. This was a special type of tax.
It is quite possible that this surname arose due to man’s admiration for this beautiful bird.
There is another theory regarding the Lebedev surname: it is believed that it was given to priests because of its euphony.
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“Whatever you call the boat, so it will float,” the famous captain Vrungel sang. Does it affect human destiny his last name? If your last name is the most popular in the world, are you destined to become equally popular? To find out, let's take a look at the most common surnames in the world.
Most popular surnames
The largest number - 300 million people - on Earth have the surname Li, Chang (Zhang), Wang. It is not difficult for us to guess that they are Chinese. In fact, this is all because the Chinese don’t have much to choose from - they are a billion 300 million people, but there are no options Chinese surnames only about 500 pieces. For comparison, it’s much easier for Russians - we have 15 thousand versions of family names.Anyone understands that if there are a lot of people and very few options, then a kind of shortage is created. Therefore, wherever you look, there are Lis or Vans. Lee's citizens number as many as 100,000,000 people. It is difficult to imagine such an “army” of namesakes. 7.9% of Chinese are simply Li. And how many more Vietnamese and even Russians... There is a hieroglyph of the same name in Chinese writing. He gave the name to this surname. This hieroglyph means strength.
The Chinese surname Zhang (Chang) translates to clan. There is another meaning of this word - the chapter of a book. Therefore, the surname Zhang speaks either of numerous relationships, or of the fact that its bearer is related to literature in his professional activity. Of course, this means historical origin family name. There are also about 100 million such namesakes.
The most common surname in Russia
Attempts to find out which surnames are most common in Russia have been made more than once. One of the first studies was carried out at the beginning of the 20th century by Oxford philologist Ottokar Genrikhovich Unbegaun, a native of Russia. He began research in St. Petersburg, opening its address book. It was called “All Petersburg”. According to this Russian scholar, in the Northern capital the most common surname in 1910 was Ivanov. And this is not surprising. After all, it comes from the “most Russian” name - Ivan. 
By the way, the second attempt to study Russian surnames has already modern Russia, undertaken by Anatoly Fedorovich Zhuravlev, again brought the same surname - Ivanov - to the forefront.
And only research by scientists from the Medical Genetics Center Russian Academy medical sciences have changed this result. Scientists have taken up the study of the issue on a large scale - they conditionally divided the country into hypothetical regions and studied them separately. In the end, their answer was that they won... the Smirnovs! A surname derived from the Russian word for "peaceful". In Unbegun's ranking, the Smirnovs are second, and Zhuravlev is fourth. In general, Unbegun's top five looks like this: Ivanov, Smirnov, Kuznetsov, Popov, Vasiliev. Option A.F. Zhuravleva: Ivanov, Vasiliev, Petrov, Smirnov, Mikhailov. And according to the third version, the popularity rating of Russian surnames looks like this: Smirnov, Ivanov, Kuznetsov, Popov, Sokolov.
Comparing all three works, we can say that the most common surnames in Russia are the surnames Ivanov and Smirnov, which are present at the top lines of popularity in all studies.
It should be noted that one of the most popular surnames in Russia is the surname Kuznetsov. If we translate it to English language, then we get the most common surname North America(after the Chinese surname Li, common there) - Smith. There are about 4,000,000 people on the planet who have this surname. And, if we add to the translations the variants Kovalev, Koval, then perhaps this surname “with the whole world” competes with Chinese popularity ratings.
In contrast to common surnames in Russia, we will consider the most unique, interesting and original surnames. It must be said that “surname” in translation means family, family. This is the name of a family that originates from distant ancestors. It must be said that initially the surname was a person’s nickname, speaking about his personal characteristics or profession, or personality characteristics.
Today, if you look at the telephone directory, you can see very funny, but at the same time unique surnames. We read there - God's Will, Suddenly Heaven, Kill the Wolf.
Most common names
One of the most common names on the planet, not surprisingly, again belongs to the Chinese. There are often men named Kim in the world.In Russia, men are most often called Alexandra. This name is international; it can be found among other languages.
But, despite the fact that the name Kim belongs to the largest nation on Earth, and men named Alexander are found all over the world, the most common male name in the world - Muhammad and his variants. In honor of the prophet of Islam, newborn boys are most often named in all countries where this religion is widespread.
Among female names, the palm is held by Anna and his variations. Translated from Hebrew, it means favor, favor, blessing. You can read more about the most common names.
In India, in one of the provinces, parents “compete” in coming up with unusual names for their offspring. There you can meet people called “Silver Dollar” or “Two Kilos of Rice.”
