Last name is the family name that a person receives by inheritance. Many people live for a long time and do not even think about what their last name means. Thanks to the surname, you can not only determine who your great-grandfathers were, but also determine the nationality of its owner. In this article we will try to figure out what nationality this or that surname belongs to.
You can find out the origin of your surname in several ways, which are described in the article, among them you can identify the determination of origin by the endings of surnames.
Last name endings
Using certain endings, you can find out what nationality a surname belongs to:
- The British. It is very difficult to identify specific endings that indicate the English. Mostly surnames are derived from English words, indicating the place of residence: Wales, Scott, or the person’s profession: Smith - blacksmith, Cook - cook.
- Armenians. Most Armenian surnames end in - yang: Aleksanyan, Burinyan, Galustyan.
- Belarusians. Belarusian surnames end in -ich, -chik, -ka, -ko: Tyshkevich, Fedorovich, Glushko, Vasilka, Gornachenok.
- Georgians. It is very easy to identify a person of Georgian nationality; their last names end in - shvili, - dze, - a, - ua, - ni, - li, - si: Gergedava, Geriteli, Dzhugashvili.
- Jews. If the surname contains the root Levi or Cohen, then its owner belongs to Jewish nationality: Levitan, Koganovich. But you can also find surnames with endings - ich, - man, -er: Kogenman, Kaganer.
- The Spaniards and Portuguese have surnames with the endings - ez, - iz, - az, - iz, oz: Gonzalez, Gomez, Torres. There are also surnames that indicate a person’s character: Alegre - joyful, Malo - bad.
- Italians. If we talk about Italians, their surnames end in - ini, - ino, - illo, - etti, - etto, - ito: Puccini, Brocchi, Marchetti. The prefix di and da can indicate that the genus belongs to a certain territory: da Vinci.
- Germans. German surnames Mostly they end in - man, - er and they indicate the type of human activity (Becker - baker, Lehmann - landowner, Koch - cook) or contain some characteristic (Klein - small).
- Poles. Surnames ending in - sk; - tsk; -y indicate that a person (or his ancestors) belongs to Polish nationality: Godlevsky, Ksieshinsky, Kalnitsky, and their roots go back to the time of the creation of the Polish nobility (gentry).
- Russians. Surnames ending in -ov, -ev, -in, -skoy, -tskoy: Ignatov, Mikhailov, Eremin. Russian surnames in structure are patronymics, which are formed from the names: Ivan - Ivanov, Grigory - Grigoriev; but among the examples you can find surnames derived from the name of the family’s locality: White Lake - Belozersky.
- Ukrainians. The endings that indicate that a person belongs to Ukrainian nationality include: - ko, - uk/yuk, - un, -niy/ny, - tea, - ar, - a: Tereshchenko, Karpyuk, Tokar, Gonchar, Peaceful. Surnames mainly indicate the family's affiliation with a particular craft.
Onomastics
It is worth noting that the science that studies proper names and their origin is called onomastics. Its section - anthroponymy - studies the origin of human names and their forms, one of which is the surname. It touches on the history of their origin and transformation as a result of long-term use in the source language.
Instructions
All Russian surnames containing -ov- (-ev-), -in-, -sk- (Belov, Ignatieva, Baturin, Glinskaya) are declined. In the plural, the forms of female and male surnames coincide (Belovs, Glinskys). Surnames ending in -ой, -й, -й (Lanovoy, Dikiy, Zapashny) are declined in the same way as adjectives.
The rest, ending in consonants or the letters “ь”, “й” (except for surnames with -ы, -ы), have the instrumental ending -ом, (-м): Gaidar, Babel. Female surnames in this case they do not bow: with Anna Kern, for Marina Golub. In the plural, surnames of this type are also declined as masculine: visited the Herzens.
Russian surnames ending in -yh, -ikh (Belykh, Dolgikh) are not declined.
When declension of surnames ending in -a, it matters which letter (vowel or consonant) comes before this -a, as well as whether the final -a is stressed. If in a surname there is a vowel before the final -a, such a surname is not declined (Maurois).
Surnames ending in unstressed -a after consonants are declined according to the first declension: Kafka (Kafka's novel), Okudzhava (Okudzhava's song).
