Jewish surnames: list and meaning. Surnames ending with х nationality, how to find out nationality by the end of the surname

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 whom the surname came.

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 interests 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).

Female ones are formed from male 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 endings -й, -ой (-я), which indicate masculine or feminine(Gurskoy, Gurskaya, Matsedonsky).

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

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.

From school, many have learned the rule that when pronouncing and writing female surnames cases are not declined, but masculine cases are inflected on the contrary, like similar adjectives or nouns. Is everything so simple, and are foreign male surnames inclined in Russian? This is the subject of this article, based on the monograph by L.P. Kalakutskaya, published in 1984.

Importance of the problem

There are many situations in which the correct spelling and correct pronunciation of surnames in different cases is very important:

• The child has started school and needs to sign his notebook or diary correctly.
• A young man or an adult man is awarded a diploma or letter of gratitude.
• At a serious event, the appearance or performance of a man with a complex surname is announced. It will be unpleasant if it is distorted.
• Upon registration important documents(certificate, diploma) or preparing case materials to establish family ties (in court, at a notary).
• Know if they are inclined male surnames, is necessary for people of many professions who deal with the preparation of personal files or other business papers.

Russian surnames

The most common surnames in Russia - with suffixes - sk (-tsk), ov (-ev), in (-yn): Razumovsky, Slutsky, Ivanov, Turgenev, Mukhin, Sinitsyn. All of them are easily declined, like ordinary adjectives, both in feminine and in masculine. Exception - surnames on -ov, -in, the ending of which in the prepositional case is somewhat different from the traditional one.

Foreign surnames with suffix -in (-yn) also have a discrepancy with the Russians in instrumental case. Let's look at an example:

Do male surnames tend to th without suffix - sk, which are also found in Russia (Tolstoy, Berezhnoy, Sukhoi)? Few (in scientific works in philology there are them full list), they are easily changed by case in the same way as adjectives with similar endings.

Ukrainian surnames

The most famous Ukrainian surnames are on -enko And -ko: Bondarenko, Luchko, Molodyko. If you look at Russian literature, then in works of art (A.P. Chekhov, for example), writers are quite free with their writing in the masculine version and in the plural: “Let’s go to visit the Bondarenki.”

This is incorrect, because the official spelling is different from works of art And colloquial speech. The answer to the question whether Ukrainian male surnames tend to be - enko And -ko, unequivocal - no. Example:

• I am writing a letter to Oleg Bondarenko.
• She has an affair with Ivan Luchko.

Moreover, this applies to all surnames of Ukrainian origin, even such rare ones as Alekhno, Rushailo, Mylo, Tolokno. Surnames are never inclined to -ago, -ovo, -yago: Vodolago, Durnovo, Dubyago. What about those that end in consonants?

Surnames starting with the consonant -k

Historically, suffixes -uk (-yuk) indicated either a related or semantic affiliation: Ivan’s son is Ivanchuk, the cooper’s assistant is Bondarchuk. IN to a greater extent they are typical for the western part of Ukraine, but are widespread among all Slavic peoples. Do men's surnames tend to - uk?

According to the laws of the Russian language, female surnames do not change by case, but male surnames ending in a consonant (the exception is the ending -them, -s), bow without fail:

• I wrote a letter to Olga Dimitryuk.
• I was invited to visit Igor Shevchuk.
• I recently saw Sergei Ignatyuk.

All surnames expressed by nouns are also subject to change by case: Mole, Wolf, Wind, Pillar. There is one subtlety here: if the surname is Slavic, then the existing fluent vowel in the root is not always preserved. In jurisdictions, it is important to spell it out, although many sources do not consider pronunciation without it to be incorrect. As an example, consider the surname Hare. More often it is said: “She called Ivan Zayets.” This is acceptable, but more correct: “She called Ivan Zayats.”

Common in Ukraine and surnames in -ok, -hic: Pochinok, Gorelik. Knowing the rule that all male surnames with a consonant at the end change according to cases, it is easy to answer the question: do male surnames decline to -To:

• She came to the house of Ilya Pochinok (here the fluent vowel disappears).
• He knew Larisa Petrik well.

Exception to the rule

The Slavs often meet family endings on -their(s): Chernykh, Ilyinsky. In the first half of the 20th century, men's surnames with similar endings were often changed by case. According to the norms of the Russian language today, this is incorrect.

The origin of these surnames from the plural adjective requires the preservation of their individuality:

• He greeted Peter Bela X.

Although there is a consonant at the end, this is an exception to the rule that you need to be aware of when answering the question of whether male surnames are declined.

It is quite common to end with -h: Stojkovic, Rabinovich, Gorbach. The general rule applies here:

• Waiting for Semyon Rabinovich to visit.
• He really liked Anna Porkhach's exhibition.

Armenian surnames

Armenia is a small country with a population of barely more than 3 million people. But about 8.5 million members of the diaspora live in other countries, so they are widespread. They can often be identified by the traditional ending - an(-yang): Avdzhan, Dzhigarkhanyan. In ancient times there was a more archaic family form: -ants (-yantz), -untz, which is still common in the south of Armenia: Kurants, Sarkisyants, Tonunts. Does an Armenian male surname decline?

