latin word surname means family. The first surnames appeared as family nicknames in Italy in the 10th-11th centuries, while on the territory of modern Belarus surnames, as family nicknames, appeared among the local nobility from about the 15th century during the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was originally a Balto-Slavic state and was founded by the Lithuanian prince Mindovg in the 13th century, who was invited by the boyars of Novogrudok (now the Grodno region, the Republic of Belarus) to reign. The Lithuanian prince converted to Orthodoxy around 1246. With the help of Lithuanian and Slavic (Rusyn) squads, he subjugated all of Lithuania (the territory of modern Eastern Lithuania and partly Western Belarus) and united it with the Novogrudok principality into a single medieval state - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1251 Prince Mindovg accepted the Catholic faith for political reasons and soon became the king of Lithuania.

Over time, the lands of historical White Russia (Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Chernigov principalities) and part of the lands of Southern Russia (Volyn, Podolia and Kyiv) will be attached to this state in various ways. The term "Lithuania" is gradually spreading to the lands of White Russia. Since the 15th-16th centuries, the local Ruthenian (Russian) nobility of White Russia has been increasingly referred to as the “Lithuanian gentry” or “Lithuanian boyars”, who had “Lithuanian surnames”. Lithuanian (Belarusian nobility) had surnames mainly ending in "-ski" (-tski), "-ovich", "-evich". The list of surnames of the Belarusian (Lithuanian) gentry and boyars can be found in the Metrics of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (XVI century), written in the Old Belarusian language.

Surnames of the upper classes

Belarusian gentry surnames, for example, with endings in "-ski", "-tski" arose from the name of the area, the names of tribal areas, cities or castles. So, the owner of the Ostrog castle was called Ostrozhsky, the Mir castle was called Mirsky, the Oginsky inhabited area was Oginsky, and the Tsyapina inhabited area was called Tsyapinsky. Gentry surnames ending in "-ovich", for example, Demidovich, Petrovich, Martsinovich - indicate that the founders of these clans were Christians. The founders, for example, of such gentry families in Belarus as Ibragimovich, Akhmatovich were Muslims of Tatar origin. The surname Rodkevich, also Muslim, but its Belarusian root and ending show that the founders of the clans were Belarusians who converted to Islam. The Jewish population began to compactly settle in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century, fleeing the Inquisition in Western Europe. Among the Jewish population of Poland, Lithuania and White Russia, surnames began to spread from about XVIII to “-ski”, “-ovich”, “-evich”, however, their Jewish origin betrayed the non-Christian root of the surname - Rabinovich, Gurevich, Koganovsky.

Non-noble surnames.

Belarusian non-noble surnames were originally formed as an answer to the question - “what”? If 5 Ivanov lived in the village, nicknames were used to distinguish them during the conversation, for example, Ivan Korsak. Over time, this nickname began to be called not only one particular person, but his entire family. Those who were from the Bob clan began to be called Bobichi, from the Yarem clan - Yaremichi, from the Smol clan - Smolich. Belarusian surnames with "-ich" are very ancient. If surnames with suffixes on “-ich”, “-ovich” meant gender, then surnames with suffixes on “-onok”, “-yonok” (Artyamenok, Lazichonok, Yulyuchonok), on “-chik”, on “-ik "(Ivanchik, Alekseychik, Mironchik), on "-uk" and on "-yuk" (Vasilyuk, Mikhalyuk) - denote a son (son of Mlynar, son of Avgini), and the suffix "-enya" - (Vaselenya) means a child (child Vasil). These are typical common Belarusian surnames. Surnames with suffixes for "-chik", for example, are common in North-Western Belarus, namely the lands of historical Lithuania. Surnames with suffixes for "-uk", for "-enya" and for "-yuk" in the Brest region.

The suffixes "ka" and "bka" were used for surnames that characterized people. The one who was lazy bore the surname - Lyanutska, Parotska, who is forgotten - was Zabudzko, who woke up - Budzko, those who snored - was Sapotska, from the word want - was the surname Khotska, to give birth - Rodzka.

Surnames with Russian roots.

