The ending of the surname is in. The history of the appearance of surnames with the suffix -ov, -ev, -in, -yn
In the vast majority of cases, Russian surnames end in -ov and -ev. Surnames with -in and -yn also became widespread. How did this happen, and what is behind it? Faktrum I decided to look into this issue.
The secret of the appearance of surnames in -ov and -ev
The endings -ov and -ev in the most common Russian surnames did not appear by chance. Historians believe that their appearance is mainly related to the origin of the family. So, for example, if a person’s name was Ivan, and his father was Peter, then he automatically received the surname Petrov, since he was the son of Peter. Later, in the 13th century, surnames began to be used officially, and they were given by the name of the eldest person in the family. Thus, not only Peter’s son, but also all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren became Petrov.
However this is not the only reason, according to which most Russian surnames received the suffixes -ov and -ev. Some of them came from nicknames. To make it clearer, let’s give an example: if a person was called Bezborodov, then his children and grandchildren became Bezborodov. The type of human activity could also play a key role in this issue. Plotnikov received just such a surname, since his father was a carpenter, and Kuznetsov was the heir of a blacksmith. As for the suffix -ev, it appeared in the surnames of those people whose ancestors were engaged in activities whose names ended with a consonant soft letter. Well, for example, the children and grandchildren of the man who received the nickname Bullfinch were already called Snegirevs, and the descendants of the cooper were called Bondarevs.
The mystery of the origin of surnames ending in -in and -yn
In second place in popularity in Russia are surnames starting with -in and a little less often - with -yn. In fact, there is no mystery here. Their origin is also connected with the names and nicknames of their ancestors, with their occupation. Such surnames were formed when words ending in -a and -ya, as well as feminine nouns with a soft consonant at the end, were taken as a basis. For example, the surname Minin obviously came from female name Mina, which, in turn, was quite popular in Rus' in the old days.
Agree, these days surnames like Fomin and Ilyin are found quite often. Now it is obvious that among the ancestors of these people were Thomas and Elijah. But the surname Rogozhin suggests that the founders, apparently, were engaged in the manufacture or trade of matting. As in the case of surnames in -ov and -ev, these were also based on names, nicknames and names of professions.
So, the most common suffix Ukrainian surnames- “-enko” (Bondarenko, Petrenko, Timoshenko, Ostapenko). Another group of suffixes is “-eiko”, “-ko”, “-ochka” (Belebeyko, Bobreiko, Grishko). The third suffix is “-ovsky” (Berezovsky, Mogilevsky). Often among Ukrainian surnames you can find those that come from the names of professions (Koval, Gonchar), as well as from combinations of two words (Sinegub, Belogor).
Among Russian surnames The following suffixes are common: “-an”, “-yn”, -“in”, “-skikh”, “-ov”, “-ev”, “-skoy”, “-tskoy”, “-ikh”, “ -s.” It is easy to guess that the following can be considered examples of such surnames: Smirnov, Nikolaev, Donskoy, Sedykh.
Polish surnames most often they have the suffixes “-sk” and “-tsk”, as well as the endings “-iy”, “-aya” (Sushitsky, Kovalskaya, Vishnevsky). You can often find Poles with surnames with an unchangeable form (Sienkiewicz, Wozniak, Mickiewicz).
English surnames often come from the name of the area where a person lives (Scott, Wales), from the names of professions (Smith - blacksmith), from characteristics (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet).
In front of many French surnames there is an insertion “Le”, “Mon” or “De” (Le Germain, Le Pen).
German surnames most often formed from names (Peters, Jacobi, Wernet), from characteristics (Klein - small), from the type of activity (Schmidt - blacksmith, Müller - miller).
Tatar surnames come from Tatar words and the following suffixes: “-ov”, “-ev”, “-in” (Yuldashin, Safin).
Italian surnames are formed using the following suffixes: “-ini”, “-ino”, “-ello”, “-illo”, “-etti”, “-etto”, “-ito” (Moretti, Benedetto).
