By studying the surname, you can find out almost everything: clan membership, nationality or nationality. Although searching for the true meaning of a surname is a rather painstaking task that takes time, it is worth it. Specialists in this field can tell a lot by a person’s last name; after special analysis, they will determine where it appeared and when. But belonging to a certain nationality is a separate feature. You can divide the surname into parts (select the root, suffixes) and determine the origin of the surname and the territory of origin.
For example:
- Ukrainian surnames that can be found in the Ukrainian language. Most often, such surnames have a special suffix “enko”: Bondarenko, Timoshenko, Prokopenko, Chernenko, Gradienko, Petrenko. This is the first group of Ukrainian surnames; the second group includes surnames with the suffixes “eyko”, “ko”, “ochka”: Belebeyko, Butko, Sterochko, Bobreyko and the like. And third, smallest group surnames with the suffix “ovsky”: Berezovsky, Osinovsky, Kolpakovsky, Mogilevsky, Novosky. Since many Ukrainian surnames have roots in Slavic ones, they also contain surnames based on occupation (Gonchar, Butter) or taken from the description of the surrounding world or the names of animals (Voronenko - raven). But from English peculiarity of the merger of two words in a surname in the Ukrainian language there are such examples: Sinegub, Krasnonos, Belogor, Nepiyvoda or Ryabokon.
- Jewish surnames are the second most common group of surnames. Since the characteristic feature of the Jewish people is trade, it is not surprising that their communities can be found all over the world. The Jewish people were one of the first to understand that qualities cannot be passed on by inheritance and began to collect their special wealth - knowledge. There are two main roots in Jewish surnames: Levi and Cohen, they form a large group of surnames. Such roots have a sacred origin and among the Jews they are considered as two sources that stood at the head of the Jewish family and are passed on only through the male line. These roots mean that the ancestors of these Jews had a high rank in the clergy and from them the surnames were formed: Katz, Levit, Levitan, Kogan and the like. Another group of Jewish surnames is formed from male names: Solomon, Samuel, Israel. And the third group is surnames that were formed by adding suffixes to male names: Abramson, Mosesan, Jacobson, Mendelsohn, Fishbein. Jews lived in different territories, but it is by the characteristics of the surname that one can determine its origin. And only by the suffixes in Jewish surnames can one say exactly where this or that surname came from: let’s say in Poland it is “Padva”. For example, on Slavic territory, the surnames of Jews acquired a special Slavic pronunciation: Berkovich, Yakubovich, Davidovich or Abramovsky. Also, when praying, Jews call a person by the name of his mother; nationality is also transmitted through the female line. Thanks to this attitude towards women, another group with a feminine root appears in Jewish surnames: Rivman, Sorinson, Beilis and others. But Jews also have surnames indicating personal qualities or derived from the type of their activity. For example, the surname Rabin, as you might guess, comes from “rabbi.”
- Tatar surnames are also widespread, because the history of Rus' is also connected with these people. Tatars are the largest ethnic group, this is how it happened historically, which is why similar surnames are common. Almost all Tatar surnames consist of a Tatar word and the original Russian suffixes “ov”, “ev” and “in”: Yunusev, Yuldashin, Abaidullin or Safin. This merger is explained by the interaction of two cultures over time.
- English surnames are not as common, but are still sometimes found. There are several ways to form such surnames. One of them is the surname according to the place of residence of the family: Scott, Irish, English, England and others. The second type of surnames was formed, like many in Russia, by occupation: Spooner, Carver. And the third group according to human qualities: Bad, Good or Kind.
- French surnames predominated in pre-revolutionary Russia. The French people have always been famous for their wit and special ingenuity in determining names, and the same thing happened with surnames. To form surnames, the French use names or nicknames, to which the prefix “De” or “Le” is added.
- German surnames not a very wide group, but still it has a place to be. The following surnames are formed from the given names: Peters, Jacobi, Werner or Hartman. Not personal names, but nicknames may be used: Klein or words taken from the profession: Schmidt.
- Polish surnames are also found in Russia, the most common of which are Nowak, Mazur or Kowalczyk.
With knowledge about national characteristics surnames, you can determine the group for your surname, and determine what nationality it belongs to. You should break down your last name into its components and deal with them based on the data received.
Have you ever wondered about the origin of your last name? In fact, this is very interesting, because the surname makes it possible to find out a person’s nationality and roots. To figure out what nationality a particular surname belongs to, you need to pay attention to suffixes and endings.
