The meaning of the word surname is original. Why do Russians have such surnames?

The first Russian surnames appeared in the 13th century, but most remained “nicknameless” for another 600 years. All you needed was your first name, patronymic and profession.

When did surnames appear in Rus'?

The fashion for surnames came to Rus' from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Back in the 12th century, Veliky Novgorod established close contacts with this state. Noble Novgorodians can be considered the first official owners of surnames in Rus'.

The earliest known list of the dead with the names: “Novgorodets that fall: Kostyantin Lugotinits, Gyurata Pineshchinich, Namst, Drochilo Nezdylov son of a tanner...” (First Novgorod chronicle of the older edition, 1240). Surnames helped in diplomacy and in recording troops. This made it easier to distinguish one Ivan from another.

Boyar and princely families

In the XIV-XV centuries, Russian princes and boyars began to take surnames. Surnames were often formed from the names of the lands. Thus, the owners of the estate on the Shuya River became the Shuiskys, on Vyazma - the Vyazemskys, on Meshchera - the Meshcherskys, the same story with the Tverskys, Obolenskys, Vorotynskys and other -skys.

It must be said that -sk- is a common Slavic suffix; it can also be found in Czech surnames(Comenius), and in Polish (Zapototsky), and in Ukrainian (Artemovsky).

Boyars also often received their surnames from the baptismal name of the ancestor or his nickname: such surnames literally answered the question “whose?” (implied “whose son?”, “what kind?”) and included possessive suffixes.

The suffix -ov- was added to worldly names ending in hard consonants: Smirnoy - Smirnov, Ignat - Ignatov, Petr - Petrov.

The suffix -Ev- was added to names and nicknames with soft sign, -y, -ey or h: Medved - Medvedev, Yuri - Yuryev, Begich - Begichev.

The suffix -in- was given to surnames formed from given names with the vowels “a” and “ya”: Apukhta -Apukhtin, Gavrila - Gavrilin, Ilya -Ilyin.

Why are the Romanovs - Romanovs?

The most famous surname in the history of Russia - the Romanovs. Their ancestor Andrei Kobyla (a boyar from the time of Ivan Kalita) had three sons: Semyon Zherebets, Alexander Elka Kobylin and Fyodor Koshka. From them descended the Zherebtsovs, Kobylins and Koshkins, respectively.

After several generations, descendants decided that a surname from a nickname was not noble. Then they first became the Yakovlevs (after the great-grandson of Fyodor Koshka) and the Zakharyins-Yuryevs (after the names of his grandson and another great-grandson), and remained in history as the Romanovs (after the great-great-grandson of Fyodor Koshka).

Aristocratic surnames

The Russian aristocracy initially had noble roots, and among the nobles there were many people who came to Russian service from abroad. It all started with surnames of Greek and Polish-Lithuanian origin at the end of the 15th century, and in the 17th century they were joined by the Fonvizins (German von Wiesen), the Lermontovs (Scottish Lermont) and other surnames with Western roots.

Also, the surnames that were given to illegitimate children of noble people have foreign language bases: Sherov (French cher “dear”), Amantov (French amant “beloved”), Oksov (German Ochs “bull”), Herzen (German Herz “heart” ").

By-product children generally “suffered” a lot from their parents’ imagination. Some of them didn't bother to come up with new name, but simply shortened the old one: so from Repnin Pnin was born, from Trubetskoy - Betskoy, from Elagin - Agin, and from Golitsyn and Tenishev the “Koreans” Go and Te came out. The Tatars also left a significant mark on Russian surnames. This is exactly how the Yusupovs (descendants of Murza Yusup), the Akhmatovs (Khan Akhmat), the Karamzins (Tatar punishment “black”, Murza “lord, prince”), the Kudinovs (distorted Kaz.-Tatar. Kudai “God, Allah”) and other.

Surnames of servicemen

Following the nobility, ordinary service people began to receive surnames. They, like the princes, were also often called by their place of residence, only with “simpler” suffixes: families living in Tambov became Tambovtsevs, in Vologda - Vologzhaninovs, in Moscow - Moskvichevs and Moskvitinovs. Some were satisfied with the “non-family” suffix, denoting a resident of a given territory in general: Belomorets, Kostromich, Chernomorets, while others received the nickname without any changes - hence Tatyana Dunay, Alexander Galich, Olga Poltava and others.

Surnames of clergy

The surnames of the priests were formed from the names of churches and Christian holidays (Rozhdestvensky, Uspensky), and were also artificially formed from Church Slavonic, Latin and Greek words. The most interesting of them were those that were translated from Russian into Latin and received the “princely” suffix -sk-. Thus, Bobrov became Kastorsky (Latin castor “beaver”), Skvortsov became Sturnitsky (Latin sturnus “starling”), and Orlov became Aquilev (Latin aquila “eagle”).

When the peasants began to acquire surnames, for superstitious reasons, from the evil eye, they gave their children surnames that were not the most pleasant: Nelyub, Nenash, Nekhoroshiy, Blockhead, Kruchina. After the revolution, queues began to form at passport offices from those who wanted to change their surname to a more euphonious one.

Samoilov Andrey

Own surname – distinctive sign person in society. It also happens that a person is no longer there, but the surname lives on, and when people call the surname, they remember the person. But not all of us think about the origin, method of education or age of our surname. The study of surnames is valuable for science. It allows you to more fully imagine the events of recent centuries, the history of science, literature, and art. Surnames are a kind of living history.

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City scientific and practical conference

"Intellectuals of the 21st century"

Research work on the topic:

“The history of the emergence of Russian surnames”

Completed by: 10th grade student

MOAU "Secondary School No. 10" Buzuluk

Samoilov Andrey

Head: history teacher

MOAU "Secondary School No. 10" Buzuluk

Pirogov Sergey Ivanovich

Buzuluk, 2014

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….3

1. Onomastics as a branch of linguistics……………………………………...5
2. Origin of Russian surnames……………………………………..7
3. Methods of forming Russian surnames…………………………………9
4. Classification of Russian surnames……………………………………15
5. The origin of my own surname…………………………..16
6. The most common surnames in Russia, in Buzuluk, in our school…………………………………………………………………………………17
7. Etymology of the surnames of my classmates……………………………22

Conclusion…………………………………………………………….27

References………………………………………………………30

Introduction

Names are written in capital letters,
From the words of others, highlighting them.
It’s not for nothing that we were given the surname:
In the world, we will find relatives using it.

Family Tree - many names,
But there is a trunk in it - one surname.
It contains everything with which life is endowed,
She will explain to us who is who.

And its origins are only from it,
We can find it on Earth.
Without her, we have lost our roots,
We will wander like blind people in the darkness.

After all, the surname was given to us from above,
There is a family and our name in it.
And there are no bad or unnecessary surnames,
Everyone is needed, everyone is important to people.

(Markovtsev Yu. “Last name”)

Purpose of the study:study the history of Russian surnames and their meanings.

Hypothesis: Russian surnames reflect the cultural and historical development of the nation.

Research objectives:

Get acquainted with the section of onomastics - anthroponymy

Study the history of the origin of surnames in Rus'

Explore ways of forming Russian surnames

Classify Russian surnames by their origin

Analyze the origin of your own surname

Reveal the most common surnames in Russia, in the city of Buzuluk and in our school

- analyze the etymology of the surnames of my classmates.