Majority Spanish and Portuguese surnames come from characteristics (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - brave). Among the endings, the most common are: “-ez”, “-es”, “-az” (Gomez, Lopez).
Norwegian surnames are formed using the suffix “en” (Larsen, Hansen). Surnames without a suffix at all are also popular (Per, Morgen). Surnames are often formed from the given name natural phenomena or animals (Blizzard - blizzard, Svane - swan).
Swedish surnames most often end in “-sson”, “-berg”, “-stead”, “-strom” (Forsberg, Bosstrom).
Estonians have a last name you cannot understand whether a person is masculine or feminine (Simson, Nahk).
U Jewish surnames There are two common roots: Levi and Cohen. Most surnames are formed from male names (Solomon, Samuel). There are also surnames that are formed using suffixes (Abramson, Jacobson).
Belarusian surnames end in “-ich”, “-chik”, “-ka”, “-ko”, “-onak”, “-yonak”, “-uk”, “-ik”, “-ski” (Radkevich, Kuharchik ).
Turkish surnames have the ending “-oglu”, “-ji”, “-zade” (Mustafaoglu, Ekinci).
Almost all Bulgarian surnames formed from names using the suffixes “-ov”, “-ev” (Konstantinov, Georgiev).
Men's Latvian surnames end with “-s”, “-is”, and female ones end with “-e”, “-a” (Shurins - Shurin).
And men's Lithuanian surnames end in “-onis”, “-unas”, “-utis”, “-aytis”, “-ena” (Norvidaitis). Women's endings in “-en”, “-yuven”, “-uven” (Grinyuvene). In surnames unmarried girls contains a part of the father's surname and the suffixes “-ut”, “-polut”, “-ayt”, as well as the ending “-e” (Orbakas - Orbakaite).
Majority Armenian surnames end with the suffix “-yan”, “-yants”, “-uni” (Hakopyan, Galustyan).
Georgian surnames end in “-shvili”, “-dze”, “-uri”, “-ava”, “-a”, “-ua”, “-ia”, “-ni” (Mikadze, Gvishiane).
Greek surnames The endings “-idis”, “-kos”, -“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). (via)
It's amazing how many differences there are between last names. different nationalities and peoples!
Their last names end in -ovich, -evich, which corresponds to our patronymics (for example, Serbian. Re: Last names ending in -ih, -yh, Aslan, 01/08/08 18:30 if you don’t know, don’t write. Re : Surnames ending in -ih, -yh, Whatever, 11/14/06 22:56 A friend of mine has the surname VISITORS.
What is your nationality if your last name ends in -ih-, -yh-??
My last name ends in -ikh. And I'm Russian. I will add that in the same areas, given names also received the ending in -i/-y, for example, my surname Semenov came from these places in the form “Semyonovs”. And here is another very common surname - Sedykh. Something comes to mind that people in some district in Russia also have such surnames. Eg. There are two musicians, husband and wife, and their last name is Glukhikh.
Almost all surnames are either pure nicknames, once given to an ancestor (Czechs have many such surnames) or from the father, or from the locality (but this is also a variant of the nickname).
Those. Initially, almost any surname was a kind of clarification to the name. At the same time, for example, there was another Ivan in that village. But Sergei's son.
If in the central part of Rus' surnames mostly ended in -ov, -ev, -in, then in Siberia surnames with the same roots ended in -ih, -yh: White, Black, Polish.
The famous linguist B.O. Unbegaun believes that surnames with -ikh and surnames with -ikh can be classified as typically Siberian surnames....,” read more, it’s useful!
Surnames with -ikh and surnames with -ih were brought to Siberia by colonists even before they fell out of use in the northern part of Russia.
My father, for example, had a surname ending in -ov, and his children were recorded under surnames ending in -skikh. This is how the scribes recorded them.
