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 endings -e (Orbakas - Orbakaite);
Estonians - male and female genders are not distinguished using surnames, everything foreign names(mainly German) were at one time Estonianized (Rosenberg - Roosimäe), this process continues until today. 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;
Jews - the main group consists of surnames with Levi roots ( upper caste Jews lion ites and Cohen s and kagan s) 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, the features of his appearance, Dvorkovich (pchelkin) - courtyard in Hebrew, a bee or belonging to a profession (Kaplan - chaplain, Rabinovich - rabbi, Melamed - pestun, Schwartzbard - black-bearded, Stiller - quiet, Shtarkman - strong). Also, all surnames ending in - man (from manka - monkey), such as Chapman, Goldman, Tsukerman...
French - 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, that a person belongs to his family 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 endings -oglu, -ji, -zade (Mustafaoglu, Ekindzhi, Kuindzhi, Mamedzade); when forming surnames, Turkish names or everyday words were often used (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 women's surnames, even if where it would seem to be inappropriate (Valdrova, Ivanovova, Andersonova).
Georgians - common surnames ending in -shvili, -dze, -uri, -ava, -a, -ua, -ia, -ni, -li, -si (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 by taking Azerbaijani names as a basis and attaching Russian suffixes -ov, -ev (Mamedov, Aliev, Gasanov, Abdullaev) to them. Also, -zade, -li, ly, -oglu, -kyzy.
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 SURNAMES WITH "-IN" MEAN? SURNAMES ENDING WITH -IN HAVE RUSSIAN ROOTS 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 nouns feminine 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 name of the famous leader came about? people's militia 1611 -1612 Minin? 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 vintage Russian surname- 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 won’t 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 this really true? 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.
Let's explore the name further and find out:
"The surname Maksyutov is an old princely surname Tatar origin. ABOUT ancient origin the names Maksyutov say historical sources. The surname was first documented in X VI century: Maksyutovs (Maksutovs, obsolete Maksutovs, Tat. Maksutovlar) - 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 Prince Kasim." Now there are doubts about the origin there is almost no last name left.
How do you know if a surname ending in -in is of Jewish origin or is it 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 Hebrewקטן - in the Ashkenazi pronunciation “kotn”, meaning “small”), Eventov (derived from the Hebrew “even tov” - “precious stone”), Khazin ( comes from the Hebrew “khazan”, 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 a surname, analyze the word that underlies it and try to search in various books And archival documents the first mention of your last name. 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, end XV - beginning X VI century; clerk Semyon Zaborovsky, beginning of X VI 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.
You will need
- A sheet of paper, a pen, the ability to do morphemic analysis of a word, etymological dictionary Russian language, dictionary foreign words.
Instructions
Take a piece of paper and a pen. Write your last name and highlight all the morphemes in it: root, suffix, ending. This preparatory stage will help you determine which family name your family belongs to.
Pay attention to the suffix. Since foreign surnames are more common in Russian than other foreign surnames, these could be the following suffixes: “enko”, “eyko”, “ovsk/evsk”, “ko”, “ochko”. That is, if your last name is Tkachenko, Shumeiko, Petrovsky or Gulevsky, Klitschko, Marochko, you should look for distant relatives on the territory of Ukraine.
Look at the root of the word if the suffix does not answer the question of what nationality your last name is. Often its basis is one or another object, animal,... As an example, we can cite the surname Gonchar, the Ukrainian Gorobets (translated as Sparrow), the Jewish Rabin ("rabbi").
Count the number of roots in a word. Sometimes the surname consists of two words. For example, Ryabokon, Beloshtan, Krivonos. Similar surnames refer to Slavic peoples(Russians, Belarusians, Poles, etc.), but are also found in other languages.
Evaluate your surname from the point of view of belonging to the Jewish people. Common Jewish surnames contain the roots “Levi” and “Cohen”, found in the surnames Levitan, Levin, Kogan, Katz. Their owners descended from ancestors who were clergy. There are also surnames that came from male (Moses, Solomon) or female names (Rivkin, Beilis), or were formed from the merger of a male name and a suffix (Abrahams, Jacobson, Mandelstam).
Remember, does Tatar blood flow in your veins? If your surname consists of a combination of words and suffixes “in”, “ov” or “ev”, then the answer is obvious - there were . This is especially clearly seen in the example of such names as Bashirov, Turgenev, Yuldashev.
Determine which language the surname belongs to, based on the following clues:
- if it has the prefix “de” or “le”, look for roots in France;
- if the surname contains the English name of the territory (for example, Welsh), the quality of a person (Sweet) or profession (Carver), relatives should be looked for in the UK;
- the same rules apply to German surnames. They are derived from profession (Schmidt), nickname (Klein), name (Peters);
- Polish surnames can be recognized based on the sound - Kowalczyk, Sienkiewicz.