The relevance of research.It was no coincidence that I chose the topic for my research - “The history of the emergence of Russian surnames.” In my opinion, this topic is relevant at any time, because every person would like to know the history of the surname, its meaning and their predecessors. INIn the 21st century, people were especially interested in surnames, and as a result, many commercial companies appeared ready to provide information from the archives. The study of surnames is of great interest to scientists: sociologists, historians and ethnographers.Each of us communicates every day with by different people– friends, colleagues, relatives. Every day we hear, read, pronounce or write dozens of names of different people. We watch television programs and movies, where the main characters are almost always people. All citizens of our country have surnames recorded in documents. His own surname is his distinctive sign in society. It also happens that a person is no longer there, but the surname lives on, and when people call the surname, they remember the person. But not all of us think about the origin, method of education or age of our surname. The study of surnames is valuable for science. It allows you to more fully imagine the events of recent centuries, the history of science, literature, and art. Surnames are a kind of living history. Indeed, the information provided by surnames is very broad: this includes toponymy, information about disappeared professions, the history of work and life, the history of the country, the history of the language.

In my work I used the followingresearch methods:structuring, analysis, generalization.

Organization of the study:

On the first stage: theoretical analysis of the research problem, construction of a hypothesis.

On the second stage was carried out: selection of research methods, search for material.

On the third stage: generalization of experience and substantiation of logic, study of cultural elements specified by traditions in the analysis of the research text.

1. Onomastics as a branch of linguistics.

Onomastics is a branch of linguistics that studies proper names, the history of their origin and transformation as a result of prolonged use in the source language or in connection with borrowing into other languages. The word comes from the Greek word onomastikos - relating to the name. Onomastics consists of several sections. Toponymy studies the names of geographical objects (toponyms), their meaning, structure, and origin. Zoonymy considers the proper names (nicknames) of animals. Astronomy is the name and origin of astronomical objects, cosmonymy is the name of zones and parts of the Universe, theonymy is the names of the gods. Anthroponymy is a section of onomastics that studies anthroponyms, that is, people’s proper names, origin, changes in these names, geographical distribution and social functioning, structure.

Anthroponymy as a science developed abroad in the first half of the 20th century. The literature on it is enormous. Fundamental works were created by Albert Doza (France), Adolf Bach (Germany), Witold Taszycki (Poland). In many countries around the world, dictionaries of surnames have been created. Academician A. I. Sobolevsky, N. M. Tupikov, and later A. M. Selishchev and his student V. K. Chichagov worked in the field of Russian anthroponymy. A broad study of Russian surnames began in 1968 at the First All-Union Anthroponymic Conference and the works of O. N. Trubachev on the etymology of surnames in Russia.

Thus, onomastics deals with the study of the origin of surnames, and more specifically its section - anthroponymy.

In the modern Russian anthroponymic system, each person has a personal name (selected from a limited list), patronymic and surname.

Before you begin researching the issue of the origin of surnames, you need to understand what this word means. It turns out that this word comes from Latin language familia, translated means family. Historically, a surname is a community of people consisting of masters and slaves belonging to it. At the dawn of its origin, it meant an inherited family name, indicating to which clan its bearer belonged. In its modern meaning, a surname denotes an inherited family name added to a person’s name. Historians who have studied the origin of surnames have come to the conclusion that the first surnames arose in the economically developed countries of Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries, and then spread to France, Germany, and England. In Rus', the origin of surnames began somewhat later than in Europe - in the 13th-14th centuries. This was due to the technological and economic backwardness of Russia from other countries. The beginning of Russian surnames was laid in the Novgorod province. They were more like nicknames. They were not distributed. Later, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the first Russian surnames arose among representatives of the wealthy, noble classes. Most of the Russian peasantry long years got by without last names. And only after the abolition of serfdom under Alexander II in 1861, she acquired surnames.

In S.I. Ozhegov’s “Dictionary of the Russian Language” this word has several meanings:

1.Last name is a hereditary family name added to the personal name.

2. A surname is a series of generations descending from one ancestor, as well as a generation in general.

3. Same as family (outdated).

The emergence of surnames in modern understanding happened late, and was associated with expanding economic ties and the need to regulate the institution of inheritance. They first appeared in the economically developed areas of Northern Italy in X-XI centuries. Subsequently, the process of active formation of surnames began in the southeast of France, in Piedmont, and gradually spread throughout France. In England, the process of forming surnames began after its conquest by the Normans in 1066 and ended by the 15th century, although in Wales and Scotland the formation of surnames continued in the 18th century. A similar situation arose in Germany, where the formation of surnames of German peasants continued in the 19th century. At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, surnames reached Denmark. In 1526, the king ordered all Danish nobles to acquire surnames. From Denmark and Germany, surnames passed to the Swedes.

1. Origin of Russian surnames.

Surnames in Russian nominal formulaappeared quite late. Citizens were the first to acquire surnames in Russian landsVeliky Novgorod, probably adopted this custom from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Thus, Novgorod chroniclers mention many surnames and nicknames already in the 13th century. For example, in the chronicles of those years, among the Novgorodians who fell in the Battle of the Neva, Kostyantin and Lugotinitsa appear. Then in XIV-XV centuries acquired surnames Moscow specific princes and boyars . It is interesting that the emergence of the surname began to be associated with the moment when the prince, having lost his inheritance, still retained his name as a nickname for himself and his descendants (Tverskoy, Vyazemsky). At the end of the 15th century, the first surnames appeared among Russian nobles foreign origin: Akhmatovs (descendants of the Tatars), Fonvizins, Lermontovs (surnames from Western countries). To end XVIII - mid-XIX centuries the majority of the population of central Russia did not have surnames. Mass assignment of surnames began after the abolition of serfdom in 1861. The peasants became independent, and then the need for surnames arose. As a rule, Russian surnames were single and passed down only through the male line.The history of most Russian surnames goes back only about 100 years. Officially, the bulk of the Russian population received surnames only after the first and only All-Russian population census in 1897. Until that moment, surnames existed in villages only in the form of nicknames (“street surnames”). Those who conducted this census did not mince words when choosing a surname for the peasants. Mostly they were given by the patronymic of the father or grandfather. Therefore, from the list of the 100 most popular Russian surnames, the first places are occupied by Ivanov, Vasiliev, Petrov, Mikhailov, Fedorov, Yakovlev, Andreev, Alexandrov...

Why are there so many Ivans in Rus'? In Russian Orthodox Church there were (and still are) special books - monthly books, or calendars. In the month's book, for each day of each month, the names of the saints who are honored by the church on that day are written down. Before the baptismal ceremony, the priest offered a choice of several names that were listed in the calendar for the child’s birthday. However, sometimes the priest made concessions and, at the request of the parents, gave another name, which was not listed in the calendar for that day. This, in fact, explains that sometimes a name that is rarely found in the calendar appears quite often in life. So, Slavic names Faith, Hope and Love in pre-revolutionary times were often given to children, despite the fact that Faith in the calendar appears only 2 times a year (September 30 and October 14), and Hope and Love - only once each. But, in any case, the child could only be given the name that was in the calendar. No “free thinking” was allowed here.

The name Ivan (John) appears most often in the complete calendar, 170 times (!), i.e. almost every other day. That is why the surname “Ivanov” is the most common Russian surname.

It is curious, but while conducting a study of the official Russian surnames of the Moscow province in 1858 in the Dmitrov and Zvenigorod districts, it turned out that such surnames as Ivanov, Vasiliev and Petrov were never found in the villages in the middle of the last century! The most common surnames were Kozlov (36th place among the most popular surnames in 1900, according to B.O. Unbegun), Volkov (22), Komarov (80)...