Moreover, interestingly, in these censuses father and son could have surnames with different endings.
In my area there are few of them, but when they exist it can be funny. And to get that very peasant ending. So the presenter announced them like this: “You are performing... Probably depends on the region. I had such an assumption, but then, according to the idea, there should be many similar endings of surnames. Me too: after all, we have Chernov... Because he was a tailor.
Those. the nationality could be any - I have a friend with the surname Litovskikh, who claims that he descends from a Lithuanian who was exiled to Siberia before 1917 for some sins. There was a count, but he became, “like” a serf and Soviet power there was nothing to complain about. The situation is the same with “Whites” and “Blacks”.
I quote the version of the owner of the Maryinsky surname: “Some Polish nobleman was exiled to the Urals and he was allowed to settle in a lonely farm in the forest. He was a descendant of the disgraced Polish Count Potocki, who, after the defeat of the Confederate uprising, was exiled to Kazan. Petrovich and Russian patronymic Petrovich). For example, the father could be Kozlov, and the son was recorded as Kozlovsky.
In addition, the name is known ethnic group Siberian Tatars Shibans and family name Crimean Tatars Shiban Murzas. In the Perm region there is locality Shibanovo, and in Ivanovskaya - Shibanikha.
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.
Shabansky. The surname is derived from the names of the settlements Shabanovo, Shabanovskoye, Shabanskoye, located in different parts countries.
Wikipedia:
Most surnames in the Russian nominal formula come from patronymics (based on the baptismal or secular name of one of the ancestors), nicknames (based on the type of activity, place of origin, or some other characteristic of the ancestor) or other family names.
Russian surnames in most cases were single or hyphenated and were passed down strictly through the male line. IN mid-19th century, especially after the abolition of serfdom in 1861, surnames were formed for the majority of people of the peasant class. By the 1930s, the process of obtaining surnames by various nationalities was completely completed.
Russian surnames most often end in -ov/-ev. From 60% to 70% of Russian surnames have the ending -ov/-ev. Surnames in -ov/-ev are formed as follows:
Surnames formed mainly as patronymics or by the name of the grandfather (the name of the grandfather, from whom the temporary surname of the father came) from church or Slavic personal names or nicknames, for example, Ivan → son of Ivan - Ivanov, Alexey → son Alexey-Alekseev, a man nicknamed Bezborody → son of Bezborodoy - Bezborodov, etc.
This also includes surnames derived from nicknames associated with the profession. For example, a person by profession is a blacksmith → the son of a blacksmith - Kuznetsov.
The authorities of the Don Army Region did not recognize surnames ending in -in and -i/y. During the population census, such surnames were changed to -ov, for example, the surname Kuzmin turned into Kuzminov, Bessmertny - into Bessmertnov, etc.
Russian surnames ending in -in occupy the second place in prevalence among Russian surnames, after surnames ending in -ov / -ev. In some places in Russia, especially in the Volga region, surnames starting with -in cover more than 50% of the population. Everything that is written about family names in -ov/-ev fully applies to surnames in -in. Surnames ending in -in are present among Belarusians and are less popular than among Russian surnames. Among Belarusians, the ratio of the suffixes -ov/-ev and -in is completely different, 90% to 10%. This is due to the fact that the basis of surnames was not perceived in the original Russian diminutive form names in -ka, and with the Belarusian form in -ko (Ivashkov, Fedkov, Geraskov - from, respectively, Ivashko, Fedko, Gerasko, instead of Ivashkin, Fedkin, Geraskin).
Russian North is historical homeland Russian surnames, having the suffixes -ih and -ih. These surnames appeared at the turn of the first and second millennia and later spread to the central regions of Rus' and the Urals. The appearance and widespread distribution of surnames in Siberia occurred much later and was associated with the beginning of the period of conquest of Siberia in the second half of the 16th century.