There is a woman in the USA whose name consists of 598 letters. And the lady refuses to cut it. Well, at least close friends are allowed to call her short version name, otherwise, by the time they greeted the hostess when they came to visit, they would already have to say goodbye.
Among famous people the leader in unusual name is the artist Pablo Picasso, full name which sounds - Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispin Crispiano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz and Picasso. There are 93 letters in total. True, for the Spaniards such pretentiousness is not a very rare occurrence.
The most common surname in the world
So, the ranking of the most common surnames looks like this: the top lines are occupied by the Chinese Li, Zhang and Wang. Next comes Vietnamese surname- Nguyen. Following Nguyen are the Spanish-speaking Garcia, Gonzalez, and Hernandez. Then the Anglo-American Smiths. And finally, the Russian Smirnovs. Rounding out the top ten popular surnames are the Millers (Müllers, Millyars) - which in Russian means miller.Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen
They say “whatever you name the boat, that’s how it will float.” Does this mean that a popular last name can make a person popular too?
Among the most popular surnames there are not only Chinese or English, but also Russian, Spanish, African and even Greek.
Here are the most common surnames in the world:
The most famous surnames
25. Smith
This surname appeared in England and gradually spread throughout English-speaking countries. Today, Smith is the most common surname in the US, UK, Canada, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.
24. Garcia
It is easy to guess that this surname is the most popular in Spain. However, it is also the second most popular in Cuba and third in Mexico. Due to the fact that many Latin Americans come to work in the United States, the surname Garcia is in 8th place in popularity here.
23. Martin
In France, more than 235,000 people have this surname, making it the most popular in the country. It's also worth noting that many languages have other versions of this surname that are used as given names rather than surnames, such as names like Martinus or Martin, which come from Latin.
22. Rossi
In Italian plural This surname is Rosso, which means "red". In Italy this is the most common surname. However, it is also very popular in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Peru, USA and Uruguay.
21. Novak
This surname translates as " new person", "newbie" or "foreigner". This is a very popular Slavic name or last name. Most bearers of this surname live in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, but it is also very popular in Croatia, Serbia and Romania.
The most common surnames
20. Fernandez
This surname is translated as “son of Fernando.” It is a very popular surname in Spain (ranked 8th), 4th most popular in Argentina, 10th in Paraguay and 13th in Mexico. In Portugal this surname is also quite common.
19. Smirnov
Researchers from the Medical Genetic Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences decided to deeply study the issue of the most popular surname. They divided Russian Federation into hypothetical regions, each of which was studied in detail.
As a result of the study, it turned out that the most popular surname in Russia is Smirnov. It will be interesting to note that one version of the origin of the surname says that the basis of the surname was the word “Smirnaya”, which denoted a character trait (“smirny” = “obedient”).
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Kuznetsov
18. Silva
More than 10% of all Brazilians have this surname, making it the most common in the country. This surname comes from the Latin word "silva", which means "forest" or "wooded area". It is also popular in Portugal and former Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (including India and Sri Lanka).
17. Mohamed
This name translates as “Praised”, “Worthy of Praise” and is the most popular first and last name in the Islamic world. There are several versions of this name, including Mahomet (Magomed), Mohammed and Muhammad.
16. Kumar
The roots of this surname can be found in the early development of Hinduism. This is not only the most popular name in India, but also a surname and even a patronymic. Kumar is also the 8th most popular surname in the world.
15. Gonzales
This is a very popular Spanish name and the second most popular surname. In addition, it is very common in Latin America, including countries such as Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela.
What are the most common surnames?
14. Muller
The German word "muller" (also spelled "mueller" or "miller") is translated as "miller". This is the most popular surname in Germany, Switzerland and parts of France. In Austria, it ranks 5th on the list of the most common surnames in the country.
13. Cohen
Originally, the word "kohen" in Hebrew was used to describe a priest. This is also very popular Jewish surname, and can often be heard in countries where large Jewish communities are present. There are several variants of this surname: Coen, Cohn, Kahn, Kohn and others.
12. Nguyen
Without any competition, this surname is the most popular in Vietnam, where about 40% of residents are its carriers. But this surname is also popular outside the country, thanks to many immigrants from Vietnam.
11. Khan
This surname and title are of Mongolian origin. Initially, Khan was the title of tribal leader, and in the states that emerged after the collapse of the Mongol Empire it was the title of sovereign. IN Ottoman Empire The Sultan was called Khan. Today it is the most popular surname in the countries of central and south asia. It is one of the most common surnames in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Oman and Turkey.
10. Rodriguez
A very popular surname in Spain, the USA and Latin American countries. Rodriguez means "descendant of Rodrigo" and is the most common surname in Colombia, the second most common in Argentina and the 9th most common in Brazil, where it is often written as "Rodrigues".