It turns out that the most common Russian surname Ivanov is of artificial, “bureaucratic” origin, and what’s most interesting is that its occurrence could partly be attributed to... lack of time! Officials simply had no time to think about and find out the true nicknames that existed in the villages. If the peasants did not have an officially assigned surname, the official should have come up with one. For reasons that are still unclear, the census compilers in most cases did not find out the real village nicknames from the peasants, but did what was easier. Since your father is Ivan, you will be Ivanov! Such an approach to distinguishing between people in the village itself was unacceptable. Agree, it was strange to call a street nickname in the village the Ivanovs, if every second (or third) in this village was Ivan. More significant distinguishing features were needed.

1. Methods of forming Russian surnames.

In order to professionally talk about surnames, you need to start with the most important thing - how were they formed?

Gorbanevsky’s book lists 5 main ways of forming Russian surnames:

1. Surnames formed from canonical and various folk forms of baptismal Christian names.

2. Surnames that have retained worldly names at their core. Worldly names came from pagan times, when church names did not exist: many of them were simply proper names, others arose as nicknames, but then their basis was forgotten and they became just names. Superstitious parents gave third names to their children in order to save them from various everyday problems: it was here that princes named Farmhand and Golik, priests named Devil and Satan, and, finally, numerous Fools and Blockheads who were not such appeared. The parents had only one concern: let the child safely avoid the troubles that the name given to him entails.

Z. Surnames formed from the professional nicknames of their ancestors, telling which of them did what. Hence the Goncharovs, Ovsyannikovs, Cherepennikovs, Bondarchuks, Kuznetsovs, etc.

4. Surnames formed from the name of the area where one of the ancestors was from (the basis of such surnames was various geographical names - cities, villages, villages, rivers, lakes, etc.): Meshcheryakov, Semiluksky, Novgorodtsev, Moskvitinov, etc. d.

5. The most interesting group of Russian surnames belonged to the Orthodox clergy: Apollonov, Gilyarovsky, Troitsky, Rozhdestvensky. By the way, Luzhkov, Vysotsky, Ozerov and even Mayorov and Luminantov.

Some experts will ask: “But many Russian surnames are of Muslim, Buddhist or Jewish origin?” The answer is simple: all the surnames of peoples existing in our time globe arose under approximately the same circumstances. But only the Russian Orthodox clergy, which, unlike other faiths, never tried to “press the Bessermen under their fingernails,” introduced an enviable diversity into Russian surnames. It was here that the names of Hyacinths and Tuberoses, Cypresses and Ptolemies, Caesars and Emperors and many others arose as a result of special word creation.

The bulk of Russian surnames have the suffixes -ov/-ev, -in, from the answer to the question “whose?” -ov is added to nicknames or names with a hard consonant (Maksim-Maksim-ov), -ev is added to names or nicknames with a soft consonant (Andrei- Andre-ev), -in - is added to bases with a, ya (Ilya - Il- in). This also includes surnames by occupation: miller - Melnik-ov, weaver - Tkach-ev, kozhemyaka - Kozhemyak-in.

The second largest group of surnames was formed from the suffixes –skiy/-skoy and –tskiy/-tskaya. These suffixes are most often found in princely surnames and surnames of the gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. If a prince owned, for example, a lake, then his surname could be Ozersky (owner of the lake), Gorsky (owner of the mountains), that is, the territorial inheritance was transferred with the surname. Many surnames are associated with the clergy: Voznesensky (from the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord), Troitsky (from the Feast of the Holy Trinity).IN early XVIII centuries the clergy, the only one of the classesRussian Empire, had the privilege free change of surname and became the only social group in Russia, which introduced artificial surnames into use: Sinaisky, Athensky, Athos. This was due to the fact that many clergy who came from serfs had dissonant surnames (for example: Pyankov).

The spread of the once aristocratic endings –ovich, -inich in the lower strata of society was accompanied by a reduction (with careless pronunciation) of their form by skipping the syllables –ov and –in, for example: Fominich, Ilyinich => Fomich, Ilyich.

At first, surnames arose among feudal lords. There was hereditary land ownership, and it was this that attracted the emergence of hereditary names. Most of the princely (and then boyar) surnames pointed to those lands that belonged to the feudal lord, or entirely to the area where he was from. This is how the surnames of the boyars arose

Shuisky (after the name of the river and the city of Shuya), princes Vyazemsky (the Vyazemsky family also owes the existence of this surname to the river - Vyazma). No less “transparent” from this point of view are such ancient surnames as Eletsky, Zvenigorodsky, Meshchersky, Tverskoy, Tyumensky, etc.

The first Russian surnames are found in ancient documents dating back to the 15th century. But they could have existed earlier. Sometimes there were violent class feuds around surnames. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (father of Peter I) forbade the Romodanovsky princes to add a second, traditional - Starodubsky, to their first surname, since the second surname corresponded to the ancient inheritance of the Romodanovskys, and this did not fully correspond to the ideas of the Moscow tsars about centralization. So, after the royal decree, one of the Romodanovskys, Grigory tearfully beat his forehead to “The Quietest” (as we remember, that’s what Alexei Mikhailovich was called): “Have mercy, don’t tell me to take away our old honor!” You see how tightly the princes clung to their birthright...

But most of the people who inhabited our country did not have surnames. What happened? One has only to look into the archival documents that have come down to us from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and the answer will be found. Nicknames and patronymics are what, in addition to names, served as a social sign for our ancestors. Let's open the yellowed pages of ancient documents, vital records: “Ivan Mikitin is the son, and the nickname is Menshik,” record of 1568; “Onton Mikiforov is the son, and the nickname is Zhdan,” document of 1590; “Guba Mikiforov’s son Crooked cheeks, landowner,” record of 1495 ; “Danilo Soplya, peasant,” 1495; “Efimko Vorobey, peasant,” 1495... Thus, the surnames Mikitin, Nikitin, Menshikov, Mikiforov, Nikiforov, Zhdanov, Krivoshchekov, Soplin, Vorobyov could subsequently arise.

Nicknames were given to people by their relatives, neighbors, class and social environment. Moreover, nicknames, as a rule, reflected some characteristic features inherent in this particular person and not another. Having become entrenched in surnames, these traits and characteristics of our distant ancestors have survived to this day. This is how it could be.

Once upon a time there lived a white-haired man. They called him Belyak. His children began to be called Belyakovs: “Whose are they?” - “Whose, Belyakovs.” The surname Belyakov appeared. But the person wearing it now may well not be blond, but brown-haired or even brunette. On the other hand, some citizen Chernyshev, whose distant ancestor was called Chernysh for the pitch-black color of his hair, may well now be blond. Another person, for his addiction to chatter - “screaming” - could be nicknamed Vereshchaga, and his children Vereshchagin. But he could well have had a silent neighbor, who also had a nickname - Molchan. The Molchanovs could have come from him.

Often, a person received the name of some animal or bird as a nickname, so the nickname noted the person’s appearance, his character or habits.

One might be nicknamed Rooster for his pugnacity, another for long legs Crane, third Snake - for the ability to always wriggle out, avoid punishment or danger. From them the surnames Petukhov, Zhuravlev and Uzhov could subsequently arise. By the way, you probably yourself have noticed that there are a lot of bird names in the Russian language. This is easily explained: birds played a big role both in peasant farming and hunting, and in popular beliefs.