Belarusian surnames with suffixes for "-ov", "-ev", "-in" have Russian influence. They are distributed mainly in Eastern Belarus. Due to the fact that the Belarusian lands were under the rule of Russia for a long time, the endings characteristic of Muscovy appeared in the surnames. So the Belarusians who lived on the lands dependent on the Russian state had two surnames. They were “called” by one surname, “written” by another. Over time, the “correct” surnames took up and so the Barys became the Borisovs, the Saprankas became the Saprankovs, the Trahims became the Trokhimovs. Some Belarusians themselves own initiative they took the surnames "pansky", at that time it was considered fashionable. And Sakol - became Sokolov, Pear - Grushko, Shyly - Shyllo, Farbotka - Forbotko. Among Belarusian surnames there are surnames of Baltic origin with suffixes for "-oyts" and "-ut" (Yakoyts, Korbut).

The history of the origin of Belarusian surnames.

Belarusian surnames (Belarusian. Belarusian nicknames) were formed in the context of the all-European process. The oldest of them date back to the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century, when the territory of the Republic of Belarus was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state. The result of a complex and long path of development of anthroponymy in different regions was the heterogeneity of Belarusian surnames. The main corpus of Belarusian surnames appeared in the 17th-18th centuries, but they were not stable, obligatory. They became strictly hereditary and legally fixed only in the 30s of the XX century.

The Belarusian family system fully reflects the complex and rich political life country, and bears traces of numerous cultural influences. For this reason, in the bases of Belarusian surnames there may be words associated with Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Tatar. Of the neighboring peoples, only the Latvians did not leave any noticeable imprint in the Belarusian family fund.

The first stable family names were adopted by the magnate families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) from the second half of the 15th century. These ancient family names: Sapieha, Tyshkevich, Pats, Khodkevich, Glebovich, Nemiro, Iodko, Ilyinich, Ermine, Gromyko are still widespread among Belarusians today.

However, the bulk of the representatives of the gentry class in the first half of the 16th century continued to use sliding names after their father, such as Gnevosh Tvorianovich or Bartosh Olekhnovich just like the peasants. By the end of the 16th century, most of the gentry families had already acquired permanent family names. Although examples of a change in the generic name were common, for example, the genus Dovoyno began to bear the name Sologubs etc.

The surnames of the gentry could have arisen from patronymics or grandfathers (on -ovich/-evich) - Voynilovich, Fedorovich, from the name of the estate or estate (on -sky/-sky) - Belyavsky, Borovsky, or from the progenitor's nickname - Wolf, Narbut. The family nomenclature that developed during this period, in its main features, continues to exist in Central and Western Belarus to this day. Almost 60-70% of the original Belarusian surnames from this area are found in Polish armorials and their bearers are namesakes, and often descendants of glorious noble families having rich history, going back to the very origins of ON.

The surnames of peasants were fixed in the western and central parts of Belarus during the 18th century. The bases for peasant surnames were often scooped from the same fund of gentry surnames, or could originate from purely peasant nicknames - Burak, Kogut. For a long time, the surname of a peasant family was unstable. Often one peasant family bore two or even three parallel existing nicknames, for example, Maxim Nos, aka Maxim Bogdanovich. However, based on the inventories of the estates of the late XVII, early XVIII centuries, it can be argued that the main part of peasant families continues to exist continuously in the areas of their fixation from the 17th-18th centuries to the present day.

On the lands of Eastern Belarus, which went to Russia as a result of the first partition of the Commonwealth in 1772, surnames were formed at least a hundred years later. In this territory, family suffixes -ov / -ev, -in, characteristic of Russian anthroponymy, have existed since ancient times, but under the rule of the Russian Empire, it was this type of surname that became dominant east of the Dnieper and north of the Western Dvina. Due to their later origin, family nests are smaller here than in the western part of the country, and the number of surnames recorded in one settlement is usually higher. Surnames such as Kozlov, Kovalev, Novikov are repeated from region to region, that is, there are many places where unrelated family nests appeared, and, accordingly, the number of carriers is high. This is clearly seen in the list of the most frequent Belarusian surnames, in which universal oriental surnames -ov/-ev dominate, although the number of carriers of surnames per -ov/-ev among the entire Belarusian population does not exceed 30%.

Unlike Russia, surnames on -ov/-ev in Eastern Belarus they are not completely monopoly, but cover about 70% of the population. It is interesting that the original Belarusian surnames on -yonok, were not suffixed here -ov, and Ukrainized. For example: Goncharenok is not Goncharenkov, but Goncharenko, Kurilyonok is not Kurilenkov, but Kurylenko. Although for

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Our last names
Jan Stankevich. The article was written in 1922 and published in No. 4 of the Belarusian Sciag magazine in August-September 1922.