If the final -а (or -я) is stressed, such surnames may or may not be declined depending on the . Surnames of French origin are not declined (Dumas, Petipa, Zola). Surnames of other origins (Slavic, from eastern languages) are declined according to the first declension, that is, the stressed ending -a is isolated in them: Kvasha - Kvashi, Kvashe, Kvasha, Kvashoy (here Golovnya, Shengelaya, Beria, etc.).
If the surname is compound, and the first part of the surname is not in itself as a surname (Demut-Malinovsky), then only the second part of the surname is declined (sculpture of Demut-Malinovsky). If the first part of the surname is itself a surname, in this case both parts are declined (Lebedeva-Kumacha).
There are a number of surnames, the declination of which causes difficulties and is not regulated general rules. To resolve such difficulties, a dictionary of surnames is needed, giving normative recommendations for each specific word.
Sources:
- Declension of surnames. Reference and information portal GRAMOTA.RU
- Declension of masculine surnames
- Declension of proper names
The Russian language has its own peculiarities of declension of surnames and personal names, which are so difficult for foreigners learning our language. However, sometimes these questions cause difficulties even for those for whom Russian is their native language. One of these questions is how to persuade - diy in Russian, we will now consider.
Instructions
According to the rules, and having the ending - diy, incline towards . Women's surnames don't bow, but men's surnames, V nominative case those ending in -y are declined in the same way as nouns that have a second masculine gender. By ear they are often perceived as foreign.
Women's surnames with such an ending they are not declined either in the singular or in the plural. For example: Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, about Svetlana Kon diy. Likewise, and in the plural: the Cohn sisters diy, Kon sisters diy, to the Kon sisters diy, Kon sisters diy, by the Kon sisters diy, about the Cohn sisters diy.
Men's surnames on - diy are declined in both singular and plural. Singular: Evgeniy Kon diy, Evgeniy Kondiy, Evgeniy Kondiy, Evgeniy Kondiy, Evgeniy Kondiy, about Evgeniy Kondiy. In the plural: the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, about the Kondi brothers.
Accordingly, in order to write such a surname, we must have information about the gender of this . The absence of such information can put the writer in a difficult situation. Accordingly, in which the surname ending in – is indicated diy, carries information about the field.
There is one more, rather syntactic, nuance. When mentioning male and gender with a surname - diy, she doesn't bow either. For example: Victor and Elena Kan diy, Victor and Elena Kan diy, Victor and Elena Kon diy, Victor and Elena Kon diy, Victor and Elena Kon diy, about Victor and Elena Kon diy.
Sources:
- N. A. Eskova. Difficulties in inflecting nouns. Educational materials for practical classes in the course “Language of Modern Printing”. State Press Committee of the USSR. All-Union Institute for Advanced Training of Print Workers. M., 1990.
Declension of adjectives is carried out by cases, gender and numbers. There are also indeclinable adjectives in the Russian language, but they are a minority.
Instructions
There are two types of declension: adjective and mixed. Most adjectives are declined according to the first type. The adjective declension is divided into the declension of adjectives with the ending –оy and adjectives with the endings –й and –й.
The declension of adjectives ending in –ой is also divided into subtypes based on the final sound of the stem. This sound can be velar, hard hissing or paired.
The declension of adjectives with endings –й and –й has more varieties according to the final sound of the stem. The ending can appear after iota, after ts, after hard sibilants, after velar, after soft paired consonants, after hard paired consonants.
The mixed type of declension is divided into the first pronominal, second pronominal and possessive. Possessive adjectives with bases ending in –iy and –in, as well as the countable adjective third, are inflected according to the first pronominal. All other possessive adjectives are inflected according to the possessive subtype.
The declension of adjectives with a stem to a paired-hard consonant occurs as follows. IN masculine and singular endings for cases are as follows: -й/-ой in the nominative and accusative, -ого in the genitive, -ом in the dative, -ом in the instrumental, -ом in the prepositional. In the neuter gender and singular the endings are similar, except for the ending –о in the nominative and accusative cases.
In the feminine gender and singular the endings are as follows: -aya in the nominative, -ой in the genitive and dative, -уу in the accusative, -о/-оу in the instrumental, -ой in the prepositional. The plural of adjectives with a base on a paired hard consonant is declined as follows: -y in the nominative and accusative, -y in the genitive and prepositional, -y in the dative, -y in the instrumental.