What kind of nicknames do researchers come across when leafing through ancient documents! Here is a record from 1495, it indicates the peasant Ignatko Velikie Lapti. And here is a document from 1335, it names dozens of people who received their nicknames by profession and by their occupations:

Gonchar, Degtyar, Zubovolok, Kozhemyaka, Melnik, Rogoznik, Rudomet, Serebrennik, Krasilnik, Sedelnik, Skomorokh, Shvets... All of them could form the basis of the corresponding surnames.

We all know the once popular Russian name Basil. It came to the Russian language from Greek, where it had the meaning “royal”. More than 50 surnames have been formed from the name Vasily, which differ from each other in various shades - diminutive, contemptuous, etc. or changed for euphony: Vasin, Vaskin, Vasyatnikov, Vasyutin, Vasilevsky, Vasilchikov, Vasiliev. And more than a hundred (!) surnames were formed from the name Ivan. But in the surname Ischuk you are unlikely to “recognize” the name... Joseph. It arose in Ukraine back in the 15th century, approximately on the territory of the current Vinnitsa, Zhitomir, Rivne and Khmelnytsky regions. It was there that the Orthodox name Joseph turned into Josip, and then into Isko. The son of a man named Isko received the nickname Ishchuk. That's it!

In the past, even among merchants, only the richest - the “eminent merchants” - were awarded the honor of receiving a surname. In the 16th century there were only a few of these. For example, the merchants Stroganov. By the way, among the merchant surnames there were many that reflected the “professional specialization” of their bearers. Take, for example, the surname Rybnikov. It is derived from the word rybnik, that is, “fish merchant.”

An equally large segment of the Russian population was made up of church ministers. The clergy began to receive surnames en masse only at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century. We come across “church” surnames quite often, often without even suspecting it.

Often surnames were given to priests based on the names of the churches in which they served: Deacon Ivan, who served in the Trinity Church, could receive the surname Troitsky. Some clergy acquired surnames upon graduation from the seminary: Athensky, Dukhososhestvensky, Brilliantov, Dobromyslov, Benemansky, Kiparisov, Palmin, Reformatsky, Pavsky, Golubinsky, Klyuchevsky, Tikhomirov, Myagkov, Liperovsky (from the Greek root meaning “sad”), Gilyarovsky (from Latin root meaning "cheerful").

Most of the priests' surnames ended in -skiy, in imitation of Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames: at that time there were many people from these areas among the church administration, teachers of seminaries and theological academies.

When did it fall in Russia? serfdom, the government faces a serious challenge. It was necessary to give surnames to former serfs, who, as a rule, did not have them before. So the second half of the 19th century can be considered the period of final “familyization” of the country’s population. Some peasants were given their full or changed surname former owner, landowner - this is how entire villages of the Polivanovs, Gagarins, Vorontsovs, Lvovkins appeared. For others, a “street” surname was written down in the document, which another family might have had more than one. For others, the patronymic was turned into a surname. But this whole process was very complicated, often people continued to do without surnames. This situation prompted the publication in September 1888 of a special decree of the Senate: “...As practice reveals, even among persons born in a legal marriage, there are many people who do not have surnames, that is, bearing so-called surnames by patronymic, which causes significant misunderstandings , and even sometimes abuses... To be called by a certain surname is not only the right, but also the duty of every full-fledged person, and the designation of the surname on some documents is required by law itself.”

1. Classification of Russian surnames.

Surnames formed from personal names; patronymic surnames formed from male names; non-patronymic surnames; adapted surnames; unadapted surnames; surnames of non-Russian origin; surnames formed from baptismal names, from names of professions, from disappeared professions; matronymic surnames formed from women's names; surnames that arose from toponyms (geographical names); surnames formed from nicknames, from words denoting family relationships, from words denoting a person’s social status, from names of body parts, from names of animals, birds, fish, mammals, insects; from botanical terms: names of trees, cultivated plants, fruits; surnames derived from the names of food and drink products; from the names of fabrics, clothing, hats, shoes; from the names of residential and commercial buildings; from the names of tools and household items; from the names of vehicles; from the names of weapons and armor; from names various items; from abstract nouns; from intra-family names; from names associated with the circumstances of the child’s birth; from affectionate, protective, Old Russian (non-church) or unusual names; surnames of the Orthodox clergy; surnames formed from the names of saints, from names church holidays; surnames based on biblical and Christian traditions; names of illegitimate children; surnames-pseudonyms; surnames of literary heroes; "talking" names; deliberately changed names; Ukrainian surnames, Belarusian origin; surnames dating back to other Slavic languages; surnames of (non)European, Turkic, Mongolian origin.

1. The origin of my own surname.

The surname Samoilov comes from the central regions ancient Russian state and is one of the old Slavic surnames, the first mentions of which date back to the 16th century.

The surname Samoilov belongs to the ancient type of Russian surnames, formed from the full folk form baptismal name of the ancestor. According to religious canons, the child was named in honor of one or another saint, revered by the church on a strictly defined day of the year. The Christian religion came to Rus' in the 10th century from Byzantium, which borrowed it from the Roman Empire, into which it penetrated from the Middle East. Therefore, most personal Christian names are borrowed from ancient languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. These names took root in the language until they began to sound completely Russian.

The surname Samoilov is based on the baptismal name of Hebrew origin Samuil, which translated means “heard by God.” The name Samuel received the popular form Samoilo.

Only the social elite and nobility had surnames formed from the full popular form of the baptismal name, unlike other classes, which were called by diminutive, everyday names.

Samoilov means “son of a man named Samoilo.”

According to family legends, Count Samoilov, their ancestor was the Belarusian nobleman Nikita Samuiko, coat of arms of Sulim, who entered Russia in the first half of the 16th century. Bartholomew Lavrentievich Samoilov was the governor in Pereslavl Zalessky under Peter the Great. Another family of Samoilovs comes from Karp Samoilov, a Streltsy head in Siberia. In addition, the Samoilovs are one of the richest dynasties of the Yenisei merchants of the 18th century. Another Samoilov family originates from the remarkable opera singer Samoilov Vasily Mikhailovich (1782-1839).

1. The most common surnames in Russia, in the city of Buzuluk, in our school.

A group of researchers led by E.V. Balanovskaya in 2005 published a list of all-Russian surnames. There are 250 of them.Criteria for inclusion in the list surnames was as follows: it turned on 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. 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.”Here's what the twenty most popular surnames in Russia look like:

1. Smirnov
2. Ivanov
3. Kuznetsov
4. Sokolov
5. Popov
6. Lebedev
7. Kozlov
8. Novikov
9. Morozov
10. Petrov
11. Volkov
12. Solovyov
13. Vasiliev
14. Zaitsev
15. Pavlov
16. Semyonov
17. Golubev
18. Vinogradov
19. Bogdanov
20. Vorobyov

Thus, the top three emerged: 1) Smirnov; 2) Ivanov; 3) Kuznetsov. Let's consider the meanings of these surnames.

1) There are two versions about the origin of the Smirnov surname. Let's look at each of them.

According to the first version, the surname Smirnov is based on the very popular non-Christian male personal name Smirna. It is derived from the archaic form smirna - “meek, quiet, obedient.” Perhaps the name reflected the child’s real qualities or, more likely, the parents’ wishes regarding the child’s future behavior. The personal name Smirna was widespread in all territories and in all social layers That’s why the surname Smirnov is so common these days. As a result, a descendant of a person with the name Smirna eventually received the surname Smirnov.

According to the second version, the surname Smirnov came from the class of people wandering (roaming) across the Russian land. They were characterized by: practicality, curiosity and spiritual enlightenment. The appearance of these wandering people in some remote settlement brought with them: the discovery of new ways of farming for the inhabitants, the emergence of new knowledge about the laws of nature.In those days, the head of a traveling family clan greeted the indigenous people (encountered along the way) with a standard phrase: “Hello, good people!