Surnames on -i/-s come from the nickname that characterized the family - Short, White, Red, Large, Small, etc. - and are a form of the genitive (or prepositional) case plural possessive adjective, which was formed by adding a patronymic suffix to the root of the nickname. Doctor of Philological Sciences A.V. Superanskaya describes the mechanism of formation of these surnames as follows: “The head of the family is called Zolotoy, the whole family is called Zolotoy. A native or descendants of a family in the next generation - Zolotykh"
Surnames in -skiy / -tskiy are more common among Poles. Despite this, a fairly large percentage of the Russian population have surnames in -sky / -tsky. The surname originates from areas that were previously occupied by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. TO this method word formations include surnames derived from names:
Localities or settlements - this method of formation is especially characteristic of princely families or the Western Russian gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, however, it is not so characteristic of Great Russian noble families(Unlike Western Europe). Examples: Belozersky is the owner of the Beloozero estate, Vyazemsky is the owner of the estate in Vyazma.
Church parishes (churches), in turn, formed from the names church holidays, names of saints. Examples: Voznesensky, Holy Cross, Rozhdestvensky, Trinity, Uspensky, Yaransky.
Artificially created in the seminary. Examples: Athenian, Athos, Dobrovolsky
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 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 last name (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, Ukrainians, Parubok), as well as a merger of words (Vernigora, Nepiyvoda, Bilous).
Latvians- the peculiarity to the masculine gender is indicated by a surname ending in -s, -is, and to the feminine gender - with -a, -e (Verbitskis - Verbitska, Shurins - Shurin)
Lithuanians - male surnames end in -onis, -unas, -utis, -aitis, -enas (Pyatrenas, Norvydaitis), women's surnames are formed from the husband's surname using the suffixes -en, -yuven, -uven and the ending -e (Grinius - Grinyuvene), surnames unmarried girls contain the basis of the father's surname with the addition of the suffixes -ut, -polut, -ayt and the ending -e (Orbakas - Orbakaite);
Estonians- male and female genders are not distinguished using surnames, everything foreign names(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;
French people- many surnames are preceded by the prefix Le or De (Le Pen, Mol Pompadour); basically, dissimilar nicknames and personal names were used to form surnames (Robert, Jolie, Cauchon - pig);
Romanians: -sku, -u(l), -an.
Serbs: -ich.
English- the following surnames are common: formed from the names of the place of residence (Scott, Wales); denoting profession (Hoggart - shepherd, Smith - blacksmith); pointing to appearance 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 - denote, respectively, a person’s belonging to his genus and geographical structure(Di Moretti is the son of Moretti, Da Vinci is from Vinci);
Spaniards and Portuguese have surnames ending in -ez, -az, -iz, -oz (Gomez, Lopez), surnames indicating a person’s character are also common (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - gallant, Malo - horseless);
Turks- most often surnames have the ending -oglu, -ji, -zade (Mustafaoglu, Ekindzhi, Kuindzhi, Mamedzade), when forming surnames they often used Turkish names or everyday words (Ali, Abaza - fool, Kolpakchi - hat);
Bulgarians - almost all Bulgarian surnames are formed from personal names and suffixes -ov, -ev (Konstantinov, Georgiev);
Gagauz: -oglo.
Tatars: -in, -ishin.
Greeks- Greek surnames cannot be confused with any other surnames, only they have the endings -idis, -kos, -poulos (Angelopoulos, Nikolaidis);
Czechs- the main difference from other surnames is the mandatory ending -ova in women's surnames, even if where it would seem to be inappropriate (Valdrova, Ivanovova, Andersonova).
Georgians- surnames ending in -shvili, -dze, -uri, -ava, -a, -ua, -ia, -ni, -li, -si are common (Baratashvili, Mikadze, Adamia, Karchava, Gvishiani, Tsereteli);
Armenians- a significant part of the surnames of residents of Armenia has the suffix -yan (Hakopyan, Galustyan); Also, -yants, -uni.