When based on a soft paired consonant, masculine in the singular it has the following endings: -й in the nominative and accusative, -ee in the genitive, -im in the dative and accusative, -im in the instrumental, -em in the prepositional. The singular number is neuter: -ee in the nominative and accusative, -ee in the genitive, -im in the dative, -im in the instrumental, -em in the prepositional. Singular female: -yaya in the nominative, -ey in the genitive and dative, -yyu in the accusative, -ey/-ey in the instrumental, -ey in the prepositional.
The plural of this type of adjective is declined as follows: -ie in the nominative and accusative, -i in the genitive and prepositional, -im in the dative and instrumental.
Adjectives with a sibilant stem in the masculine gender and singular change by case as follows: -й/-ой in the nominative, -его in the genitive, -ем in the dative, -й/-ой and –и/-ой in the accusative, - im in the instrumental, -em in the prepositional. In the neuter singular: -ee/-oe in the nominative and accusative, -ogo in the genitive, -om in the dative, -im in the instrumental, -om in the accusative. Feminine singular: -aya in the nominative, -е/-ой in the genitive and dative, -уу in the accusative, -е/-ей and –ой/-ою in the instrumental, -е/-оь in the prepositional.
Adjectives with a sibilant stem in the plural are declined according to the following scheme: -ie in the nominative, -ikh in the genitive and prepositional, -im in the dative, -ie/-ikh in the accusative, -imi in the instrumental.
If an adjective has a stem with the sound g/k/x, in the masculine gender and singular it has the following endings. In the nominative case –й/-ой, in the genitive –ого, in the dative–ом, in the accusative –й/-ох/-ом, in the instrumental –im, in the prepositional –ом. In the neuter gender singular: -oe in the nominative and accusative, the rest as in the masculine gender.
Feminine singular: -aya in the nominative, -ой in the genitive and dative, -уу in the accusative, -о/-оу in the instrumental, -оу in the preposition. Plural: -ie in the nominative, -ikh in the genitive and instrumental, -im in the dative, -ie/-ikh in the accusative, -imi in the instrumental.
Video on the topic
Sources:
- Declension of adjectives in Russian
- Declension of adjectives
Citizens of Veliky Novgorod and its subordinate lands acquired surnames and nicknames. Chronicle evidence draws our attention to this fact, telling about the Battle of the Neva in 1240.
Later, in the 14th – 15th centuries, princes began to acquire family names. Called by the name of the inheritance they owned, having lost it, the princes began to reserve its name for themselves and their descendants as a family name. This is how the Vyazemsky (Vyazma), Shuisky (Shuya) and other noble families appeared. At the same time, they began to take hold, originating from the nicknames: Lykovs, Gagarins, Gorbatovs.
Boyarsky and then noble families, due to their lack of inheritance status, were formed in to a greater extent from nicknames. The formation of a surname on behalf of the ancestor has also become widespread. Bright to that the reigning family in Russia - the Romanovs.
Romanovs
The ancestors of this ancient boyar family were ancestors who wore different time nicknames: Mare, Koshka Kobylin, Koshkins. The son of Zakhary Ivanovich Koshkin, Yuri Zakharovich, was already called by his father and by his nickname - Zakharyin-Koshkin. In turn, his son, Roman Yuryevich, bore the surname Zakharyev-Yuryev. The Zakharyins were also the children of Roman Yuryevich, but with their grandchildren (Fyodor Nikitich - Patriarch Filaret), the family continued under the name of the Romanovs. With the surname Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich was chosen to the royal throne.
Last name as personal identification
The establishment of passports by Peter I in 1719 for the convenience of collecting poll taxes and carrying out recruitment gave rise to the spread of surnames for men of all classes, including peasants. At first, along with the name, a patronymic and/or nickname was written in, which then became the owner’s surname.
Formation of Russian surnames into –ov/-ev, -in
The most common Russian surnames are derived from personal names. As a rule, this is the name of the father, but more often the grandfather. That is, the surname was fixed in the third generation. At the same time, the personal name of the ancestor became a possessive adjective, formed from the name using the suffixes –ov/-ev, -in and answering the question “whose?”