We come to you with a NEW WORLD."
This phrase served to form the surname, consisting of the roots of two words “WORLD” and “NEW”....After the nomadic lifestyle of a number of family dynasties became a thing of the past, their descendants continued to call themselves Smirnovs.The wandering lifestyle explains the wide territorial distribution of this surname.

2) The surname Ivanov is a common type of Russian surname and is derived from the baptismal name. After 988, every Slav, during an official baptism ceremony, received a baptismal name from the priest, which served only one purpose - to provide the person with a personal name.

The surname Ivanov goes back to the Russian version of the canonical male name John (from Hebrew - “mercy of God”). It is known that in ancient Judea it was pronounced Yohanaan. The Russian name probably comes from the progenitor of the Slavs, Van, since in ancient times all the Slavs were called “Vani.” Christianity added only one letter “and” to the name.

3) The surname Kuznetsov comes from the nickname Kuznets. The surname is based on the patronymic, formed from the father’s given name by occupation. Since the blacksmith was the most necessary and for everyone famous person in the village, naming on this basis was ubiquitous. Therefore, the surname Kuznetsov is one of the most common in Russia. Kuznets, eventually received the surname Kuznetsov.

According to the migration service, the most common surname in Buzuluk is Ivanov. Its origin and meaning have been discussed above.

The twenty most common surnames in Buzuluk look like this:

1. Ivanov (169)
2. Popov (167)
3. Petrov (102)
4. Grigoriev (101)
5. Vasilyev (93)
6. Kuznetsov (84)
7. Nazarov (77)
8. Dmitriev (76)
9. Andreev (67)
10. Stepanov (66)
11. Fedorov
12. Yakovlev
13. Kalinin
14. Kolesnikov
15. Korchagin
16. Frolov
17. Alekseev
18. Zakharov
19. Zaitsev
20. Nikiforov

During my research, I could not ignore the namesakes of famous Russian historical and cultural figures. Thus, 11 Kutuzovs, 5 Suvorovs, 21 Romanovs, 7 Minins, 5 Ulyanovs, 2 Gagarins, 2 Khrushchevs, 23 Zhukovs, 23 Gorbachevs, 6 Chekhovs, 7 Shevchenkos, 2 Surikovs, 8 Repins and 44 Shishkins live in Buzuluk.

What are the most common last names at my school?

After studying the list of students at our school, I came up with the following ranking of the most popular surnames:

1. Ivanov – 11 people
2. Petrov, Popov – 6 people
3. Fedorov, Zhalybin – 5 people
4. Komarov, Nikolaev, Tarasov – 4 people

Last name Ivanov leads by a good margin, and it’s clear why. The surname Ivanov is the most common in Russia. According to various sources, from 16% to 25% of Russian men have this surname. We have already discussed its meaning.

Last name Petrov also included in the top ten most popular in Russia. The basis of the Petrov surname was the church name Peter. The surname Petrov goes back to the canonical male name Peter (translated from ancient Greek - “stone, rock”). The name Peter became especially widespread in the 18th century, when this name began to be given in honor of Emperor Peter I

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.

Last name Fedorov is also included in the ranking of the most common Russian surnames. The surname Fedorov comes from the male church name Theodore (from the ancient Greek Theodoros - “gift of the gods”). In everyday pronunciation, the combination of vowels EO, which is not typical for the Russian language, has disappeared. The surname Fedorov is most often found in the Novgorod and Pskov regions, where it ranks fourth among others, and, for example, in the Middle Volga region - much less often. Other forms of surnames arose from derived dialectal forms of the name. In other forms this name came into the Russian language from other languages, for example: Polish Theodor, Bulgarian Todor. The sound [f], alien to the Old Russian language, was rendered as [x] or [xv] - Khodor, Khvedor, from which dozens of surnames arose: Fedin, Fedonin, Fedoreev, Khodorov, Todorov and many others. Feodor, eventually received the surname Fedorov.

1. Etymology of the surnames of my classmates.

I tried to find material about each of the 15 people.

Last name Akhmedov has a rich history and belongs to a common type of family names of Turkic origin in Russia. It comes from the name distant ancestor in the male line is Ahmed. The ancient Arabic name Ahmed means “most famous, famous, illustrious”, as well as “worthy of praise”. This epithet belonged to the Prophet Muhammad himself. This naming is very popular among all Turkic peoples and is often used as a component of complex names, such as Akhmedshakur, Akhmedbai, Akhmedbaki. The name Ahmed could be given to a child with a wish for wealth and recognition. Such a name became for the young heir a kind of symbol of a happy fate and a sign of great destiny. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the surname Akhmedov arose from the name of the ancestor Akhmed. Undoubtedly, it is a wonderful monument of oriental writing and vivid evidence of the interaction of different national cultures.

basis Antiukhin's surnamesserved as the church name Anthony. The surname Antyukhina is derived from the name Antyukha, a diminutive form of the baptismal male name Antony (Anton), which is presumably related to the Greek word “anteo”, which translated into Russian means “to enter into battle, compete.” This name has many patrons, one of which is Anthony the Roman. He was born in Rome in 1067 to wealthy Orthodox parents and was raised by them in piety. After the death of his parents, he distributed part of the inheritance to the poor, and put the other in a wooden barrel and put it into the sea. He himself took monastic vows in a desert monastery, where he lived for 20years .

During the persecution of the Orthodox, Anthony wandered until he found a large stone on the seashore, on which whole year lived in fasting and prayer. A terrible storm tore off the stone and carried it into the sea. On Christmas Day Holy Mother of God The stone stopped 3 versts from Novgorod on the banks of the Volkhov River. Anthony founded a monastery on this site. Antyukha, eventually received the surname Antyukhin.

Last name Bisultanovformed from the Tatar male name Bisultan, which goes back to two bases: Bi (from bek/bik - “master, master”) and Sultan, which means “lord, ruler, lord, head of state, monarch, emperor.” Similar names, where two parts have approximately the same meaning, are often found in the East.

Originally the surname was Belova formed from the word “white” - about color, suit, paint: colorless, opposite to black. In addition, the Slavs used this name for a neat person.

In Vologda dialects, “belyak” means “shoes made of white rawhide.” The ancestor could have been involved in the sale or manufacture of such shoes.

According to another version, the surname Belov belongs to the oldest type of Slavic family nicknames, derived from geographical names. There was a district town of Belovo Kemerovo region. The Belovs' ancestor, whose nickname was derived from the name of this city, could have been its resident.

ABOUT Surnames Vatolkinavery little is known. Scientists only assume that it appeared in the Republic of Udmurtia.

Last name Goncharovderived from the nickname Gonchar. It originates from the common noun “potter” - “a master who makes products from baked clay (dishes, toys, etc.).” Most likely, the nickname refers to the so-called “professional” naming, containing an indication of the activities of the founder of the surname. Perhaps the ancient Slavs attached a special symbolic meaning to this nickname. In popular belief, the potter was associated with fire, the underworld, and evil spirits. At the end of the day, the master baptized the potter's wheel or drew a cross on it; He left a piece of clay on the circle and made a cross on it so that the devil would not rotate it at night. Pottery marks in the form of crosses on the bottoms of pots are known from archaeological data. Gonchar, over time received the surname Goncharov.