It is subject to the rules of the Russian language, which have already been discussed in the article. Male surnames with a consonant at the end are subject to case declension:

• together with Armen Avjan ( at the same time "together with Anush Avjan");
• watched a film with the participation of Georg Tonunts ( at the same time "film with Lili Tonunts").

Ending with vowels

Male surnames remain unchanged if they, regardless of origin and affiliation with a particular country, end in the following vowels: i, s, u, yu, e, e. Example: Gandhi, Dzhusoity, Shoigu, Camus, Maigret, Manet. In this case, it does not matter at all whether the stress falls on the first or last syllable. These include Moldavian, Indian, French, Georgian, Italian and Example: “ Recently he read poems by Shota Rustaveli" But do men's surnames tend to - a (i)?

Both options occur here, so it is better to present them in a table:

To consolidate knowledge of whether male surnames tend to - A, we offer you an algorithm that can always be at hand.

German surnames

The origin of Germanic surnames is similar to their history in other states: most are derived from personal names, place names, nicknames or occupations of their bearers.

The settlement of the Volga region by Germans in the 18th century led to the fact that their spelling in Russia was often carried out with errors, so there are many similar surnames with a discrepancy of one or two letters. But in fact all of them, with rare exceptions, end in a consonant, so answering the question of whether masculine inflections German surnames, we can say with confidence: yes. Exceptions are: Goethe, Heine, Otto and others, ending in

Since German surnames change according to cases, they should be distinguished from Slavic ones. In addition to the common ones, such as Müller, Hoffman, Wittgenstein, Wolf, there are those ending in -their: Dietrich, Freundlich, Ulrich. In Russian surnames before -their There are rarely soft consonants with hard pairs. This is explained by the fact that adjectives with similar stems are almost never found in the language. Slavic surnames, unlike the German ones, do not bow (Pyatykh, Borovsky).

If the end is -ь or -й

The rule by which male surnames that have consonants without an ending as their basis are declined also applies to those cases when they are put at the end -ь or th. They change by case as nouns belonging to the second declension. However, in the instrumental case they have a special ending - om (eat). They are perceived as foreign. To answer the question whether male surnames tend to -ь And th, an example should be considered:

• Nominative (who?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
• Genitive (whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
• Dative (to whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
• Accusative (of whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
• Creative (by whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
• Prepositional (about whom?): about Vrubel, about Gaidai.

There are exceptions to the rule. Thus, discordant surnames (Pelmen), as well as those coinciding with geographical name(Uruguay, Taiwan). Even if it comes after a hissing word (Night, Mouse), the surname is inclined to be masculine.

Double and compound surnames

China, Vietnam and Korea are distinguished by the fact that their residents have compound surnames made up of several words. If they end in a consonant, they are declined according to general rules, but only their last part. Example:

• We listened to Kim Jong Il's speech.

Russian double surnames are declined in both parts according to general rules:

• painting by Petrov-Vodkin;
• Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater.

If the first part is not a surname, but serves as a component, it does not change by case:

• Ter-Ovanesyan's jump;
• work by Demut-Malinovsky.

Whether male surnames of other foreign countries are declined depends entirely on the rules of Russian grammar discussed in the article. The question of using the plural or singular when listing two persons remained unclear.

Singular and plural

In which cases the plural is used and in which the singular is used, it is best to see from the table:

Men's surnames, unlike women's, are declined, but there are many cases discussed in the article when they also cannot be changed. The main criteria are the ending of the word and the country of origin of the surname.

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.” This is approximately how popular surnames were formed - 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 whom the surname came.

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 proportion of surnames ending in -sky/-skaya, -tsky/-tskaya, derived from geographical and ethnic names. In letters from our readers who want to know about the origin of their surnames, the following surnames are mentioned: -sky / -tsky.

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. Surname found in Poland Brynski/Brynska formed 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 a suffix is ​​added to the name of a populated place -ets, then such a word means a person from this place. In Crimea in the 60s - 70s of the 20th century, the winegrower was well known Maria Bryntseva. 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 one Gorbovitsky(V Belarusian language in place of the unstressed one O letter is written A). The surname is derived from the name of a settlement Gorbovitsy. In the materials available to us there is 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, Dubovskoe, 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; derived from the names of populated places Steblevka Transcarpathian region or Steblev- Cherkasy. In Ukrainian spelling, in place of the second e is written i.

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

Uriansky. The surname, apparently, is derived from the name of the locality 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 Urianka. 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 appears to be related to the designation of a union of medieval Turkic tribes 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 Arabic origin. IN Arabic sha"ban- 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, an orthographic variant was noted in the Russian language Shiban- obviously, by analogy with Russian knock, knock. In the records of 1570-1578, Prince Ivan Andreevich is mentioned Shiban Dolgoruky; in 1584 - stirrup grooms for Tsar Theodore 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 Siberian Tatars is known Xibans and family name Crimean Tatars Shibanskie Murza. IN Perm region there is a settlement 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.