So, the most common suffix Ukrainian surnames- “-enko” (Bondarenko, Petrenko, Timoshenko, Ostapenko). Another group of suffixes is “-eiko”, “-ko”, “-ochka” (Belebeyko, Bobreiko, Grishko). The third suffix is “-ovsky” (Berezovsky, Mogilevsky). Often among Ukrainian surnames you can find those that come from the names of professions (Koval, Gonchar), as well as from combinations of two words (Sinegub, Belogor).
Among Russian surnames The following suffixes are common: “-an”, “-yn”, -“in”, “-skikh”, “-ov”, “-ev”, “-skoy”, “-tskoy”, “-ikh”, “ -s.” It is easy to guess that the following can be considered examples of such surnames: Smirnov, Nikolaev, Donskoy, Sedykh.
Polish surnames most often have the suffixes “-sk” and “-tsk”, as well as the endings “-iy”, “-aya” (Sushitsky, Kovalskaya, Vishnevsky). You can often find Poles with surnames with an unchangeable form (Sienkiewicz, Wozniak, Mickiewicz).
English surnames often come from the name of the area where a person lives (Scott, Wales), from the names of professions (Smith - blacksmith), from characteristics (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet).
In front of many French surnames there is an insertion “Le”, “Mon” or “De” (Le Germain, Le Pen).
German surnames most often formed from names (Peters, Jacobi, Wernet), from characteristics (Klein - small), from the type of activity (Schmidt - blacksmith, Müller - miller).
Tatar surnames come from Tatar words and the following suffixes: “-ov”, “-ev”, “-in” (Yuldashin, Safin).
Italian surnames are formed using the following suffixes: “-ini”, “-ino”, “-ello”, “-illo”, “-etti”, “-etto”, “-ito” (Moretti, Benedetto).
Majority Spanish and Portuguese surnames come from characteristics (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - brave). Among the endings, the most common are: “-ez”, “-es”, “-az” (Gomez, Lopez).
Norwegian surnames are formed using the suffix “en” (Larsen, Hansen). Surnames without a suffix at all are also popular (Per, Morgen). Surnames are often formed from the names of natural phenomena or animals (Blizzard - blizzard, Svane - swan).
Swedish surnames most often end in “-sson”, “-berg”, “-stead”, “-strom” (Forsberg, Bosstrom).
U Estonians You can’t tell by a surname whether a person is masculine or feminine (Simson, Nahk).
U Jewish surnames There are two common roots: Levi and Cohen. Most surnames are formed from male names (Solomon, Samuel). There are also surnames that are formed using suffixes (Abramson, Jacobson).
Belarusian surnames end in “-ich”, “-chik”, “-ka”, “-ko”, “-onak”, “-yonak”, “-uk”, “-ik”, “-ski” (Radkevich, Kuharchik ).
Turkish surnames have the ending “-oglu”, “-ji”, “-zade” (Mustafaoglu, Ekinci).
Almost everything Bulgarian surnames formed from names using the suffixes “-ov”, “-ev” (Konstantinov, Georgiev).
Men's Latvian surnames end with “-s”, “-is”, and female ones end with “-e”, “-a” (Shurins - Shurin).
And men's Lithuanian surnames end in “-onis”, “-unas”, “-utis”, “-aytis”, “-ena” (Norvidaitis). Women's endings in “-en”, “-yuven”, “-uven” (Grinyuvene). The surnames of unmarried girls contain a part of the father’s surname and the suffixes “-ut”, “-polut”, “-ayt”, as well as the ending “-e” (Orbakas - Orbakaite).
Majority Armenian surnames end with the suffix “-yan”, “-yants”, “-uni” (Hakopyan, Galustyan).
Georgian surnames end in “-shvili”, “-dze”, “-uri”, “-ava”, “-a”, “-ua”, “-ia”, “-ni” (Mikadze, Gvishiane).
Greek surnames The endings “-idis”, “-kos”, -“pulos” are inherent (Angelopoulos, Nikolaidis).
Chinese and Korean surnames consist of one, sometimes two syllables (Tang Liu, Qiao, Mao).
Japanese surnames are formed using one or two words (Kitamura - north and village).
Feature of women's Czech surnames is the obligatory ending “-ova” (Valdrova, Andersonova).
It's amazing how many differences there are between last names. different nationalities and peoples!
