Surnames ending in a are declined. What do surnames ending with “-sky” mean?

Female surnameswith endings in - ova and - ina are always declined according to the rules of possessive adjectives in the form of feminine declension (for comparison, how female surnames such as Rostova - father's, Karenina - mother's) are declined. But, there are difficulties in declension of such unusual female surnames, consonant with common nouns and geographical names such as Love, Sadness, Moscow.
To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
Lapshina, Ilyina, Ershova, Fedorova, Zavyalov, Sviridov, Grigoriev, Graudin. Women's surnames ending in - ina - ova are always declined. Surnames of this type such as Malina, Zhemchuzhina are declined dually, depending on the declension of the male surname (Lyudmila Zhemchuzhina and Lyudmila Zhemchuzhina, Zoya Malina and Zoya Malinina).
Female surnames with the formal suffix indicator - sk - they are declined both in the masculine and feminine gender and also in the plural according to the rules of adjectives: Kostolevskaya, Kostolevskaya..., Kostolevsk - ie, Kostolevsk - theirs, etc.
Female surnames that have consonant stems and have a zero ending in the form of the nominative case are not declined: Natalia Semyonovna Bertsen, Lyubov Vasilyevna Blok, with Alla Bakh, with Nadezhda Sergeevna Zavela-Grubel, about Mary Helingway, about Rimma Vaidai. Such female surnames are understood as “non-Russian”.
To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names. Declension of these female surnames requires knowledge of the gender of the surname bearer. The absence of such information puts the decliner in predicament. The initial form of such a surname informs about the gender of the owner of the surname. Let's say the author of the text did not have the necessary information, did not use the reference book, was unsure of the correct application of the grammatical rule, or was simply not attentive, then the receiving text will receive false information. For clarity, we can give one example. In one weekly magazine, in radio programs, a program was announced: “E. Mathis sings. The program will feature works famous composers" A question immediately arises. Who is K. Schumann? It is certain that the initial of the name is incorrect: K. Instead of R. But, as it turned out, the program featured romances by Clara Schumann (the wife of Robert Schumann, who was not only a famous pianist, but also a not very popular composer). Thus, a common grammatical error misleads the reader.
Women's surnames ending with the sound - o, - e, - e, - c, - u, - yu (stressed or unstressed), as well as with the sound - a, with a vowel in front of it, do not decline: Sappho’s poem, literature review N.N. Durnovo, street named after. Gastello. Do not decline or decline conventionally in colloquial speech
Female surnames ending in a consonant and soft sign(Laura Duke, family of Maria Titskevich, appoint Lyudmila Soval).
The inclination or indeclinability of female surnames ending in -ya depends not only on the place of emphasis, but also on the origin of the surname itself. To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
Foreign-language female surnames ending with a vowel sound, excluding unstressed ones - a, - I Dugot, Riese, Rossini, Rowe, Zeru, Lete, Druno, Buma, Zola, do not decline. Also, female surnames ending in - a, - i with a vowel in front of it - and (sonnets of Zeredia, poems of Darsia, stories of Bulia) are not inclined.
Surnames of French origin with an accent - I at the end, also do not decline: Golya, Broyat. To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
All other female surnames ending with the sound - I are inflected; such as Zolovnya, Gogulya, Syrokoplya, Goya, Shengelaya, Danelia, Beria.
Georgian female surnames can be indeclinable or indeclinable, it depends on the form in which this surname borrowed from the Russian language: female surnames ending in - iya are inflected (Ganelia), those ending in - ia are indeclinable (Zulia). To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
Russian female surnames that have the image of frozen forms of the genitive case in the singular with the endings: - ovo, - ago, - yago (Burnovo, Buhovo, Zhivago, Rambinago, Debryago, Bitrovo) and in the plural with the endings: - them, - х ( Handed, Kostrovskiy, Dolskiy, Dolgikh, Sedykh), where some of them tend to be spoken.
Women's surnames ending in - o are also undecidable; for example, the surnames Dugot, Cleranceau, La Rochefoucauld, Diyo, Picasso, Varlo, Tamisso, Caruso, Leoncavallo, Pongfellow, Vemeslo, Zolivo, Burnovo, Khitrovo, Durago, Mertvago.
Surnames don't decline Ukrainian origin, ending in stressed and unstressed - ko (Zolovko, Byashko, Iranko, Bianko, Shevchenko’s novel, Makarenko’s teachings, Korolenko’s book), where some of them tend to be colloquial.
It is acceptable to decline female surnames of Ukrainian origin into - ko, - enko, for example: Ustimenko’s operation was a success, you left Aglaya Ustimenka, will you go to Semashka? In Ukrainian women's surnames surnames ending in - are not inclined: the Franko Theater, Bozhko’s legacy.
Women's surnames and personal names ending in a consonant are not declined: in the role of Lady Macbeth, letters from Lyubov Blok, met Anna Patz, turned to Wanda Adamovich.
Women's borrowed surnames ending in -ov, -in are not declined: a letter from Lady Darwin, with permission from Lady Chaplin, performed by Deneuve. To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
The corresponding female surnames are declined according to the model of feminine adjectives: White - White - White, Belaya - White.
Female surnames that appear in the form of adjectives ending in - aya are declined according to the rules of adjectives:
I. p.: Tatyana Tolstaya, Natalya Lyubimaya, Svetlana Veselaya
R. p.: Tatiana Tolstoy, Natalia Lyubimaya, Svetlana Veselaya
D. p.: Tatyana Tolstoy, Natalya Lyubimaya, Svetlana Veselaya
V. p.: Tatyana Tolstaya, Natalya Lyubimaya, Svetlana Veselaya
T.p.: with Tatyana Tolstaya, with Natalya Lyubimova, with Svetlana Veselaya
P. p.: about Tatyana Tolstoy, about Natalya Lyubimova, about Svetlana Veselaya