“Whose Ivan? - Petrov."
In the same way in late XIX– at the beginning of the 20th century, Russian officials formed and recorded the surnames of the inhabitants of the Russian Transcaucasus and Central Asia.
The life of every person is filled with new acquaintances almost every day, but sometimes you can get into a very awkward situation by making a mistake with a person’s nationality and behaving inappropriately for the nationalistic characteristics of the people to whom a new acquaintance belongs. Therefore, it is quite important to have knowledge of how to determine nationality by last name. Facial features do not always accurately indicate origin: just like a person’s speech.
Determining nationality - is it difficult?
Probably, how to find out your nationality by last name is of interest to few people, because from birth we are aware of our belonging to a particular nation. However, the question of how to find out the nationality of a new person in your social circle by last name is very relevant.
How everything works
Many people know that the ending of a surname in most cases indicates a person’s origin. There are no algorithms in constructing endings; you just need to memorize them.
Is it worth unconditionally believing stereotypes and is it worth breaking them?
What endings, suffixes and prefixes say
Ukrainians
IN in this case signs of nationalist affiliation are determined not exactly by the ending, but by the suffix:
- -enko, -ko, -uk, -yuk, -yak (Nagornyak, Goncharuk, Fomenko);
- some surnames were formed based on some craft or occupation of the past (Koval, Gonchar);
- There are also common words (Khlopets, Gorobets, Ukrainian);
- There are also mergers of words (Nepiyvoda, Vernigora).
Russians
If a person's last name ends in -ov, his nationality is Russian. The same applies to the following endings: -ev, -skikh (Vudilov, Kamenskikh).
Latvians
Everything is simple here: men's - end in -s, -is; female - on -e, -a, -na (Verlitskis, Shurins - Shurin).
Belarusians
Classic surnames of Belarusians have the endings -ich, -chik, -ka, -ko, -onak, -yonak (Falkevich, Dubrovka, Kolshonok, Nukharchik).
During Soviet times, Belarusian surnames were Polished (Dubrovsky, Kalshonko).
Lithuanians
Men's surnames end in -onis, -unas, -utis, -aitis, -enas (Luenas, Ronvydaitis, Narnunas).
Feminine ones are formed from masculine ones using the suffixes -en, -yuven, -uven and the ending -e (Luenas - Luenasuven). Such transformations occur either with the husband's or father's surname. In the second case, the suffixes -ut, -yut, -ayt, as well as the ending -e (Korbatas - Korbataite) are added.
Estonians
Men and women have no differences in their surnames. All foreign names, available to Estonian citizens, were once converted into Estonian ones. The so-called law of Estonianization is still in effect today, so in order to play for the Estonian football team, some of the team members had to convert from Sergei Khokhlov and Konstantin Kolbasenko to Simson and Nahka.
Poles
Perhaps many people are aware of the characteristics of a Polish surname. They are characterized by the presence of suffixes -sk, -tsk and the endings -iy, -oy (-aya), which indicate masculine or feminine gender (Gurskoy, Gurskaya, Matsedonskiy).
There are also so-called double surnames, when a woman, upon marriage, combines hers and her husband’s. Therefore, among Polish women you can find, for example, Mazur-Komorowska.
French people
IN French surnames the prefix Le or De (De Lon, Le Pen) is often found. For the most part, they are formed from nicknames and names (Jolie, Roberto).
English
In England, many surnames were formed from place of residence (Wales, Scott), profession (Clerk - employee, Smith - blacksmith), character (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet).
Italians
In Italy, surnames with the suffixes -ini, -ino, -ello, -illo, -etti, -etto, -ito (Ramasetto, Furtini, Moretti) are common. Some surnames have the endings -o, -a, -i (Conti, Costa).
The prefixes di- and da- in the surname are used by people belonging to a noble family (Da Vinci, Di Moretti).
It is not so difficult to learn the significance of surnames, because you do not have to memorize everything. Select the most necessary ones to always be aware of who your interlocutor is. How to find out nationality by last name? Just! Thanks to this information, you can easily determine a person’s nationality.
More and more often you can hear the opinion that native Russian surnames have the following suffixes: -ov, -ev, -in, -yn.
Where did the surnames with the suffixes -ov and -ev come from?