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We meet new people almost every day. Among them there may be not only compatriots, but also people of other nationalities. Knowing what background a person belongs to is quite important if you plan to establish good contact with him. Then we can learn the characteristics of his culture and, as a result, behave decently.
The easiest and most common way to find out nationality is to look at the surname. To do this, you need to remember school, where in lessons they analyzed words into parts: root, prefix, suffix, etc. These skills will come in handy now.
Analysis
- Take a blank piece of paper and a pen.
- Write your last name on it and take the word apart, that is, highlight the root, suffix, and ending. It is the suffixes that will be useful to us in the analysis, so highlight them as precisely as possible.
A suffix is the part of a word between the root and the ending.
Slavic
- Russians. Suffixes: -ikh, -yh, -tskoy, -skoy, -ev, -ov, -yn, -in. For example, Voronin, Ivanov, Zolotarev.
- Ukrainian. Suffixes: -yuk, -uk, -ko, -enko. For example, Galchenko, Davidyuk, Grishko. Also, Ukrainian surnames include those that indicate occupation (Gonchar, Bondar), individual surnames (Ukrainian, Gorobets), a combination of words (Bilous = White + Us).
- Belarusian. Suffixes: -enak, -ich, -ok, -onak, -chik, -ka. These are surnames such as Dubrovich, Milchik, Parshonok, Tsyushka.
- Polish. Suffixes: - sk, - tsk. Endings: -y, -aya. For example, Volnitsky, Kovalskaya. There are also double surnames if the wife wanted to keep her maiden name. This is how the surnames of husband and wife are combined. For example, Bilyk-Kovalska. There are among Polish surnames with an unchangeable form, for example, Novak.
- Bulgarian. Suffixes: -ov, -ev. They are formed from names (Konstantinov).
- Czech. They are distinguished by the presence of –ova in women's surnames, even when they sound absurd. For example, Ivanovova.
European
- French. Surnames often have the prefix De or Le in front of them. There is also a formation from ordinary names and nicknames that were given to a person because of his character or appearance.
- English. Surnames are translations of words that indicate place of residence, character traits or profession. For example, Sweet (sweet), Clerk (civil servant).
- German. Same as in English surnames. For example, Krause (curly), Müller (miller).
- Swedish. Endings: - strom, - sson, - stead, - berg. For example, Andersson.
- Italian. Suffixes: -ito, -ino, -etto, -ini, -etti, -illo, -ello. For example, Benedini, Morello, Espozello. In addition to suffixes, they may have specific endings, such as –i, -o, -a (Trovato). Surnames could also be given from the name of a river or city. So Leonardo da Vinci got his last name from the name of the city where he was born - Vinci. And the prefix “yes” indicated this. The prefix "di" is also found. He says that the surname comes from the father's name. For example, Aldo di Nicolo tells us that Aldo is Nicolo's son. Also, surnames could come from the family's occupation, but this was common among the working class. Contadino, for example, translated as “peasant”.
- Spanish and Portuguese. The surnames of these countries are very similar. Suffixes: -oz, -az, -ez, -iz, -es. There are also those that are translated as a certain human trait.
- Bulgarian. In this country, most surnames are formed from given names. The suffix –ev or –ov is added to them. For example, Georgiy + ev = Georgiev.
Asian
- Armenian. Suffix: -yan. In Armenia, the majority of surnames have this ending. For example, Avanesyan, Galustyan.
- Azerbaijani. The basis is national names, to which either the suffix –ov or –ev is added. For example, Abdullaev.
- Georgian. Endings: -shvili, -si, -dze, -li, -uri, -ni, -ava, -ia, -a, -ua. For example, Katamadze.
- Chinese and Korean. This is where nationality is easiest to determine, since the surnames of these countries are very specific. They consist of 1 or 2 syllables. For example, Qiao, Li.
- Japanese. They consist of two words in the national language. For example, Katayama – piece + mountain, Wada – harmony + rice field.
- Jewish. The range of these surnames is very wide and they are determined not only by specific suffixes. Several groups can be distinguished here:
— the basis is the roots of Cohen and Levy. Hence - Levitan, Koganovich.
— the basis is female and male national names, to which the suffixes are added: -ovich, -on, -yan, -is, -inchik, -ik. For example, Yakubovich.
- a surname can come from a person’s appearance, character or activity. So Melamed comes from the profession of “teacher”.
To figure out what nationality a particular surname belongs to, you need to pay attention to suffixes and endings.