Look in a dictionary of foreign words if you have difficulty assigning a surname to a particular language.
Video on the topic
Please note
If your surname is of Jewish origin, it can be used to determine the territory where your ancestors lived. Thus, Slavic Jews bear the surnames Davidovich, Berkovich, Rubinchik. They sound very similar to Russian patronymics and diminutive names of objects. The surnames of Polish Jews differ in their suffixes. For example, Padva.
To compose family tree or find distant relatives, but not make a mistake in interpreting the surname by nationality, you should rely not only on the root and suffix, but also on the environment. After all, the most common name Ivan has a Hebrew past, and surnames derived from it are found among Russians, Mari, Mordvins, Chuvash - Ivanaev, Vankin, Ivashkin, Ivakin, etc. Therefore, do not be lazy to look into the etymological dictionary.
Sources:
- what is the nationality of the name
- If your last name ends in ov/-ev, -in then I will
The word surname in translation means family (Latin familia - family). A surname is the proper name of a clan community - united primary social units connected by blood ties. How do the names of surnames arise, what is the principle of the formation of Russian surnames, in particular, surnames starting with “-ov”.
The emergence of surnames
The emergence and spread of surnames in Rus' was gradual. The first nicknames were acquired by the citizens of Veliky Novgorod and the lands under its jurisdiction. 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 times 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.
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. By most surnames you can accurately determine the nationality of 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 surnames in the 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, Wolnitskaya); 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 this 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, Ukrainians, Parubok), as well as a merger of words (Vernigora, Nepiyvoda, Bilous).
Latvians - the peculiarity of the masculine gender is indicated by a surname ending in -s, -is, and in the feminine gender - with -a, -e (Verbitskis - Verbitska, Shurins - Shurin)
Lithuanians - male surnames end in -onis, -unas, -utis, -aitis, -enas (Pyatrenas, Norvydaitis), female surnames are formed from the husband's surname using the suffixes -en, -juven, -uven and the ending -e (Grinius - Grinyuvene), the surnames of 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 by surnames, all foreign surnames (mostly German) were once Estonized (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;
The French - 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 are 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);
Norwegians - formed from personal names using the suffix -en (Larsen, Hansen), surnames without suffixes and endings can be found (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 their surnames have the endings -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 - the surnames of the Greeks 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 - common surnames ending in -shvili, -dze, -uri, -ava, -a, -ua, -ia, -ni, -li, -si (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 by taking Azerbaijani names as a basis and attaching Russian suffixes -ov, -ev (Mamedov, Aliyev, 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 SURNAMES WITH "-IN" MEAN? SURNAMES ENDING WITH -IN HAVE RUSSIAN ROOTS 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.” The 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 - Sema - 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 won’t 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 this really true? 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 more deeply, it turns out that the surname Maksyutov is derived from the Tatar male name “Maksud”, 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 princely surname of Tatar origin. Historical sources speak about the ancient origin of the surname Maksyutov. The surname was first documented in the 16th century: Maksyutovs (Maksutovs, obsolete Maksyutovs, Tat. Maksutovlar) - Volga-Bulgar princely-Murzin family, originates from the Kasimov Prince Maksut (1554), in the genealogical legend, Prince Maksut was called an uhlan and a descendant of Tsarevich Kasim." Now there is almost no doubt about the origin of the surname.
How do you know if a surname ending in -in is of Jewish origin or is it 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 "khazn", meaning "a person leading worship in the 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 the rather 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 story of his last name. 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 name of two settlements Brynsk in different parts country and also, apparently, goes back to the names of the rivers Bryn and Brynitsa. 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 the 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. The Ukrainian surname corresponding to the Russian one is 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 ethnic group ur, as well as with the name of the medieval Turkic people Uryanka. Similar names could be found in different places, since medieval peoples led a nomadic lifestyle 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 of the Chigili.
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 sha "ban - 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 of the Siberian Tatars Shibans and their family name are known Crimean Tatars Shiban Murzas. IN Perm region there is a settlement called Shibanovo, and in Ivanovskaya there is Shibanikha.
So closely related to each other different types proper names: personal names, geographical and ethnic names, as well as surnames.
Generic names whose bearers are Jews are called Jewish. They can be divided into several types. The most numerous variant of their formation is considered geographical names. The next type is characteristic features or external data of a person. Especially interesting option the emergence of Jewish surnames is an artificial creation.