Moldovans: -sku, -u(l), -an.
Azerbaijanis- formed surnames based on Azerbaijani names and attaching Russian suffixes -ov, -ev (Mamedov, Aliev, Gasanov, Abdullaev) to them. Also, -zade, -li, ly, -oglu, -kyzy.
Jews- the main group consists of surnames with roots Levi and Cohen (Levin, Levitan Kagan, Koganovich, Katz); the second group was derived from male and female Hebrew names with the addition 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 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 have been used. And in another case, -ov turned out to be in the place of -in: Shishimorov from the base of shishimora. Mixing of formants is possible. After all, among Russians -in and -ov have been semantically indistinguishable for more than a thousand years. The meaning of the difference has been lost in the common Slavic language; the choice of -ov or -in depends only remnantly on the phonetic feature of the stem (Nikonov “Geography of Surnames”).
Do you know how the surname of the famous leader of the people's militia of 1611-1612, Minin, came about? Minin bore the personal nickname Sukhoruk, he did not have a surname. And Minin meant “son of Mina.” Orthodox name"Mina" was widespread in Rus'.
Another 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 surroundings Rogozhin's household was known as "Rogozhin's wife", "Rogozhin's son", "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 more logical and more sonorous to say “Ilyin” or “Borodin”.
Why do some people think that surnames ending in “-in” have Jewish roots? Is it really? No, this is not true; you cannot judge the origin of a surname by one ending. The sound of Jewish surnames coincides with Russian endings simply by pure chance.
You should always research the surname itself. For some reason, the ending “ov” does not cause us any doubts. We believe that surnames ending in “-ov” are definitely Russian. But there are also exceptions. For example, we recently prepared a beautiful family diploma for one wonderful family named Maksyutov.
The surname Maksyutov has the ending “ov”, which is common among Russian surnames. But, if you examine the surname deeper, it turns out that the surname Maksyutov is derived from the Tatar male name“Maqsud”, which translated from Arabic means “desire, premeditated intention, aspiration, goal”, “long-awaited, desired”. The name Maksud had several dialect variants: Maksut, Mahsud, Mahsut, Maksyut. This name is still widespread among the Tatars and Bashkirs.
“The surname Maksyutov is an old one princely surname Tatar origin. ABOUT ancient origin the names Maksyutov say historical sources. The surname was first documented in the 16th century: Maksutovs (Maksutovs, obsolete Maksutovs, Tat. Maksutovlar) - a Volga-Bulgar princely-Murzin family, descended from the Kasimov prince Maksut (1554), in the genealogical legend Prince Maksut was called an ulan and a descendant of the prince Kashima." Now there is almost no doubt about the origin of the surname.
How to find out if a last name starts with -in Jewish origin or is this an original Russian surname? Always analyze the word that underlies your last name.
Here are examples of Jewish surnames with the ending “-in” or “-ov”: Edmin (derived from the name of the German city of Emden), Kotin (derived from the Hebrew קטן- in the Ashkenazi pronunciation “kotn”, meaning “small”), Eventov (derived from Hebrew “even tov” - “ gem"), Khazin (derived from the Hebrew "hazan", in the Ashkenazi pronunciation "hazn", meaning "a person leading worship in 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 SKY/-SKAYA, -TSKIY/-TSKAYA
Many Russians have a firm and unfounded belief that surnames in -skiy are certainly Polish. From history textbooks, the names of several Polish magnates are known, derived from the names of their estates: Potocki and Zapotocki, Zablocki, Krasinski. But from the same textbooks the surnames of many Russians with the same suffixes are known: Konstantin Grigorievich Zabolotsky, okolnichy of Tsar John III, late 15th - early 16th centuries; clerk Semyon Zaborovsky, early 16th century; boyars Shuisky and Belsky, close associates of Ivan the Terrible. Famous Russian artists are Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Makovsky, Kramskoy.