I. The oldest and most original Belarusian surnames in:
-IC (Savinich, Bobich, Smolich, Babich, Jaremic). These surnames began to appear even at that time in the life of the Belarusian people, when tribal relations took place. Those that were from the Smala clan began to be called Smolichs, from the Baba (Bob) clan - Bobichi, from the Baba clan - Babich, etc. The same endings - ich are present in the names of all the tribes that eventually formed the basis of the Belarusian people (Krivichi, Dregovichi, Radimichi).

In Belarus there are a lot of localities in -ichi (Byalynichi, Ignatichi, Yaremichi), all of them are very ancient and designate the Fatherland of the clan. Surnames on - ich and localities on - ich are found in a variety, starting from the Disnensky district (district) of Vilenshchyna. There are even more of them in the west, south and center of the Vitebsk region, and it is likely that there are quite a lot of these surnames in the east of the Vitebsk lands, quite often they are found throughout the Mogilev region, and little by little throughout the rest of Belarus.
Of all the Slavs, except for Belarusians, only Serbs have surnames in -ich (Pashic, Vuyachich, Stoyanovich).

HIV. Next to the names Smolich, Smalyachich, etc. there are surnames Smolevich, Klyanovich, Rodzevich, Babrovich, Zhdanovich, etc., Smolevichi localities, etc. Surnames in -vich are very ancient, but still less ancient than those already mentioned above in -ich. In the endings -ovich, -evich, the meaning of belonging also intersects with the meaning of kinship (Babr-ov-ich).

Surnames such as Petrovich, Demidovich, Vaitsyulevich, etc. show that the founders of these clans were already Christians, and those like Akhmatovich - that their founders were Muslims, because. Akhmat is a Muslim name. The same surnames of Belarusian Muslims, like Rodkevich, mean surnames not only with a Belarusian ending, but also with a Belarusian root (base), and show that the founders of these clans were Belarusians, who themselves, or their descendants, converted to Islam. Not all Rodkeviches are Muslims, some of them, such as those living in Mensk (now Minsk, my note), are of the Catholic faith. There are surnames of Jews with Belarusian -vich, but with a Jewish or German basis - Rubinovich, Rabinovich, Mavshovich. These are the surnames that arose among the Jewish population in the Belarusian environment.
Surnames ending in -vich are common throughout Belarus; -ich and –vich make up 30-35% of all Belarusian surnames. Surnames in -vich correspond to the names of localities (villages, towns, settlements): Kutsevichi, Popelevichi, Dunilovichi, Osipovichi, Klimovichi.

Surnames ending in –vich are sometimes called Lithuanian. It went because once the Lithuanian state covered the entire territory of present-day Belarus.
It sometimes happens that original and characteristic Belarusian surnames are simultaneously called Polish. There are no Poles with such surnames at all. Mickiewicz, Sienkiewicz, Kandratovichi are Belarusians who created the wealth of Polish culture. For example, in the Benitsa volost of the Oshmyany povet there are many representatives who bear the surname Mitska and there is the village of Mitskavichi, which means the same as Mickavichi, just in the last version the “ts” has hardened and the stress has changed. If you look, for example, at the lists of friends of Polish associations in Poland, next to a typical Polish surnames and many German ones, only in some places, very rarely, you can find a surname in -ich or -vich and you can always find out that its owner is Belarusian. Surnames and occurring words in -wich and -ich are completely foreign in Polish. A word such as krolewicz is Belarusianism with a “Polish” base. In Russian, where surnames in -ich, -ovich, -evich did not appear, the paternal name (patronymic) with these suffixes survived until today. Ukrainians have surnames ending in -ich, but mostly in the north Ukrainian lands, where they could have arisen under Belarusian influence. Names after the father were preserved in Ukrainian. There were in the old days the names of the father and the Poles and Chekhovs and other Slavs (for example, the Luzhitsky Serbs), as evidenced by the names on -ice (-itse and -its) (Katowice), corresponding to the Belarusian ones on -ichi (Baranovichi). The opinion about the Polish origin of these surnames went because the Belarusian lands from 1569 to the division of the Commonwealth of the Both Peoples were an integral autonomous part of the entire federal (and even confederal) Commonwealth of the Both Peoples, but even more because the apolitical Belarusian magnates (Khodkiewicz, Khrebtovichi, Valadkovichi, Vankovichi) had their own interests throughout the territory of the Commonwealth.