Non-standard female surnames ending with the sound - a (-я), such as Zoya, Zima, are recommended to be declined according to the plural rules for all cases of the form coinciding with original form given surname. For example: Irina Ivanovna Zima, Svetlana Sergeevna Zoya, etc. And for the plural - the primary form Zoya, Zima, in all cases.
The most complex declension in such surnames are female surnames ending with the sound - a. In contrast to the listed cases, it is very important to understand whether the ending - a follows a vowel or after a consonant, as well as whether the stress falls on this vowel and (in certain specific cases) what origin the surname has. To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
All female surnames ending in the sound -a, preceded by vowels (most often y or i), are indeclinable: Valois, Gorois, Belacroix, Doravia, Ieria, Heredia, Boulia.
All female surnames that end in an unstressed sound - and after a consonant, are declined according to the rules of the first declension: Dibera - Dibera, Dibere, Diberu, Diberoi, Seneca - Seneca, etc.; Pafka, Stinoza, Smetana, Setrarka, Burosava, Zlinka, Deineka, Gulyga, Ovesha, Sognibeda, Okurzhava, etc. are inclined in the same way. All such female surnames, regardless of their origin, are morphologically divisible in the Russian language, i.e. The ending to the sound - a is clearly highlighted in them.
Among female surnames with an accented - and standing after the consonants, there are both morphologically divisible, that is, inflected, and indivisible, that is, not inflected.
Female surnames of French origin are not declined: Luma, Goma, Rega, Luca, Gamarra, Petipa, etc.
Female surnames are of Slavic origin, and from eastern languages ​​they are declined according to the rules of the first declension, that is, the stressed ending disappears in them - a: Ritta - Ritty, Ritte, Rittu, Rittoy; these include: Skovoroda, also Kocherga, also Kvasha, also Tsabasa, also Kharza, etc. To decline such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of names and surnames.
Undeclinable surnames include female surnames that end with vowel sounds - o, - e, - u, - yu, - ы, - i, - e, - e and endings with combinations of two vowels, except - ee, - iya (Gorero, Albu, Horse, Kandschau, Francois, Doibukhaa, Kachaa, Zia, Khozhulaa). The declension of female surnames ending in - a, - ya, - ey, - iya has limitations depending on the stress in the word and some traditions.
Female surnames of Slavic origin ending in - o such as Zevko, Larko, Davlo, Setro are declined according to the rules for declension of masculine nouns - neuter, for example: in front of Zevka, in Lark
Slavic surnames, ending with stressed sounds - a, - ya (director Mayboroda, psychologist Skovoroda, screenwriter Golovnya) are also inclined.

