How Russian surnames appeared. Distribution of surnames among the peasantry

History of Russian 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'.

Earliest of famous lists dead with the names: “Novgorodets fell: Kostyantin Lugotinits, Gyuryata 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- received surnames formed from 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”).

Peasant surnames

Peasants' surnames late XIX centuries were rare. The exceptions were non-serf peasants in the north of Russia and in Novgorod province- hence Mikhailo Lomonosov and Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva.

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.

The earliest known list of the dead with the names: “Novgorodets that fall: Kostyantin Lugotinits, Gyuryata 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 PRINCE FAMILIES:

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

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 that had a soft sign at the end, -iy, -ey or h: Bear - Medvedev, Yuri - Yuryev, Begich - Begichev.

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

WHY ROMANOVS - ROMANOVS?

The most famous surname in Russian history is 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.

ARISTOCRATIC FAMILIES:

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.

EMPLOYEES' NAMES:

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.

NAMES OF PRIESTS:

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”).

PEASANT FAMILIES:

Until the end of the 19th century, peasant surnames were rare. The exceptions were non-serf peasants in the north of Russia and in the Novgorod province - hence Mikhailo Lomonosov and Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva.

After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the situation began to improve, and by the time of universal passportization in the 1930s, every resident of the USSR had a surname.

They were formed according to already proven models: the suffixes -ov-, -ev-, -in- were added to names, nicknames, places of residence, and professions.

WHY AND WHEN DID THEY CHANGE THE NAMES?

After the revolution, queues began to form at passport offices from those who wanted to change their surname to a more euphonious one.

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 earliest known list of the dead with the names: “Novgorodets that day: 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

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

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 that had a soft sign at the end, -iy, -ey or h: Bear - Medvedev, Yuri - Yuryev, Begich - Begichev.

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

Why are the Romanovs - Romanovs?

Aristocratic surnames

By-product children generally “suffered” a lot from their parents’ imagination. Some of them did not bother to come up with a new surname, but simply shortened the old one: this is how Pnin was born from Repnin, Betskoy from Trubetskoy, Agin from Elagin, and the “Koreans” Go and Te came from Golitsyn and Tenishev. 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

Surnames of clergy

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.

The word "" translated from Latin means "family". Just like the patronymic, as a rule, passes to the child from the father, but in this case the rules are still not as severe as with patronymics. Parents can give their children the surname of not only the father, but also the mother and even the grandfather and grandmother.
In the old days, however, such questions did not arise, because people did not have surnames. And yet it was necessary to somehow distinguish them from one another; names alone were not enough, and they often coincided.
At the everyday level, this issue was resolved simply: each person was given a nickname or nickname. They then served as surnames.
For the first time, surnames appeared quite officially in Russia during the time of Peter I, when the tsar, by his decree, ordered to record all people living in Russian state, “by names from fathers and nicknames,” i.e. by first name, patronymic and last name. But even then, not everyone had surnames.

Princes and boyars were the first to receive them in the 14th-15th centuries. Often their surnames were formed from the names of the properties that belonged to them. If the land holdings were located in the Tver province, then the boyar's surname could be Tverskaya, if in Meshchera - Meshchersky, etc. But it happened that boyars also received surnames based on their old nicknames. Thus, once upon a time in the 14th century there lived a boyar named Grigory, nicknamed Pushka. It is unknown why he received such a nickname. Maybe because of the loud voice that sounded like a cannon shot, or maybe it had something to do with military equipment. But no matter what was behind it, only his nickname turned into a surname, which after several generations went to the great poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, a descendant of the boyar Grigory Pushka.

Later, already in XVI-XVIII centuries, nobles also began to receive surnames. There was already more diversity here, because the title of nobility was often awarded for special services to the state, and among the nobles there were people of not at all noble origin who did not have their own land holdings. So the nobles received their surnames by the name of their father or mother, for example, Stepanov, Dmitriev, Efrosinin, sometimes they came up with some noble surname for themselves, it happened that the king granted it to them along with the title of nobility. It happened that nobles also received their surnames from their old nicknames. Of course, they tried to make them more harmonious, and noble families with the names Durnovo, Chernago, Khitrovo, Ryzhago, etc. appeared.

Later, in XVIII-XIX centuries, it was the turn of trade and service people. They, as a rule, received surnames from the names of the places where they were from. This is how the surnames Astrakhantsev, Moskvitinov, Moskvin, Vologzhanin, etc. appeared.

This is how all classes of Russia received their surnames in turn. When the turn came to the largest segment of the population - the peasants (and this happened already in the 19th century), then the most different ways formation of surnames; and by the name of the father and mother (Ivanov, Petrov, Maryin, etc.), and by the name of the craft or trade in which the head of the family was engaged (Carpenters, Stolyarov, etc.), by Street nickname: Khudyakov, Krivonosov, Ryzhov ...

It often happened that peasants took surnames after the first and last names of those landowners they served for or whom they knew. There is a known situation when, during the next population census, the peasants of the current Pushkinogorsky district of the Pskov region, finding it difficult to name their surnames (some forgot, and some did not have one), called themselves by the surname of their famous fellow countryman and his friends, who visited him or whom they heard about. Thus, the Pushkin, Pushchin, Yazykov families live here to this day...