Jewish names and surnames
The currently popular Israeli names are very diverse. No nation can boast of so many beautiful generic names. AllJewish names and surnamesare unique, and each has its own meaning and origin. The history of most of them fits into only three centuries, because the ancient people were scattered throughout the world and did not need identification and a system for a long time. In Russia, Western and Eastern Europe the process began only after the corresponding laws were adopted at the state level.
Until the 18th century, Jews who lived in Russia and Europe did not have generic names.Origin of Jewish surnamesstarted in Russian Empire, when a law was passed obliging people to have proper gender names. They were created hastily, which explains their diversity in modern world. Officials sometimes came up with a name for a person in their own way, depending on appearance, weather conditions and mood. Sometimes Jews came up with family names on their own. The second option was used by wealthy Jewish families, because the appropriation cost a lot of money.
Meaning
The names of the male founders of the clan gave rise to many surnames around the world. Often Jews did a simple thing: they took their or their father’s first or patronymic name and made it a nickname. The most common name of the genus is Moses (Moshesa, Moses). IN difficult cases To own name an ending or suffix was added: Abrahams, Israels, Samuels. One more thingmeaning of Jewish surnames: When they end in “son”/”zon”, then the bearer is the son of a particular person. Davidson means he is a descendant of David. Abramson is the son of Abram, Yakobson is the son of Jacob, and Matison is the son of Mathis.
Beautiful Jewish surnames
Jews often pray for their loved ones, calling them by their mother's name. This religious factor played a big role in the fact that the ancient people perpetuated both male and female names who performed an important political or economic mission in its history. The mostbeautiful Jewish surnames- these are those that arose on behalf of the mother. And there are many of them:
- Riva – Rivman;
- Gita - Gitis;
- Bayla - Beilis;
- Sarah - Sorison, etc.
As already mentioned, beautiful surnames Jews were created by wealthy representatives ancient people. The dictionary contains many examples. List of the most popular ones in alphabetical order:
- Goldenberg – golden mountain;
- Goldenbloom - golden flower;
- Hartmann is a solid (strong) person;
- Tokman is a persistent person;
- Muterperel - sea pearl;
- Mendel is a comforter;
- Rosenzweig - rose branch;
- Zuckerberg is a sugar mountain.
Popular
The first place in the ranking is occupied by the Rabinovichs and Abramovichs. No lesspopular Jewish surnameswho have German roots - Katzman, Urgant, Bleistein, Brull. Family names associated with religion are also often found among Jews: Shulman (synagogue minister), Soifer (text writer), Levi (priest assistant), Cohen (priest). In the list of popular genus names, the third ones are those that are formed on a professional basis:
- Kravets (tailor);
- Melamed (teacher);
- Shuster (shoemaker);
- Kramer (shopkeeper);
- Shelomov (helmet maker).
funny
As modern Jews joke: “Funny Jewish surnamesunder certain circumstances can be formed from any word in the dictionary.” Subject names of the genus include such as Hat, Rag, Footcloth, Starch, Peat. Mothballs, Medallion, Barrier, Penthouse, Sole, Nagler are considered cool. The list is complemented by funny generic names related to flora and fauna: Gelding, Lysobyk, Tarantula, Haidak (microbe).
Russian Jewish surnames
On the territory of Russia, mass emigration of Jews occurred after the annexation of Poland during the reign of Catherine II. Trying to infiltrate society, representatives of the ancient people sometimes took Russian generic names for themselves. As a rule,Jewish surnames in Russiaended in “ovich”, “ov”, “on”, “ik”, “sky”: Medinsky, Sverdlov, Novik, Kaganovich.
Common
Jewish immigrants chose their generic names based on the city, region or country from which they came. This distinguished them from other members of the community for identification purposes. Stillcommon Jewish surnamescorrespond to the place of residence of their ancestors, for example, Poznery, Warsaw, Byaloblotsky, Urdominsky. Another row consists of frequently heard generic names, which are derived from male personal names: Yakubovich, Levkovich.
Famous
Currently, many Jews occupy prestigious positions in Russian politics and show business.Famous Jewish surnamesamong politicians: Avdeev, Lavrov, Dvorkovich, Shuvalov, Sechin, Shokhin, Sobchak. The list can be continued for a very long time, because it started a long time ago, with V.I. coming to power. Lenin, who did not hide his Jewish origin. Today, according to unofficial data, the number of Jews in the Russian government is 70%. On Russian stage Many of our favorite musicians are also representatives of the ancient people:
- Varum;
- Agutin;
- Linnik;
- Galkin;
- Gazmanov;
- Milyavskaya;
- Valley (Kudelman);
- Moiseev and many others.
Video
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.