Surnames that must be declined by gender and case:
As a rule, female surnames ending in unstressed sounds - a, - z (mainly Slavic, Romanesque and some others) are inclined (article by V. M. Ptitsa, songs performed by Rosita Quintana, conversation with A. Vaida). Changes in the declension of female surnames are observed in the use of surnames of Georgian and Japanese origin; there are cases of both inclination and indeclinability. To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
Polish female surnames ending in -a are modeled after Russian surnames ending in -aya (Wandrowska-Gurska - Wandrowska-Gurska's tours, Belni-Strefanska - Belni-Strefanska's concerts). At the same time, it is possible to change such female surnames according to the model of Russian female surnames in the nominative case (Ogulskaya-Banetskaya, Mogdzelevskaya). The same is proposed for Czech female surnames ending in - a (Rabitska - Rabitskaya, Rabitskaya).
Features of the declension of female surnames ending in - a:
If there is a consonant before the sound - a, then according to the rules of cases the endings will be: - a, - ы, - e, - y, - oh, - e.
If before the sound - a there is one of the letters (g, k, x) or a soft hissing (ch, sch) or the sound zh, then the ending of the surname according to the rules of the genitive case will be - and.
If the sound - a is preceded by a hissing (ch, sch, ts, sh) or zh, then the ending of the surname, according to the rules of the instrumental case, when the emphasis is placed on the end of the word, will be - oh, and, accordingly, - ey when the emphasis is placed on the beginning or middle of the word.

Declension of female surnames by case
Standard Russian surnames
I. Smirnova, Kromskaya, Kostrikova, Eliseeva, Ivanova,
R. Smirnova, Kromskaya, Kostrikova, Eliseeva, Ivanova,
D. Smirnova, Kromskaya, Kostrikova, Eliseeva, Ivanova,
V. Smirnov, Kromskaya, Kostrikov, Eliseev, Ivanov,
T. Smirnova, Kromskaya, Kostrikova, Eliseeva, Ivanova,
P. about Smirnova, about Kromskaya, about Kostrikova, about Eliseeva, about Ivanova.

Plural
I. Smirnovs, Kromskys, Kostrikovs, Eliseevs, Ivanovs,
R. Smirnovs, Kromskys, Kostrikovs, Eliseevs, Ivanovs,
D. Smirnov, Kromsky, Kostrikov, Eliseev, Ivanov,
V. Smirnovs, Kromskys, Kostrikovs, Eliseevs, Ivanovs,
T. Smirnov, Kromsky, Kostrikov, Eliseev, Ivanov,
P. about the Smirnovs, about the Kromskys, about the Kostrikovs, about the Eliseevs, about the Ivanovs.

When considering female surnames ending in -a, three points are of primary importance:
First: whether the ending is - a after a vowel or after a consonant,
Second: whether the stress falls on this vowel or consonant,
Third: what origin does the surname have?