II. Surnames on
–SKIY, -TSKIY local. They arose from the names of localities and names, tribal gentry estates. They have been distributed among the Belarusian gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 15th century. The Belarusian gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who owned the estate of Tsyapin, was called Tsyapinsky, Ostrog - Ostrozhsky, Oginty - Oginsky, Mir - Mirsky, Dostoevo - Dostoevsky, etc. According to the names of the localities, who was from Dubeikovo, he became Dubeikovsky, who from Sukhodol - Sukhodolsky, who lived near the lake - Ozersky, across the river - Zaretsky, behind the forest - Zalesky, etc. Zubovsky, Dubitsky, Sosnovsky. A student who studies in Vilnius will be called Wilnosky, and one in Prague - Praguesky, etc.

Among the many local Belarusian surnames that have already arisen in -sky, -tsky, similar or new surnames could arise by analogy with the Belarusian Jews and Zhamoits.

Surnames are both old and new. Moreover, in the case of the old one, they probably belonged to quite famous people, that is, the boyars, or the gentry. But the new surnames in -sky, -sky belong equally to all classes, villagers and even Belarusian Jews. One gentleman told me the following incident: Jews lived near the village of Oshmyany, beyond the mountain; As soon as the decision came from the Russian authorities to put all the inhabitants on the lists, it turned out in the office that these Jews did not have any surname, their grandfather was simply called Lipka, Berk's father, Shimel's son, etc. Didn't know how to write them down. One neighbor helped out - Belarus, who turned out to be nearby: "So it's," he says, "Zagorsk Jews." So they were recorded by the Zagorskys.

The surnames of the Muslim gentry in Belarus in -sky, -sky, along with the Belarusian basis (Karitsky and others), show, like surnames like Rodkevich, that these Muslims are not of the Tatar, but of the Belarusian family. But there are also many surnames among the Belarusian Tatars in -sky, -tsky and with a Tatar basis (Kanapatsky, Yasinsky).

Surnames ending in -sky, -sky correspond to Belarusian names of places in -shchina (Skakavshchina, Kazarovshchina). Surnames ending in -sky, -sky among Belarusians make up about 12%.

Surnames in -sky, -sky, as derivatives of localities, are found among all Slavic peoples. So, in addition to the Belarusians, the Poles (Dmovski), Chekhovs (Dobrovsky), Ukrainians (Grushevsky), as well as the Serbs, Bulgarians and Muscovites (Russian approx. mine).

Such surnames in -sky, -sky, as Uspensky, Bogoroditsky, Arkhangelsky, of church origin and can equally be among all Orthodox Slavs.

III. When surnames in -ich, -vich denote a genus, surnames in -onok, -yonok (Yuluchonok, Lazichonok, Artyamenok), -chik, -ik (Martsinchik, Alakseichik, Ivanchik, Yazepchik, Avginchik, Mironchik, Mlynarchik, Syamenik, Kukharchik) , -uk, -yuk (Mikhalyuk, Aleksyuk, Vasilyuk) denote a son (son of Yazep or son of Avgini, or son of Mlynar), and surnames in -enya (Vaselenya) are simply a child (child of Vasil). Surnames in -onak, -yonak, -enya, -chik, -ik are characteristic Belarusian and common among Belarusians, although not as ancient as in -ich and -vich. Only Belarusians have surnames in -onak, -yonak. Belarusian surnames ending in -onak, -yonak correspond to surnames in Ukrainians ending in -enko (Cherkasenko, Demidenko), and in Swedish and English surnames ending in -son (son), and surnames ending in -enya correspond to Georgian surnames ending in -shvili (Remashvili).

Surnames ending in -onak, -yonak, -enya, -chik, -ik, -uk, -yuk in Belarus are 25-35%, which means approximately as many as in -ich and -vich.

Surnames ending in -onak, -yonak are most common in the Disna povet of the Vilna region, even more in the Vitebsk region, perhaps a little less in the Mogilev region and in the eastern part of the Menshchina. There are also all over Belarus.