There are two versions of the origin surname Grebnev . According to one of them, this surname is formed from the non-church name Greben. Such names in the old days were widespread in all levels of society. According to another, more plausible hypothesis, the basis for the surname was the nickname Comb, which could have been received by the master who made this household item.

The basis of the surname Ilyasov served as the church name Ilya. The surname Ilyasov is derived from the name Ilyas, which is a derived form of the male baptismal name Ilya, which is a modified form of the biblical name Eliyahu. The latter is translated from Hebrew as “my God is the Lord,” that is, “My God is the true God.” The patron of this name is Elijah the Prophet - a legendary figure in the Jewish and Christian tradition, a miracle worker and soothsayer, a formidable denouncer of idolatry. For his fiery zeal for the glory of God, he was taken to heaven alive in a chariot of fire. In Rus' this saint was especially revered. It was he who, in popular pagan ideas, replaced the ancient thunder god Perun and began to be called Ilya the Thunder-Bearing. According to another version, the surname is associated with the Hebrew-Arabic name Ilyas, which translated into Russian means “the power, might, mystery of Allah.” Ilyas eventually received the surname Ilyasov.

According to one version, surname Lapin comes from the nickname Paw. This could be a nickname for a person with big strong hands, colloquially – “paws”. It is possible that the surname is associated with the dialect verb “to paw” - “roughly grab, crush, feel.” In this case, Lapa could be nicknamed a prankster and a naughty person.According to another hypothesis, the surname is formed from a shortened form of the male baptismal names Evlampy and Kharlampy. For ease of pronunciation, the “m” in these names was omitted, and in a diminutive form they began to be used as the name Lapa. Also, women with the rare name Olympiada these days were affectionately called not Limps, but Lindens, Lipochkas.

Last name Pirogovgoes back to the nickname of the ancestor Pie. In Rus', the best pies in the world are still baked. The attitude towards dough, towards baking, and towards bread in general was almost sacred. In the old days, it was not for nothing that there were sayings: “Bread is the head of everything,” “The hut is not red in its corners, but red in its pies.” Probably the man who bore the nickname Pie was distinguished great love to this type of baking, he was a cordial and hospitable host. It is also possible that he was a baker or a merchant who sold pies.

Last name: Simatovahas very interesting story origin and belongs to the common type of ancient eastern surnames. It is formed from the nickname Simat, which goes back to the dialectal Ossetian common noun “simad (or simd)” - “the name of the Ossetian folk dance" Probably, such a nickname refers to the so-called “professional” names, indicating the type of person’s activity. It can be assumed that the founder of the Simatovs was a dancer.

ABOUT surname TyanterevaLittle material has survived. One can only assume that the surname came from the name of the bird - black grouse through the evolution of language. A person with poor hearing could have such a surname, because the black grouse can hardly hear.

People with the surname Ulrich can appreciate the history of their family, since their surname belongs to a large layer German surnames who left a significant mark on European culture. The surname Ulrich, obviously, represents a personal name or nickname of a distant ancestor in the male line that has been established as a surname. The German male name Ulrich is known, which translated from the ancient German language means “rich, powerful.” The family’s acceptance of the ancestor’s personal nickname as their family name means that the founder of the surname Ulrich was a great authority for the household, and was also a famous person in his native settlement.

The basis of the surname Fatneva served as the church name Photius. The male baptismal name Photius is derived from ancient Greek word“fos” – “light”. In “akaya” dialects it began to be pronounced and written as Fatey. The surname is based on its colloquial form - Faten. The patron saint of the name is the martyr Photius, who, during the persecution of Christians, denounced the pagan king for the wickedness and vain torment of Christians, and then himself endured torment for the faith of Christ (IV century).

The basis of the surname Yakushkin served as the church name Yakov. The surname Yakushkin is probably derived from the church name Yakov, or more precisely from its colloquial form Yakush, Yakushka. Translated from Hebrew, this name means “follower” or “second-born.”

According to another version, the basis for the surname Yakushkin was a nickname from the dialect “Yakush” - this is how in some dialects they called a carpenter-carver who made decorations for huts and ships. In this case, the surname may contain an indication of the occupation of the Yakushkins’ ancestor.

Conclusion

Each surname has its own history and etymology, its own semantic root from which it comes. But we should not forget that surnames have long lost their internal form, since they were inherited by many generations, reflecting the nickname of a distant ancestor.

The secret of surnames is studied by a special science - anthroponymy, which also covers other types of proper names of people - individual names, patronymics, nicknames, nicknames, pseudonyms, etc. Together with anthroponyms, all proper names (toponyms, i.e. geographical names, ethnonyms - names of peoples, cosmonyms - names of space objects, zoonyms - names of animals, etc.) with the branches of science that study them constitute onomastics.

The study of the secrets of surnames is productive only with the unity of linguistics, historical phonetics, historical word formation, historical vocabulary, history and ethnography.Of the entire set of Russian surnames, those that reflect the social structure of Russia over many centuries of its existence are of greatest interest. These surnames reflect the entire social hierarchy, all class differences in Russia in the distant past: peasants and landowners, factory owners and workers, gentlemen and their servants, merchants, officials, clergy, military men. Surnames that reflect various professions, as well as various human qualities, vices and virtues, dreams and everyday reality are also interesting. These are original documents of the history of the Russian people.

Surnames were often given at the most various circumstances. For example, a person with the surname of Governors could be both the son and servant of the governor, his employee, a peasant of the governor’s landowner’s estate, etc.

These are also other similar surnames: Landowners, Esaulov, Gospodinov, Getmanov, Tsaritsyn, Khozyainov, Barsky, Grafsky or - Slugin, Smerdov, Kholopov, Dvornikov, Konyukhov, Zapryagaev, Chelyadin, Polovoy, Lackeyev, Boys, Cooks and others. The Popovs, Pevchevs, Dyakonovs, Parish, Obednins, Kolokolovs, Zvonarevs, Molitvins, Bozhevs, Dyachkovs, Khramovs, Vladykins, Bogodukhovs are connected, in all likelihood, with the church, which in the past occupied a huge place in public life people.

If the surnames Soldatov, Ofitserov, Kapitonov, Generalov, Polkovnikov are perceived as familiar, then Ulanov, Grenadirov, Dragunov, Kornetov, Kadetov evoke certain historical associations. Such surnames as the Dvoryankins, Dvoryaninovs, Meshchaninovs, Gorodnichevs, Ispravnikovs, Podyachevs, Pisarevs, Predvoditelevs, Zavodchikovs, Fabrikantovs, Owners, Khozyainovs, Factory, Mekhanikovs, Rabochevs, Stores, Prikazchikovs, Baryshnikovs, Korobeinikovs and others go back into the depths of history.

Professions and handicrafts are reflected in the very common surnames Melnikovs, Goncharovs, Kuznetsovs, Bocharovs and Bochkarevs. Somewhat less common are the Krupoderovs, the Zhivoderovs (the flayer is a worker who skinned killed animals), the Pivovarovs, the Sbitenkovs (sbiten is an old Russian sweetish drink that was brewed in samovars), the Telegins, the Khomutovs, the Tkachevs and the Pryakhins. Urban professions are reflected in the surnames Izvozchikovs, Konkins, Karetnikovs, Syurtukovs, Perepletchikovs, Mramornovs, Dubodelovs, Alabasterevs and others, as well as not typically urban ones - in the surnames Toporyshchevs, Fonarevs, Kastryulins, Arshinovs, Vedernikovs and others. The following names speak of poverty and hardship: Obyedkin, Nuzhdin, Khudokormov, Korochkin, Bezdomnikov, Ustaly, Hungry, Podpalkin, Nevzgodov, Semigorelov, Podvalny, Ogryzkov, Tyurmin, Cherdakov, Nebogatikov, Kusochkin.

