What does the ending of a surname say? How to determine nationality by last name

In Russia there are many surnames that end in “-sky” or “-tsky”. Curious, what are they talking about? It turns out that there are several versions of the origin of such surnames.

Polish surnames

According to one version, all surnames of this kind are of Polish origin. That is, for example, those who bear the names Pototsky, Slutsky, Zabolotsky, Polyansky, Svitkovsky, Kovalevsky, Smelyansky have Polish roots in their family.

"Noble" surnames

One version says that in Rus', surnames with the suffixes “-sky/-tsky” were received by boyars and representatives of the nobility based on the names of their family destinies - Vyazemsky, Dubrovsky, Baryatinsky, etc. Surnames became hereditary, passed from father to son as a symbol of territorial power. The Book of the Thousand for 1550 lists 93 princely names, of which 40 end in “-sky”. By the way, it is believed that this tradition came from Poland. The mentioned suffixes were a sign of belonging to the gentry - representatives of the Polish aristocracy. Gradually, this began to be practiced in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, also exclusively among representatives of the upper class.

An attempt to “improve” ordinary surnames

Ethnographers suggest that there was also a tendency to improve common surnames by adding a suffix. This was especially common among Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians who lived in the same territory as the Poles. Thus, Borodin could turn into Borodinsky, Gatchin into Gatchinsky, Zaitsev into Zaichevsky.

"Geographical" origin

There is a version that today most of these surnames, in the past, were formed from geographical names settlements, rivers and lakes. So, a resident of Ryazan in another region was called “Ryazansky”, over time this could turn into a surname. The surname Verzhbitsky is quite common: settlements with this name existed in Poland, and in Russia, and in Ukraine, and in Belarus.

Jewish surnames

Another hypothesis says that at least some surnames starting with “-sky” may have Jewish roots. Such surnames were given to Jews living in the Baltic and Slavic countries, also based on the name of the area. For example, Antokolsky, Vilkomirsky, Gilichensky, Mirgorodsky.

"Spiritual" surnames

Graduates of theological seminaries in Russia were awarded new, beautiful, euphonious surnames, which would be suitable for their priestly rank. This is how the Nativity, Ascension, Resurrection, Preobrazhensky, Trinity, and All Saints appeared. The surname Lebedinsky presumably also belongs to the “spiritual” family: after all, the swan is a recognized symbol of spiritual purity, including in Orthodoxy.

Most likely, surnames ending in “-sky” or “-tsky” are still completely different in origin, and only by looking at the root can one sometimes guess where they could have come from in principle.

Last name is the family name that a person receives by inheritance. Many people for a long time live and don’t even think about what their last name means. Thanks to the surname, you can not only determine who your great-grandfathers were, but also determine the nationality of its owner. In this article we will try to figure out what nationality this or that surname belongs to.

You can find out the origin of your surname in several ways, which are described in the article, among them you can identify the determination of origin by the endings of surnames.

Last name endings

Using certain endings, you can find out what nationality a surname belongs to:

The British. It is very difficult to identify specific endings that indicate the English. Mostly surnames are derived from English words, indicating the place of residence: Wales, Scott, or the person’s profession: Smith - blacksmith, Cook - cook.
Armenians. Most of Armenian surnames ends in - yang: Aleksanyan, Burinyan, Galustyan.
Belarusians. Belarusian surnames ending in -ich, -chik, -ka, -ko: Tyshkevich, Fedorovich, Glushko, Vasilka, Gornachenok.
Georgians. Define a person Georgian nationality very simply, their last names end in - shvili, - dze, - a, - ua, - ni, - li, - si: Gergedava, Geriteli, Dzhugashvili.
Jews. If the surname contains the root Levi or Cohen, then its owner belongs to Jewish nationality: Levitan, Koganovich. But you can also find surnames with endings - ich, - man, -er: Kogenman, Kaganer.
The Spaniards and Portuguese have surnames with the endings - ez, - iz, - az, - iz, oz: Gonzalez, Gomez, Torres. There are also surnames that indicate a person’s character: Alegre - joyful, Malo - bad.
Italians. If we talk about Italians, their surnames end in - ini, - ino, - illo, - etti, - etto, - ito: Puccini, Brocchi, Marchetti. The prefix di and da can indicate that the genus belongs to a certain territory: da Vinci.
Germans. German surnames generally end in - man, - er and they indicate the person’s occupation (Becker - baker, Lehmann - landowner, Koch - cook) or contain some characteristic (Klein - small).
Poles. Surnames ending in - sk; - tsk; -y indicate that a person (or his ancestors) belongs to the Polish nationality: Godlewski, Ksieszynski, Kalnitski, and their roots go back to the time of the creation of the Polish nobility (gentry).
Russians. Surnames ending in -ov, -ev, -in, -skoy, -tskoy: Ignatov, Mikhailov, Eremin. Russian surnames in structure are patronymics, which are formed from the names: Ivan - Ivanov, Grigory - Grigoriev; but among the examples you can find surnames derived from the name of the family’s locality: White Lake- Belozersky.
Ukrainians. To the endings that indicate that a person belongs to Ukrainian nationality, include: - ko, - uk/yuk, - un, -niy/ny, - tea, - ar, - a: Tereshchenko, Karpyuk, Tokar, Gonchar, Mirny. Surnames mainly indicate the family's affiliation with a particular craft.