When declining female surnames, there are difficulties in distinguishing between “Russian” and “non-Russian” surnames ending in - ova and - ina; From the point of view of morphology, the “Russianness” or “non-Russianness” of surnames is determined by whether the formal indicator of endings in (- ova - or - ina -) stands out or does not stand out in the surname when declining. If such an indicator is determined, then the declension in the instrumental case has the ending - ом, and therefore, the correlative female surname is declined (Fenvizin, Fenvizina), but if the indicator is not determined, the instrumental case of the surname is formed with the ending - ом, thus, the female surname is not declined (Virchow, with Anna Virchow). Comparative “homonyms”: Charles Spencer Chaplin, with Hannah Chaplin and Nikolai Ivanovich Chaplin, with Elena Chaplin. To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
There are correspondingly non-Russian (mostly German) surnames ending in - them: Armgerich, Dietrich, Freundlich, Eirlich, etc. Regardless of the inherent similarity in “foreign language”, they cannot be mistaken for Russian surnames ending in - them because in Russian surnames before ending in - them, there are practically no soft consonants that have hard pairs, because in the Russian language there are few adjectives with such stems (i.e. adjectives such as gray; and does the surname Serykh and others like it exist?). To declension of such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
But if before the ending - their surname there is a hissing or velar consonant, its belonging to the indeclinable type will be undoubted only if the surname does not carry a derivative of an adjective. (for example, Stray, Sweet); in the absence of this condition, such surnames can be perceived morphologically ambiguous; These include, for example, Baskhachikh, Rovchikh, Gritskikh. Despite the rarity of such cases, this fundamental possibility should be taken into account. And when using the declension of such surnames, it is advisable to use a reference book.
The declension features are Russian surnames ending in - ы (- their), suggesting their origin from the genitive (and prepositional) case form of the plural of adjectives: Gray, Black, Kruchenykh, Pudrevatykh, Dolgikh, Ryzhikh. Declension of female surnames of this type according to strict standards literary language not allowed: lectures by Chernykh, novel by Serykh, creativity of Kruchenykh, etc.
In very rare cases, surnames can be perceived ambiguously, the original forms of which end in - й with the vowels and or - o standing before it. For example, such surnames as Gopchaya, Gopchey can also be understood as having endings - on й, - ой, therefore, inflected according to the rules of adjectives having a zero ending with a declension modeled on nouns (Gopchiya, Gopchiyu..., unchangeable in the feminine gender Gopchiy form). To solve such problems, it is again necessary to use a dictionary of surnames.
Surnames ending in - s - e, - e, - i, - ы, - у, - у can only be indeclinable. Similar surnames: Goguet, Dusset, Lanxeret, Fumier, Daye, Dabrie, Goethe, Nobville, Caragiale, Tarple, Ordzhonikidze, Artmane, Maigret, Borssuet, Grestry, Lully, Debussy, Navoi, Modigliani, Gramsci, Galsworthy, Shelley, Rustaveli, Chaburkiani , Gandhi, Dzumsoity, Neyekdly, Landu, Amadou, Shaw, Maintsu, Nehru, Engescu, Camus, Cornu, etc.
In the plural, surnames of this type are declined according to the rules of masculine nouns: visited the Herzens, the Vrubels, the Gaidaevs, wrote to the Bloks, Hemingways, etc. To decline such female surnames, it is advisable to refer to the directory of declension of first and last names.
There are also special rules for declension of such surnames in some cases in the declinable plural form, in others - in the indeclinable form.
If the surname is accompanied by a male and female names, then it saves the configuration singular, for example: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Paul and Eslanda Dobson, August and Caroline Flegel, Richard Borge's associates Max and Anna Krausen, Ariadne and Peter Thor; also Seryozha and Valya Kruzhak, Nina and Stanislav Zhuk;
The surname is also pronounced in the singular if it is accompanied by two common nouns indicating different genders, for example: Mr. and Mrs. Rayner, Lord and Lady Hamilton; but when combining husband and wife, brother and sister, the surname will most often be used in the plural form: husband and wife of Estrema, brother and sister of Niringa;
When using the word spouse, the surname is put in the singular form, for example: spouses Kent, spouses Thorndike, spouses Noddack;
When using the word sisters, the surname is usually given in the singular form: Press sisters, Doch sisters;
When using the word spouse, the surname will be in the singular form, for example: spouses Kent, spouses Thorndike, spouses Nodduck;
When using the word family, the surname is usually presented in singular form, for example: Oppenheim family, Gamal family.
The surname as a designation of family assumes the presence of a plural form in the surname: Somovs, Kashkins, Vvedenskys. If those getting married take one common surname, then it is written in the plural: Dmitrievs, Donskoys, Usatiye. Non-standard surnames, except for those surnames that have the form of adjectives, do not have official documentary plural forms. Therefore they write: Maria Ivanovna and Nikolai Ivanovich Vinograd, spouses Neighbor, husband and wife Suzdal.
In combinations of Russian surnames with numerals, the following forms are used: two Petrovs, both Petrovs, two Petrovs, both Petrov sisters, two Petrov friends; two (both) Zhukovskys
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that in ordinary communication, if the carrier is rare or difficult declining surname allows the incorrect pronunciation of his last name, this is not considered a gross violation general rules declination. But in filling legal documents, media publications and works of art, if you are unsure of the correct declension, it is recommended to refer to the directory of surnames, otherwise you can find yourself in an unpleasant situation, which entails a number of inconveniences, loss of time to prove the authenticity and affiliation of the very person about whom this document was written.