An analysis of modern Russian surnames shows that forms in -sky (-tskiy) exist in parallel with variants in -ov (-ev, -in), but there are fewer of them. For example, in Moscow in the 70s of the twentieth century, for every 330 people with the surname Krasnov/Krasnova, there were only 30 with the surname Krasnovsky/Krasnovskaya. But enough rare surnames Kuchkov and Kuchkovsky, Makov and Makovsky are represented almost equally.
A significant part of surnames ending in -skiy/-skaya, -tskiy/-tskaya are formed from geographical and ethnic names. In letters from our readers who want to know about the origin of their surnames, the following surnames in -sky / -tsky are mentioned.
Brynsky. The author of this letter, Evgeniy Sergeevich Brynsky, himself sent the history of his surname. We present only a small fragment from the letter, since it is not possible to publish it in its entirety. Bryn is a river in the Kaluga region, flows into the Oka Zhizdra tributary. In the old days, large dense Bryn forests stretched along it, in which the Old Believers took refuge. According to the epic about Ilya Muromets, it was in the Bryn forests that the Nightingale the Robber lived. Let us add that there are several settlements of Bryn in the Kaluga and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The surname Brynski/Brynska, found in Poland, is derived from the names of two settlements Brynsk in different parts of the country and also, apparently, goes back to the names of the rivers Bryn and Brynica. There is no uniform interpretation of the names of these rivers in science. If the suffix -ets is added to the name of a populated place, then such a word denotes a person from this place. In Crimea in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, winegrower Maria Bryntseva was well known. Her surname is derived from the word brynets, that is, a native of the city or village of Bryn.
Garbavitsky. This Belarusian surname corresponds to Russian Gorbovitsky (in Belarusian language in place of the unstressed o the letter a is written). The surname is derived from the name of some settlement of Gorbovitsy. In the materials we have, there are only Gorbov, Gorbovo and Gorbovtsy. All these names come from the designations of the terrain: hump - a hillock, a sloping hill.
Dubovskaya. The surname is derived from the name of one of the many settlements: Dubovka, Dubovo, Dubovoe, Dubovskaya, Dubovsky, Dubovskoye, Dubovtsy, located in all parts of the country. It is possible to find out from which one exactly, only from the information preserved in the family, where the ancestors who received this surname lived, or where they came from to their future place of residence. The emphasis in the surname is on “o”: Dubovsky/Dubovskaya.
Steblivsky. Ukrainian surname, corresponding to Russian, - Steblevsky; formed from the names of the populated places Steblevka in the Transcarpathian region or Steblev - Cherkassy. In Ukrainian spelling, i is written in place of the second e.
Tersky. The surname comes from the name of the Terek River and indicates that one of the distant ancestors of this person lived there. There were the Terek region and the Terek Cossacks. So bearers of the Tersky surname may also be descendants of Cossacks.
Uriansky. The surname, apparently, is derived from the name of the settlement of Urya. In our materials, this name is recorded in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Perhaps there are similar names in other places, since the name of the populated place is associated with the name of the river and with the designation of the Ur ethnic group, as well as with the name of the medieval Turkic people Uryanka. Similar names could be found in different places, because medieval peoples led a nomadic lifestyle and assigned the name of their ethnic group to the places where they stayed for for a long time.
Chiglinsky. The surname comes from the name of the settlement Chigla Voronezh region, which is apparently related to the designation of the union of the medieval Turkic tribes Chigil.
Shabansky. The surname is derived from the names of the settlements Shabanovo, Shabanovskoye, Shabanskoye, located in different parts of the country. These names come from the Turkic name Shaban Arab 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 XV-XVII 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 is known, the Shibans and the generic name of the Crimean Tatars, the Shiban Murzas. In the Perm region there is a settlement called Shibanovo, and in the Ivanovo region there is Shibanikha.
So closely related to each other different types proper names: personal names, geographical and ethnic names, as well as surnames.