According to statistics, about 60% of the Russian population have surnames with the suffixes -ov and -ev. Such surnames are considered originally Russian, suggesting that they are of ancestral origin.
Initially, Russian surnames came from patronymics. For example, Ivan, who was the son of Peter, was called Ivan Petrov. After surnames came into use in the 13th century, they began to be given based on the oldest man in the family. So, not only the sons, but also the grandchildren and great-grandsons of Peter became Petrovs.
To diversify surnames, they began to be given based on nicknames. Thus, the descendants of Beloborodov also received the surname Beloborodov, passing it on to their descendants from generation to generation. 
They began to give surnames depending on the person’s occupation. Therefore, the Goncharovs, Kuznetsovs, Plotnikovs, Popovs and other sonorous names appeared. You can be sure that Kuznetsov’s great-grandfather had a forge, and Popov had priests in his family. 
Surnames with the suffix -ev were given to those people whose names, nicknames or the name of the specialization of their ancestors ended in a soft consonant. This is how the Ignatievs, Bondarevs and others appeared.
Where did the surnames with the suffixes -in and -yn come from?
About 30% of the Russian population have surnames ending with the suffixes -in and -yn. These surnames could come from the names, nicknames and professions of ancestors, as well as from words that end in -a and -ya. 
So the surname Minin means “son of Mina.” By the way, Mina is a popular female name in Rus'. 
For example, the surname Semin comes from the name Semyon. Interestingly, the name Semyon comes from Simeon, which in ancient times meant “heard by God.” That's pretty much how they formed popular surnames- Nikitin, Ilyin, Fomin and many others. 
Also, some surnames indicate that a person’s ancestors belonged to a particular profession. For example, the surname Rogozhin indicates that a person’s ancestors traded matting or were engaged in its production. 
It cannot be stated with absolute certainty, because even now many disputes continue, but it is assumed that the surnames Pushkin, Gagarin, Zimin, Korovin, Ovechkin, Borodin also came from the names of things, phenomena, animals or professions. 
Still, experts say that you first need to find out what word underlies the surname, and only then can you talk about professional occupations or nicknames of distant ancestors from which the surname came.
In the vast majority of cases, Russian surnames end in -ov and -ev. Surnames with -in and -yn also became widespread. How did this happen, and what is behind it? Faktrum I decided to look into this issue.
The secret of the appearance of surnames in -ov and -ev
The endings -ov and -ev in the most common Russian surnames did not appear by chance. Historians believe that their appearance is mainly related to the origin of the family. So, for example, if a person’s name was Ivan, and his father was Peter, then he automatically received the surname Petrov, since he was the son of Peter. Later, in the 13th century, surnames began to be used officially, and they were given by the name of the eldest person in the family. Thus, not only Peter’s son, but also all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren became Petrov.
However this is not the only reason, according to which most Russian surnames received the suffixes -ov and -ev. Some of them came from nicknames. To make it clearer, let’s give an example: if a person was called Bezborodov, then his children and grandchildren became Bezborodov. The type of human activity could also play a key role in this issue. Plotnikov received just such a surname, since his father was a carpenter, and Kuznetsov was the heir of a blacksmith. As for the suffix -ev, it appeared in the surnames of those people whose ancestors were engaged in activities whose names ended with a consonant soft letter. Well, for example, the children and grandchildren of the man who received the nickname Bullfinch were already called Snegirevs, and the descendants of the cooper were called Bondarevs.
The mystery of the origin of surnames ending in -in and -yn
In second place in popularity in Russia are surnames starting with -in and a little less often - with -yn. In fact, there is no mystery here. Their origin is also connected with the names and nicknames of their ancestors, with their occupation. Such surnames were formed when words ending in -a and -ya, as well as feminine nouns with a soft consonant at the end, were taken as a basis. For example, the surname Minin obviously came from female name Mina, which, in turn, was quite popular in Rus' in the old days.
Agree, these days surnames like Fomin and Ilyin are found quite often. Now it is obvious that among the ancestors of these people were Thomas and Elijah. But the surname Rogozhin suggests that the founders, apparently, were engaged in the manufacture or trade of matting. As in the case of surnames in -ov and -ev, these were also based on names, nicknames and names of professions.