Have you ever wondered about the origin of your last name? In fact, this is very interesting, because the surname makes it possible to find out a person’s nationality and roots. To figure out what nationality a particular surname belongs to, you need to pay attention to suffixes and endings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U Estonians You can’t tell by a surname whether a person is masculine or feminine (Simson, Nahk).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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In Russia there are many surnames that end in “-sky” or “-tsky”. Curious, what are they talking about? It turns out that there are several versions of the origin of such surnames.

Polish surnames

According to one version, all surnames of this kind have Polish origin. That is, for example, those who bear the names Pototsky, Slutsky, Zabolotsky, Polyansky, Svitkovsky, Kovalevsky, Smelyansky have Polish roots in their family.

"Noble" surnames

One version says that in Rus', surnames with the suffixes “-sky/-tsky” were received by boyars and representatives of the nobility based on the names of their family destinies - Vyazemsky, Dubrovsky, Baryatinsky, etc. Surnames became hereditary, passed from father to son as a symbol of territorial power. The Book of the Thousand for 1550 lists 93 princely names, of which 40 end in “-sky”. By the way, it is believed that this tradition came from Poland. The mentioned suffixes were a sign of belonging to the gentry - representatives of the Polish aristocracy. Gradually, this began to be practiced in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, also exclusively among representatives of the upper class.

An attempt to “improve” ordinary surnames

Ethnographers suggest that there was also a tendency to improve common surnames by adding a suffix. This was especially common among Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians who lived in the same territory as the Poles. Thus, Borodin could turn into Borodinsky, Gatchin into Gatchinsky, Zaitsev into Zaichevsky.

"Geographical" origin

There is a version that today most of these surnames, in the past, were formed from geographical names settlements, rivers and lakes. So, a resident of Ryazan in another region was called “Ryazansky”, over time this could turn into a surname. The surname Verzhbitsky is quite common: settlements with this name existed in Poland, and in Russia, and in Ukraine, and in Belarus.

Jewish surnames

Another hypothesis says that at least some surnames starting with “-sky” may have Jewish roots. Such surnames were given to Jews living in the Baltic and Slavic countries, also by the name of the area. For example, Antokolsky, Vilkomirsky, Gilichensky, Mirgorodsky.

"Spiritual" surnames

Graduates of theological seminaries in Russia were assigned new, beautiful, euphonious surnames that would suit their priestly rank. This is how the Nativity, Ascension, Resurrection, Preobrazhensky, Trinity, and All Saints appeared. The surname Lebedinsky presumably also belongs to the “spiritual” family: after all, the swan is a recognized symbol of spiritual purity, including in Orthodoxy.

Most likely, surnames ending in “-sky” or “-tsky” are still completely different in origin, and only by looking at the root can one sometimes guess where they could have come from in principle.

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

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

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

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

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

Latvians- feature to masculine denotes a surname ending in -s, -is, and for a feminine ending - in -a, -e (Verbitskis - Verbitska, Shurins - Shurin)

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

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

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

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

Serbs:-ich.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gagauz:-oglo.

Tatars:-in, -ishin.

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

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

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

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

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

Azerbaijanis- formed surnames based on Azerbaijani names and attaching Russian suffixes -ov, -ev (Mamedov, Aliev, Gasanov, Abdullaev) to them. Also, -zade, -li, ly, -oglu, -kyzy.

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

Ossetians:-ti.

Mordva:-yn, -in.

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

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

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

What do last names with "-in" mean? Do surnames ending with -in have Russian or Jewish roots?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to find out if a last name starts with -in Jewish origin or is this an original Russian surname? Always analyze the word that underlies your last name.

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

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

SURNAMES ENDING IN √ SKIY/-SKAYA, -TSKIY/-TSKAYA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In addition, the name of the ethnic group is known Siberian Tatars Xibans and family name Crimean Tatars Shiban Murzas. In the Perm region there is locality Shibanovo, and in Ivanovskaya - Shibanikha.

So closely related to each other different types proper names: personal names, geographical and ethnic names, as well as surnames.