Onomastics

It is worth noting that the science that studies proper names and their origin is called onomastics. Its section - anthroponymy - studies the origin of human names and their forms, one of which is the surname. It touches on the history of their origin and transformation as a result of long-term use in the source language.

In a conversation you can come across the following statement: “Here, his last name ends with -in, which means he is a Jew.” Are Susanin, Repin and even Pushkin really Jewish surnames? It’s some kind of strange idea among the people, where did it come from? After all, the suffix -in- is often found in possessive adjectives formed from first declension nouns: cat, mother. While adjectives from words of the second declension are formed using the suffix -ov-: grandfathers, crocodiles. Is it really true that only Jews chose words of the first declension as the basis for their surname? It would be very strange. But probably everything that is on people’s tongues has some basis, even if it has been distorted over time. Let's figure out how to determine nationality by last name.

Ending or suffix?

Calling the familiar -ov/-ev endings is not entirely correct. The ending in Russian is the variable part of the word. Let's see what inclines in surnames: Ivanov - Ivanova - Ivanov. It can be concluded that -ov is a suffix and is followed by a zero ending, as in most masculine nouns. And only in cases or when changing gender and number (Ivanova, Ivanovy) endings are heard. But there is also a folk, and not linguistic, concept of “ending” - what it ends with. In that case, this word is applicable here. And then we can safely determine the ending of surnames by nationality!

Russian surnames

The range of Russian surnames is much wider than those ending in -ov. They are characterized by the suffixes -in, -yn, -ov, -ev, -skoy, -tskoy, -ih, -yh (Lapin, Ptitsyn, Sokolov, Soloviev, Donskoy, Trubetskoy, Moskovskikh, Sedykh).

There are actually as many as 60-70% of Russian surnames with -ov, -ev, and only about 30% with -in, -yn, which is also quite a lot. What is the reason for this ratio? As already mentioned, the suffixes -ov, -ev are added to second declension nouns, most of which are masculine. And since in Russian surnames often originate from the name or occupation of the father (Ivanov, Bondarev), such a suffix is very logical. But there is also male names, ending in -a, -ya, and it was from them that the surnames Ilyin and Nikitin arose, the Russianness of which we have no doubt.

What about Ukrainians?

Ukrainian ones are usually formed using the suffixes -enko, -ko, -uk, -yuk. And also without suffixes from words denoting professions (Korolenko, Spirko, Govoruk, Prizhnyuk, Bondar).

More about Jews

Jewish surnames are very diverse, because Jews have been scattered throughout the world for centuries. A sure sign of them can be the suffixes -ich, -man and -er. But even here confusion is possible. Family endings-ich, -ovich, -evich are characteristic of Poles and Slavic peoples who lived in the territory East Germany. For example, one of famous poets in Poland - Mickiewicz.

But the basis of the surname can sometimes immediately suggest Jewish origin its carrier. If the basis is Levi or Cohen/Cohan, the clan originates from the high priests - the Kohanim or his assistants - the Levites. So everything is clear with Levi, the Levitans, and the Kaganovichs.

What do surnames in -sky and -tsky tell you?

It is incorrect to assume that surnames ending in -sky or -tsky are necessarily Jewish. This stereotype developed because they were common in Poland and Ukraine. There was a lot in these places family estates, the surnames of the noble owners were formed from the name of the estate. For example, the ancestors of the famous revolutionary Dzerzhinsky owned the Dzerzhinovo estate on the territory of modern Belarus, and then Poland.