Top surnames
9. Wang
This is the most popular surname in China. In total, about 100,000 residents of the country are its owners. In second place among popular Chinese surnames is Lee, and in third is Zhang.
8. Anderson
This surname comes from a word of descent meaning "descendant of Anders/Andrew". The surname appeared in parallel in the British Isles and in the countries northern Europe. Anderson is a popular surname in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (where it is spelled "Andersen").
7. Yilmaz
This surname is translated as “brave” or “invincible”. She is very popular in Turkey. There were no surnames in Turkey until 1934, and after the adoption of the “Law on Surnames” the most popular surnames were Kaya, Demir and Sahin, but the most popular and by a large margin was the surname Yilmaz.
6. Traore
This surname has roots in the Manden languages. Traoré is a very popular surname in several West African countries, including Mali, Senegal and Guinea.
The most common surname in Russia
5. Ivanov
It is worth noting that many attempts have been made to find out which surname is still the most popular in Russia.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Oxford University philologist Ottokar Genrikhovich Unbegaun, who was a native of Russia, was one of the first to try to find out the most popular surname. He started with St. Petersburg, where, in his opinion, the most common surname in 1910 was Ivanov, which comes from one of the most popular Russian names, Ivan.
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Kuznetsov
Vasiliev.
The second attempt took place in modern Russia. Anatoly Fedorovich Zhuravlev, trying to find out which surname is the most popular in his homeland, came to the same result - the surname Ivanov.
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Mikhailov.
Vasiliev
4. Ahmed
Very popular Arabic name Ahmed also boasts big amount various options his spellings are Akhmad, Akhmet, Akhmat. The most popular options in the world are Akhmet and Ahmad. Many people named Ahmed can be found in Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Bangladesh and other countries.
The most common surnames in the world
3. Lopez
This surname comes from the Latin word "lupus", which means "wolf". Lopez is popular Spanish name. In Portugal it sounds like Lopes, in Italy - Lupo, in France - Loup, in Romania - Lupu or Lupescu. In Latin America, the surname Lopez is also very popular.
2. Kim
Sometimes this surname is written as Gim. It is very common on the Korean Peninsula (both South and North Korea). About 22% of the peninsula's inhabitants bear the surname Kim, which can be translated as "metal", "iron" or "gold".
1. Papadopoulos
The meaning of this surname is “son of a priest.” Papadopoulos is the most popular surname in Greece and Cyprus, as well as in countries where there is a Greek diaspora, such as the USA, UK, Australia and the Scandinavian countries.
What is the most common Russian surname?
If we take all three studies into account, we can say that Ivanov and Smirnov are the most common surnames in Russia. However, it is worth noting that one of the most popular surnames today is also the surname Kuznetsov (Kuznetsova). And if you consider that in English blacksmith is smith, then there are several million bearers of this surname on Earth.
Scientists managed to compile full list true Russian surnames by region of the country: Kuban turned out to be Russian
Unfortunately, the interpretations of family analysis that appeared in the media this summer (after the first publication of data in a specialized scientific journal) could create a false impression about the goals and results of the enormous work of scientists; the main thing was not that the surname Smirnov turned out to be more common among Russian people, than Ivanov, but the fact that for the first time a complete list of truly Russian surnames was compiled by region of the country. At the same time, scientists had to spend a lot of time collecting Russian surnames on their own.
The Central Election Commission and local election commissions flatly refused to cooperate with scientists, citing the fact that only if voter lists are kept secret can they guarantee the objectivity and integrity of elections to federal and local authorities. The criterion for inclusion of a surname in the list was very lenient: it was included if at least five bearers of this surname lived in the region for three generations.
First, lists were compiled for five conditional regions - Northern, Central, Central-Western, Central-Eastern and Southern. In total, across all regions there were about 15 thousand Russian surnames, most of which were found only in one of the regions and were absent in others. When superimposing regional lists on top of each other, scientists identified a total of 257 so-called “all-Russian surnames.”
It is interesting that at the final stage of the study they decided to add the names of residents to the list of the Southern region Krasnodar region, expecting predominance Ukrainian surnames the descendants of the Zaporozhye Cossacks evicted here by Catherine II will be significantly reduced by the all-Russian list. But this additional restriction reduced the list of all-Russian surnames by only 7 units - to 250. Which led to the obvious and not pleasant conclusion for everyone that Kuban is populated mainly by Russian people. Where did the Ukrainians go and were they even here at all is a big question.