So, the most common suffix Ukrainian surnames- “-enko” (Bondarenko, Petrenko, Timoshenko, Ostapenko). Another group of suffixes is “-eiko”, “-ko”, “-ochka” (Belebeyko, Bobreiko, Grishko). The third suffix is “-ovsky” (Berezovsky, Mogilevsky). Often among Ukrainian surnames you can find those that come from the names of professions (Koval, Gonchar), as well as from combinations of two words (Sinegub, Belogor).
Among Russian surnames The following suffixes are common: “-an”, “-yn”, -“in”, “-skikh”, “-ov”, “-ev”, “-skoy”, “-tskoy”, “-ikh”, “ -s.” It is easy to guess that the following can be considered examples of such surnames: Smirnov, Nikolaev, Donskoy, Sedykh.
Polish surnames most often have the suffixes “-sk” and “-tsk”, as well as the endings “-iy”, “-aya” (Sushitsky, Kovalskaya, Vishnevsky). You can often find Poles with surnames with an unchangeable form (Sienkiewicz, Wozniak, Mickiewicz).
English surnames often come from the name of the area where a person lives (Scott, Wales), from the names of professions (Smith - blacksmith), from characteristics (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet).
In front of many French surnames there is an insertion “Le”, “Mon” or “De” (Le Germain, Le Pen).
German surnames most often formed from names (Peters, Jacobi, Wernet), from characteristics (Klein - small), from the type of activity (Schmidt - blacksmith, Müller - miller).
Tatar surnames come from Tatar words and the following suffixes: “-ov”, “-ev”, “-in” (Yuldashin, Safin).
Italian surnames are formed using the following suffixes: “-ini”, “-ino”, “-ello”, “-illo”, “-etti”, “-etto”, “-ito” (Moretti, Benedetto).
Majority Spanish and Portuguese surnames come from characteristics (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - brave). Among the endings, the most common are: “-ez”, “-es”, “-az” (Gomez, Lopez).
Norwegian surnames are formed using the suffix “en” (Larsen, Hansen). Surnames without a suffix at all are also popular (Per, Morgen). Surnames are often formed from the names of natural phenomena or animals (Blizzard - blizzard, Svane - swan).
Swedish surnames most often end in “-sson”, “-berg”, “-stead”, “-strom” (Forsberg, Bosstrom).
Estonians have a last name you cannot understand whether a person is masculine or feminine (Simson, Nahk).
For Jewish surnames There are two common roots - Levi and Cohen. Most surnames are formed from male names (Solomon, Samuel). There are also surnames that are formed using suffixes (Abramson, Jacobson).
Belarusian surnames end in “-ich”, “-chik”, “-ka”, “-ko”, “-onak”, “-yonak”, “-uk”, “-ik”, “-ski” (Radkevich, Kuharchik ).
Turkish surnames have the ending “-oglu”, “-ji”, “-zade” (Mustafaoglu, Ekinci).
Almost everything Bulgarian surnames formed from names using the suffixes “-ov”, “-ev” (Konstantinov, Georgiev).
Men's Latvian surnames end with “-s”, “-is”, and female ones end with “-e”, “-a” (Shurins - Shurin).
And men's Lithuanian surnames end in “-onis”, “-unas”, “-utis”, “-aytis”, “-ena” (Norvidaitis). Women's endings in “-en”, “-yuven”, “-uven” (Grinyuvene). The surnames of unmarried girls contain a part of the father’s surname and the suffixes “-ut”, “-polut”, “-ayt”, as well as the ending “-e” (Orbakas - Orbakaite).
Majority Armenian surnames end with the suffix “-yan”, “-yants”, “-uni” (Hakopyan, Galustyan).
Georgian surnames end in “-shvili”, “-dze”, “-uri”, “-ava”, “-a”, “-ua”, “-ia”, “-ni” (Mikadze, Gvishiane).
Greek surnames The endings “-idis”, “-kos”, -“pulos” are inherent (Angelopoulos, Nikolaidis).
Chinese and Korean surnames consist of one, sometimes two syllables (Tang Liu, Qiao, Mao).
Japanese surnames are formed using one or two words (Kitamura - north and village).
Feature of women's Czech surnames is the obligatory ending “-ova” (Valdrova, Andersonova).
Have you ever wondered about the origin of your last name? In fact, this is very interesting, because the surname makes it possible to find out a person’s nationality and roots. To figure out what nationality a particular surname belongs to, you need to pay attention to suffixes and endings.