Many Jews lived in these areas, so many took local surnames. But Russian nobles also have such surnames, for example, noble surname Dubrovsky from Pushkin’s work is quite real. Is there some more interesting fact. In seminaries they often gave a surname derived from church holidays- Preobrazhensky, Rozhdestvensky. In this case, determining nationality by the end of surnames can lead to errors. Seminaries also served as the birthplace of surnames with an unusual root for the Russian ear, because they were formed from the Latin words: Formozov, Kastorov. By the way, clerk Ivan Velosipedov served under Ivan the Terrible. But the bicycle had not yet been invented! How is it possible - there is no object, but there is a surname? The solution was this: it turned out to be a tracing paper from the Latin “swift-footed”, only with the original Russian suffix.

Last name starting with -in: revealing the secret!

So what about ending your last name with -in? It is difficult to determine nationality on this basis. Indeed, some Jewish surnames end like this. It turns out that in some of them this is just an external coincidence with the Russian suffix. For example, Khazin descends from the modified surname Khazan - this is the name in Hebrew for one of the types of servants in the temple. Literally this translates as “overseer,” since the hazan monitored the order of worship and the accuracy of the text. You can guess where the surname Khazanov comes from. But she has the “most Russian” suffix -ov!

But there are also matronyms, that is, those that are formed on behalf of the mother. Moreover, the female names from which they were formed were not Russian. For example, the Jewish surname Belkin is a homonym for a Russian surname. It was formed not from a furry animal, but from female name Beila.

German or Jew?

Another interesting pattern has been noticed. As soon as we hear surnames like Rosenfeld, Morgenstern, we immediately confidently determine the nationality of its bearer. Definitely, this is a Jew! But not everything is so simple! After all, these are words German origin. For example, Rosenfeld is a “field of roses”. How did this happen? It turns out that on the territory of the German Empire, as well as in the Russian and Austrian Empire, there was a decree on assigning surnames to Jews. Of course, they were formed in the language of the country in which the Jew lived. Since they were not passed down from distant ancestors from time immemorial, people chose them themselves. Sometimes this choice could be made by the registrar. This is how many artificial, bizarre surnames appeared that could not have arisen naturally.

How then can one distinguish a Jew from a German if both have German surnames? This is difficult to do. Therefore, here you should not be guided only by the origin of the word, you need to know the pedigree specific person. Here, you can’t just determine nationality by the end of your last name!

Georgian surnames

For Georgians, it is not difficult to guess the ending of their last names by nationality. If the Georgian is most likely -shvili, -dze, -uri, -ava, -a, -ua, -ia, -ni, -li, -si (Basilashvili, Svanidze, Pirtskhalava, Adamia, Gelovani, Tsereteli). There are also Georgian surnames, which end in -tskaya. This is consonant with Russian (Trubetskaya), but this is not a suffix, and they not only do not change by gender (Diana Gurtskaya - Robert Gurtskaya), but also do not decline by case (with Diana Gurtskaya).

Ossetian surnames

Ossetian surnames are characterized by the ending -ty/-ti (Kokoyty). The ending of the surname in -ev (Abaev, Eziev) is also typical for this nationality; it is usually preceded by a vowel. Often the basis of a word is not clear to us. But sometimes it can turn out to be homonymous or almost homonymous with a Russian word, which is confusing. Among them there are also those that end in -ov: Botov, Bekurov. In fact, these are real Russian suffixes, and they are attached to the Ossetian root according to the tradition of conveying surnames in writing. These are the fruits of Russification Ossetian surnames. At the same time, it is stupid to think that all surnames ending in -ev are Ossetian. The ending of a surname with -ev does not determine nationality. Surnames such as Grigoriev, Polev, Gostev are Russian and they differ from similar ones ending in -ov only in that the last consonant in the noun was soft.

A few words about Armenians

Armenian surnames often end in -yan or -yants (Hakopyan, Grigoryants). Actually, -yan is a truncated -yants, which meant belonging to a clan.

Now you know how to find out your nationality by the end of your last name. Yes, it is not always easy to do this with guaranteed accuracy, even with a developed linguistic sense. But as they say, the main thing is that the person is good!

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 the 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.

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 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).

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 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”, -“poulos” 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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