The analysis of Russian surnames generally gives food for thought. Even the simplest action - searching for the names of all the country's leaders - gave an unexpected result. Only one of them was included in the list of bearers of the top 250 all-Russian surnames - Mikhail Gorbachev (158th place). The surname Brezhnev occupies 3767th place in the general list (found only in the Belgorod region of the Southern region). The surname Khrushchev is in 4248th place (found only in the Northern region, Arhangelsk region). Chernenko took 4749th place (Southern region only). Andropov has 8939th place (Southern region only). Putin took 14250th place (Southern region only). But Yeltsin didn’t get into common list. Stalin's surname - Dzhugashvili - was not considered for obvious reasons. But the pseudonym Lenin was included in the regional lists at number 1421, second only to the first president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev.
250 MOST RUSSIAN SURNAMES
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We are used to the fact that every person has a surname. And are there any exceptions? Are there many surnames in the world? When and where did the very first one appear? Which of them are the most popular around the world and in individual countries? If you are interested in the answers to these questions, read about everything in order in the article.
Inheritance from ancestors varies
Nowadays it is impossible to imagine a person without a surname. Nevertheless, such people exist. For example, in Iceland people use only their personal name and patronymic (patronymic). And at the beginning of the 20th century. this country even passed a law prohibiting native Icelanders from having a surname. Since then, only foreigners or those with foreign roots have it. In addition, residents of underdeveloped countries in Africa and Asia do not have surnames; they use nicknames to distinguish them. In the rest of the world, people have long been accustomed to using generic names and cannot imagine their life without them. Over time, the most common and popular surnames. And some, on the contrary, have become rare and outlandish.
Comes from ancient times
The origin of this specific generic name dates back to the times Ancient Rome. The Latin word familia means “family” or “clan”. In Rus', such self-names appeared in the 14th century. and gradually replaced personal nicknames. In any country, the first surnames were given to noble persons, and then the tradition passed to other classes, gradually reaching the lowest.
Reflecting the characteristics of a particular language and culture, there are many different surnames in the world. It is difficult to calculate how many there are in the world, but we can highlight the most popular surnames. If you look at this rating, you get the impression: the shorter, the more popular. The top four lines are occupied by Asian family names, because often popular surnames were formed from hieroglyphs.
The first five of the very best
First place - Lee (Lee, Li, Ly). According to unofficial statistics, more than 100 million people in the world wear it. Most of them live in China, Vietnam and Korea, but among them there are many Europeans and Americans who inherited this family name from some ancestor.
In second place in the ranking of “Most Popular Surnames” is Chang (Chang, Zhang). This Chinese surname appeared more than 4 thousand years ago, and during this time it has become one of the most common in Asia and around the world. She has Zhang and Chen options.
Third place - Wang (or Wong, written in Latin as Wang). Like many popular surnames, it originated in China. There is nothing surprising here if we remember that about one and a half billion of the population of our planet are Chinese by nationality. And since there are only 450 Chinese surnames, it becomes clear why some of them are repeated so often.
Fourth place is the Vietnamese surname Nguyen. It is so common that in Vietnam itself, 40% of citizens wear it. This is difficult to imagine in a European country.
Second top five
Fifth place - Garcia. Many people have heard this one. It is extremely popular in Spain itself, as well as in countries South America, in Cuba and the Philippines.
Sixth place - Gonzales (or Gonzales). Another very common surname in the Spanish-speaking world.
Seventh place - Hernandez. Formed in the 15th century, this family name is now worn by residents of Spain, Chile, Mexico, the USA and some other countries.
The last three popular surnames in the global top ten come from English, Russian and German.
Eighth place - Smith. It is the most common surname in England, Australia and the USA. Translated into Russian it means “blacksmith”.
Many popular ones are associated with the names of professions. For example: Potter (“potter”), Miller (“miller”), Baker (“baker”), Cook (“cook”), Ward (“guard”), Butler (“butler”), etc. The names of paints no less often became the source from which such popular English surnames, like Brown (“brown”), White (“white”), Green (“green”), Gray (“gray”), Black (“black”), etc.
Ninth place - Smirnov. There are several versions of the origin of this surname. According to one of them, it comes from the word “meek,” and according to another, from the Old Russian greeting: “With a new world!” Just like the English, popular surnames in Russia are often derived from the names of their first professions: Kuznetsov, Melnikov, Goncharov, Popov, Stolyarov.
Tenth place in the world ranking - Muller. This is also a “professional” generic name: translated from German it means “miller”. This surname is common in all countries that speak this language: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg.
Studying surnames is a fascinating activity and also one of the ways to immerse yourself in the language and culture of a particular country.