The words from which such surnames as Sokhin, Brichkin, Tarantasov, Kutin, Grivennikov, Polushkin come from are associated with the distant past.

In many surnames there are quite modern words and concepts: Aptekarev, Cutters, Pochtarev, Painters, Doctors, Lekarev, Students, Pilots, Cooks, Painters, Kochegarov, Screwov, Shpuntov, Gvozdev, Molotkov, Vitriol, Solutions, Turpentines, Lancets, Ethers and other. The words underlying the surnames Grazhdankin, Sovetov, Pyatiletkin, Deputates, Kommunarov, Instances, Fasons, Tovarov seem even more modern. However, their origin may not be modern.

Russian surnames are an encyclopedia of Russian life, history, ethnography. They keep and will always keep in their foundations the memory of events, objects, phenomena characteristic of the eras when they were created, from the ancient (Smerdov, Knyazev) to the newest (Pervomaisky, Oktyabrsky).

Literature:

1. Glushko E. A., Medvedev Yu. M. Encyclopedia of Russian surnames. – M.: EXPO – Press, 2000.

2. Nikonov V. A. Dictionary of Russian surnames. M., 1993

3. Petrovsky N. A. Dictionary of Russian personal names. M., 1984

4.Superanskaya A.V. Modern Russian surnames. M., 1981

5. Fedosyuk Yu. A. Russian surnames. M. 1981

6.Burtseva V.V. New spelling dictionary-reference book of the Russian language. "Russian Language-Media", M., 2007.

7. Sayakhova L. G. Thematic dictionary of the Russian language. M., 2008

8.Dal V.I. Explanatory dictionary of the living Russian language. M.: “Russian Language-Media”, 2007.

9. Ivanova T. F. New spelling dictionary of the Russian language. Pronunciation. Emphasis. Grammatical forms. "Russian Language-Media", M., 2004.

10. Tikhonov A. N. Comprehensive dictionary of the Russian language. "Russian Language-Media", M., 2007.

11. Ushakov D. N. Large explanatory dictionary of the modern Russian language. "Alta-Print", M., 2007

12. V. A. Nikonov. PRECIOUS WITNESSES. - M.: Etymology, 1988-1990,

13. Chichagov V.K. From the history of Russian names, patronymics and surnames, M., 1959

14. Superanskaya A. V. General theory of proper names, M., 1973;

15. Barashkov V. F. Surnames with calendar names as a basis / V. F. Barashkov // Anthroponymics. - M.: Nauka, 1970.

What is a surname? Where did the surnames come from? There are many theories and versions on this matter. Nowadays, a surname is a hereditary family name, showing that people belong to one common ancestor or, in the narrow sense, to one family. The word "surname" itself is of Roman origin. Ancient Rome the surname was the totality of a person's family and the slaves belonging to him.

For a long time, this word had approximately the same meaning in Europe and Rus'; even in the 19th century, freed peasants often received the surname of the previous owner. Nowadays a surname is a generic name added to a personal name. All peoples of the world have surnames in one form or another, with the exception of the Icelanders, who have a patronymic as a surname. Tibetans don't have surnames either.

Where did the surnames of different classes come from?

The surnames of ordinary people, clergy and nobility have different origins, or rather, even different reasons for their appearance, they were even formed in different time. The most ancient in Rus' are the boyars and noble families toponymic origin. The nobles received allotments “for feeding”, therefore, in order to distinguish between rulers with the same name, they were called by allotments. This is how the Tverskaya, Shuisky, Starodubsky and many others appeared. History shows that people were very proud of such family names, they were cherished, and sometimes even bearing such a surname was considered a great privilege.

Now you can find less ancient surnames of toponymic origin: Varshavsky (Warshaver), Berdichev, Lvovsky and so on. These surnames appeared only in the 18th-19th centuries; these are classic Jewish surnames. The surnames of some indigenous peoples of Russia (for example, Tuvinians) may also have a toponymic origin. But most often, Russian surnames came from the name (baptismal or secular) of the person’s father. Let us recall the example with the Icelanders: among them, a person receives a patronymic based on his father’s name, which acts as a surname. That is, Sven's son Torvard will be Svensson, and his son will already be called Thorvardsson. A similar system was common in Russia in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Where did noble families come from?

There is a well-known history of the origin of the Romanov family, their members were called either Zakharyins, then Koshkins, then Yuryevs, until, finally, an established surname appeared named Roman Zakharyin-Yuryev, the great-great-great-grandson of the founder of the family, Andrei Kobyla. Some of the most common names in the world are derived from the baptismal name. this moment surnames: Ivanov and Petrov. The name “Ivan,” translated as “God’s gift,” was generally the most common male name among peasants; the name “Peter” was slightly less common. Sidorov is often added to the company of Ivanov and Petrov, but this is at least strange. The name "Sidor" was not often found in Russia.

A number of Russian noble families have clear or disputed Tatar origins. For example, the well-known count surname “Buturlin” is believed to have its origins in the legendary Ratsha, who came to the service of Alexander Nevsky “from the Germans” (the families of the Romanovs, Pushkins, Muravyovs and others also descend from him). Other scientists believe that the surname “Buturlin” Tatar origin from the word “buturlya” - “restless person”. There is also a version that the ancestor of the Buturlins was the grandson of a native of the Horde, Ivan Buturlya. This is quite plausible, considering that in the 18th-19th centuries it was fashionable to trace one’s family back to the northern ancestors, and not to the semi-wild Mongol-Tatars.

However, the fact remains that many noble families (Arakcheevs, Bunins, Godunovs, Ogarevs) are of Tatar origin. This is due to the fact that in Rus' there were many Tatar rulers who, after the weakening of the Horde, were baptized en masse into Orthodoxy and went into the service of the Russian princes. Now we would call them “experienced managers,” so they received good positions and inheritances. It must be said that they served not out of fear, but out of conscience, as was customary in the Horde. And if we remember that Russian statehood, in principle, is the heir of the Horde, and not of the alien Varangians (who then also did not have a state), then the logical prevalence Tatar surnames in Rus' it becomes clear.

Where did the surnames of the clergy come from?

The most amusing and curious is the origin of the surnames of the clergy. These are, as a rule, very beautiful and sonorous surnames: Giatsintov, Bogoyavlensky, Voskresensky and many others. Surnames of clearly “Christian” origin were given to priests based on the name of the church: Ascension, Krestovozdvizhensky, Pokrovsky, Preobrazhensky. Young priests received surnames in seminaries; these were sonorous surnames with positive meaning: Gilyarovsky, Dobrovolsky, Speransky and so on. The clergy began to receive surnames after the church reform of Peter I. Where did peasant surnames come from?

Most of the Russian peasant surnames, as already mentioned, came from personal names, but there are surnames that came from occupation. By the way, if the surname given by the father could change (like the Icelanders), then the “professional” surname was a more durable phenomenon, since the profession was often passed on from father to son. “Kuznetsov” is the third most common surname in Russia, but not because there were many blacksmiths (rather the opposite), but because everyone in the village knew the blacksmith and could indicate where he lived. By the way, classic English surname"Smith" also translates as "blacksmith".