So, the most common suffix Ukrainian surnames- “-enko” (Bondarenko, Petrenko, Timoshenko, Ostapenko). Another group of suffixes is “-eiko”, “-ko”, “-ochka” (Belebeyko, Bobreiko, Grishko). The third suffix is “-ovsky” (Berezovsky, Mogilevsky). Often among Ukrainian surnames you can find those that come from the names of professions (Koval, Gonchar), as well as from combinations of two words (Sinegub, Belogor).
Among Russian surnames The following suffixes are common: “-an”, “-yn”, - “in”, “-skikh”, “-ov”, “-ev”, “-skoy”, “-tskoy”, “-ikh”, “ -yh". It is easy to guess that the following can be considered examples of such surnames: Smirnov, Nikolaev, Donskoy, Sedykh.
Polish surnames most often they have the suffixes “-sk” and “-tsk”, as well as the endings “-iy”, “-aya” (Sushitsky, Kovalskaya, Vishnevsky). You can often find Poles with surnames with an unchangeable form (Sienkiewicz, Wozniak, Mickiewicz).
English surnames often come from the name of the area where a person lives (Scott, Wales), from the names of professions (Smith - blacksmith), from characteristics (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet).
In front of many French surnames there is an insertion “Le”, “Mon” or “De” (Le Germain, Le Pen).
German surnames most often formed from names (Peters, Jacobi, Wernet), from characteristics (Klein - small), from the type of activity (Schmidt - blacksmith, Müller - miller).
Tatar surnames come from Tatar words and the following suffixes: “-ov”, “-ev”, “-in” (Yuldashin, Safin).
Italian surnames are formed using the following suffixes: “-ini”, “-ino”, “-ello”, “-illo”, “-etti”, “-etto”, “-ito” (Moretti, Benedetto).
Majority Spanish and Portuguese surnames come from characteristics (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - brave). Among the endings, the most common are: “-ez”, “-es”, “-az” (Gomez, Lopez).
Norwegian surnames are formed using the suffix "en" (Larsen, Hansen). Surnames without a suffix at all are also popular (Per, Morgen). Surnames are often formed from the names of natural phenomena or animals (Blizzard - blizzard, Svane - swan).
Swedish surnames most often end in “-sson”, “-berg”, “-stead”, “-strom” (Forsberg, Bosstrom).
U Estonians You can’t tell by a surname whether a person is masculine or feminine (Simson, Nahk).
U Jewish surnames There are two common roots - Levi and Cohen. Most surnames are formed from male names (Solomon, Samuel). There are also surnames that are formed using suffixes (Abramson, Jacobson).
Belarusian surnames end in "-ich", "-chik", "-ka", "-ko", "-onak", "-yonak", "-uk", "-ik", "-ski" (Radkevich, Kuharchik ).
Turkish surnames have the ending “-oglu”, “-ji”, “-zade” (Mustafaoglu, Ekinci).
Almost everything Bulgarian surnames formed from names using the suffixes “-ov”, “-ev” (Konstantinov, Georgiev).
Men's Latvian surnames end with “-s”, “-is”, and female ones end with “-e”, “-a” (Shurins - Shurin).
And men's Lithuanian surnames end in “-onis”, “-unas”, “-utis”, “-aitis”, “-ena” (Norvidaitis). Women's endings in "-en", "-yuven", "-uven" (Grinyuvene). The surnames of unmarried girls contain a part of the father’s surname and the suffixes “-ut”, “-polut”, “-ayt”, as well as the ending “-e” (Orbakas - Orbakaite).
Majority Armenian surnames end with the suffix “-yan”, “-yants”, “-uni” (Hakopyan, Galustyan).
Georgian surnames end in “-shvili”, “-dze”, “-uri”, “-ava”, “-a”, “-ua”, “-ia”, “-ni” (Mikadze, Gvishiane).
Greek surnames The endings “-idis”, “-kos”, “-pulos” are inherent (Angelopoulos, Nikolaidis).
Chinese and Korean surnames consist of one, sometimes two syllables (Tang Liu, Qiao, Mao).
Japanese surnames are formed using one or two words (Kitamura - north and village).
Feature of women's Czech surnames is the obligatory ending “-ova” (Valdrova, Andersonova).
It's amazing how many differences there are between the names of different nationalities and peoples!