A number of Jewish surnames also have professional origins. These include Shuster (shoemaker), Furman (carrier), Kramarov (from German word"kramer" - shopkeeper). If the surname was formed not of an artisan, but of his son, then the formant -son (-zon) was added to the word: Mendelson, Glezerson. IN Slavic countries the formant -ovich was often used. Thus, the origin of the surname can be different: the surname could appear from a baptismal or secular name, the profession of a person or his father, the area where the family lived and a number of other characteristics. Main function surnames at all times are to distinguish one person from another.

Every person has a surname, but has anyone ever wondered where it came from, who invented it, and for what purposes it is needed? There were times when people only had names, for example, in the territory of former Rus' this trend was observed until the 14th century. Studying the surname can tell a lot of interesting things about the history of the family, and in some cases even allows you to determine the ancestor. Just one word will tell about the well-being of the family’s ancestors, their belonging to a higher or lower class, and the presence of foreign roots.

Origin of the word "surname"

Many people are interested in where the surname came from, what it meant and for what purposes it was used. It turns out that this word is of foreign origin and originally had a completely different meaning than it does now. In the Roman Empire, the term did not refer to family members, but to slaves. A specific family name meant a group of slaves belonging to one Roman. Only in the 19th century did this word acquire its current meaning. Nowadays, a surname means a family name that is inherited and added to a person’s name.

When did the first surnames appear in Rus'?

To find out where the surnames came from, you need to go back to the 14th-15th centuries and delve into the history of Rus'. In those days, society was divided into classes. It was this conditional division that was reflected in future surnames; representatives of different strata acquired them at different times. Princes, feudal lords, and boyars were the first to acquire family names; a little later, this fashion came to merchants and nobles. Simple people They did not have surnames; they were addressed only by their first names. Only the rich and influential classes had such a privilege.

How a surname came to be can be determined by its meaning. For example, the family names of many feudal lords echo the name of their lands: Vyazemsky, Tverskaya, etc. The lands were inherited from father to son, respectively, the clan retained the surname of its founder. Many family names had roots of foreign origin, this was explained by the fact that people came from other states and settled on our lands. But this is typical only for the rich classes.

Surnames of former serfs

It turns out that even in the 19th century, having your own surname was an unaffordable luxury that the poor could not boast of, and before the abolition that took place in 1861, ordinary Russian people used names, nicknames, and patronymics. When they gained freedom and began to belong to themselves, and not to the nobles, it became necessary to come up with a surname for them. During the population census in 1897, census takers themselves came up with the names of clans for former serfs, as far as their imagination allowed. For this reason, a huge number of namesakes appeared, because the same names were attributed to hundreds of people.

For example, where did the surname Ivanov come from? It's very simple, the fact is that its founder's name was Ivan. Very often in such cases, the suffix “ov” or “ev” was added to the name, so the result was Alexandrov, Sidorov, Fedorov, Grigoriev, Mikhailov, Alekseev, Pavlov, Artemyev, Sergeev, etc., the list can be continued indefinitely. Where did the surname Kuznetsov come from? Here the answer is even simpler - depending on the type of occupation, there were a lot of them: Konyukhov, Plotnikov, Slesarenko, Sapozhnikov, Tkachenko, etc. Some peasants took the animal names they liked: Sobolev, Medvedev, Gusev, Lebedev, Volkov, Zhuravlev, Sinitsyn. Thus, to end of the 19th century centuries, the majority of the population had their own surnames.

The most common surnames

Many people are interested not only in the question of where surnames came from, but also which of them are the most common. There is an opinion that Sidorov is also the most common. Perhaps this was the case before, but today this is outdated information. Although Ivanov is among the top three, he is not in first, but in an honorable second place. Kuznetsov takes third place, but Smirnov holds the lead. The mentioned Petrov is in 11th place, but Sidorov is in 66th place.

What can prefixes, suffixes and endings tell us?

As already mentioned, the suffixes “ov” and “ev” were added to names; if they are removed, the person will receive the name of his founding ancestor. Much depends on the stress; if it falls on the last syllable, then the surname belongs to a peasant, and on the second - to an eminent nobleman. The clergy changed the name of the clan, for example, Ivanov became Ioannov.

For a long time there was no clear answer to the question of where surnames with the suffix “sky” came from. Today, researchers agree that such names belonged to nobles of Polish blood, as well as ministers of churches dedicated to the Epiphany: Znamensky, Epiphany, Holy Cross. They are associated with such holidays as the Exaltation of the Cross, Epiphany, dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.

The suffixes “in” and “yn” mainly belong to Russian Jews: Ivashkin, Fokin, Fomin. A Jew could be disparagingly said Ivashka, and Foka and Foma are purely Diminutive suffixes “uk”, “chuk”, “enk”, “onk”, “yuk” belong Slavic surnames. They are mainly found in Ukraine: Kovalchuk, Kravchuk, Litovchenko, Osipenko, Sobachenko, Gerashchenko, etc.

Random names

Not all surnames can tell about an ancient, glorious family. The fact is that most of them were simply invented by people, so such names do not even contain information about the name, occupation or place of residence of the founder. Sometimes there are very curious cases that tell where surnames come from. In the Soviet Union, there was active formalization, so anyone with a dissonant name could easily change it. Many people from villages (mostly young boys and girls) received their last names along with their passports. So, a policeman asked one guy: “Whose are you?” - “Papanin”, that’s how it was written down in the document. And there are a lot of such stories. Be that as it may, now every person has a surname, which can tell a lot of interesting things about the whole family.

Most people often wonder what a surname means. Some are simply out of curiosity, while others want to find a connection with their ancestors and important historical events. The surname of each person indicates his belonging to a certain clan, family - this is a historically formed family name. However, not everyone always had a similar name - it all started a little differently.

In Rus', the process of the emergence of surnames took a fairly decent period of time - from the end of the 14th to the 19th centuries. This is due to the fact that at that time only representatives of the upper class had the privilege of belonging to a certain family; appanage princes and boyars were assigned surnames based on the names of the volosts they owned (for example, Vitebsk, Smolensk). Here it becomes clear what the surname means. The princes were very proud of this, defended and reconquered their lands.

The next owners of family names were rich, famous merchants and nobles who deserved something, and often simply bought this right. They were called by their occupation or by their existing nicknames (Tkach, Rybnik, Likhachev). The merchants intended to expand with the help of the received surname; clients preferred to work with registered houses that had their own. The clergy had special rights. By the name of the clergyman, it was possible to determine in which parish he served (Nikolsky, Kazansky, etc.).

The rest of the population are commoners. They were without surnames, having only a first and patronymic name. In the archives there are often entries: “Peter, Ivanov’s son.” Obviously, on

The basis for such differentiation was obtained modern surname, the origins of which go back far into the past. In addition, at ordinary people There were also nicknames that were given to them based on their professional affiliation or some individual characteristics. Such a surname could easily be lost by changing one’s craft or character traits that gave rise to the nickname.

Subsequently, surnames were also given to former serfs. At first glance, it is not entirely clear what the surname means in this case. But, having sorted it out, it becomes clear that they were assigned a surname former owner, because of which in one area there could be many namesakes who did not have any In 1888, a decree was issued that obliged everyone to have a surname to be included in documents. For many peasants, the patronymic was entered as the last name.

What does the surname mean? It has an ambiguous meaning. Someone could get it because of their possession of territory or because of their craft, and someone could get it because of their short stature, clubfoot or other external signs. Then its information content was much greater than it is now, because you could learn a lot about a person from your last name. Today this gives us little. Some bearers themselves do not know what their family name means, how it was obtained, or who their ancestors are. Although there are those who dive into the depths of genealogy in search of information, trying to find their roots.