Surnames ending in -chik, -ik are also scattered throughout Belarus.
On -enya, -uk, -yuk - most of all in the Grodno region

IV. Next come the surnames that came from various names (Tooth, Book, Kacharga, Tambourine, Sak, Shyshka, Shyla), plants (Cabbage, Redzka, Burak, Gichan, Gryb, Pear, Bulba, Tsybulya), birds (Verabey, Busel, Batsyan, Saroka, Gil, Tit, Shulyak, Karshun, Kite, Kazan, Voran, Kruk, Shpak, Chyzh, Golub, Galubok), animals (Karovka, Hare, Beaver, Myadzvedz, Fox, Korsak), names of the month or day of the week ( Listapad, Serada, Vechar), a holiday (Vyalikdzen, Kalyada, Kupala), the names of people became surnames (Syargey, Barys, Gardzey, Mitska, Tamash, Zakharka, Kastsyushka, Manyushka, Myaleshka). This includes such surnames that characterize a person. So on - ka, -ka, at the heart of the words Parotska, Lyanutska (the one who is lazy), Zabudzka (the one who forgets) there are also surnames: Budzka (who wakes up), Sapotska (who snores), then Rodzka (from giving birth), Hodzka (from walking), Khotska (from wanting), Zhylka, Dubovka, Brovka and a lot of similar surnames.

These surnames, both old (Wolf, Zhaba, Kishka, Korsak), and new ones, are found throughout Belarus; they will be about 10-12% of all Belarusian surnames.

V. Surnames ending in -ov, -ev, -in are found among Belarusians, starting from the east and north of the Vitebsk region, from the east of the Mogilev region; there are quite a lot of such surnames in the Smolensk region and in the Belarusian parts of other provinces (Pskov, Tver, etc.). In some places they can be found in the center and in the west of Belarus. The question arises how such surnames, characteristic of Muscovites (i.e. Russians, mine) and Bulgarians, could have appeared among Belarusians.

First of all, it must be borne in mind that these Belarusian lands for a long time (about 145 years, and some 300-400 years) were part of Russia, that, being under the rule of Russia, they were not governed by the rights of autonomy, but from the center Russian state. One must think that already in the old days of Moscow domination on these Belarusian lands, not observing other features of the Belarusian lands and people, the Muscovites did not observe the features of Belarusian surnames, remaking them into their template ones with endings in -ov, -ev, -in.

Interestingly, when our printer Fedarovich appeared in Moscow, he was named as Fedorov. As the surname Fedarovich was redone in Moscow, so were a lot of other Belarusian surnames in the Belarusian lands dependent on Muscovy. Thus, the Belarusians of these lands sometimes had two surnames - one that they themselves used, the other - which the authorities knew. Speaking, they were “called” by one, and “written” by another surname. Over time, however, these last "correct" surnames took over. Their owners, for their own interests, decided to remember these written names. Thus, the Baryseviches became the Borisovs, the Trakhimoviches became the Trokhimovs, the Saprankas became the Saprankovs, and so on. But where it was connected with the old native surname family tradition, it was stubbornly held on and such national Belarusian surnames have survived to this day on remote borders ethnic territory Belarusians.

However, the greatest destruction of Belarusian surnames in eastern Belarus falls on the 19th century and ends in the 20th century.

By systematically Russifying Belarus, the authorities systematically Russified Belarusian surnames as well.

It should not be surprising that the Russians Russified part of the Belarusian surnames, when even for peoples so distant for Russians by language (not by blood) as the Chuvash and Kazan Tatars, they Russified all the surnames. From the fact that the Tatars are Muslims, in their surnames, at least the roots remained Muslim-Tatar (Baleev, Yamanov, Akhmadyanov, Khabibulin, Khairulin). The Chuvash, who have recently been baptized in the Orthodox faith, have all the surnames purely Russian, from the fact that they were baptized in droves and most often for some reason they were given the names Vasily or Maxim, so now most Chuvashs have surnames Vasiliev or Maximov. With these Vasilievs and Maximovs, it is often just a disaster, there are so many of them that it is hard to figure it out.

Russification of Belarusian surnames took place both by law and simply as a result of the administrative and educational policy of the Moscow authorities in Belarus. So, in the volosts, in accordance with the law, whole masses of Belarusian surnames were changed to Russian ones, but in the same volosts, such a change was made without any laws. Some tsar’s volost clerk (or other authorities), although he knew various Belarusian surnames well, singled out these surnames as bad in their sound in the Belarusian language, and since he had to write in Russian “correctly”, he corrected it if possible our last names, writing them “correctly” in Russian. He did this, often, of his own free will.

With the expansion of the Ukrainian movement, Ukrainian -enko surnames established themselves among the Russian authorities, and following this example, among the Belarusian royal volost clerks and other civil servants, they began to be considered “correct”. And the same volost clerks, changing one Belarusian surname to Russian from -ov, -ev, -in, at the same time changed others to -ko, depending on what was closer. So the son of Tsyarashka, Tsyarashchanka (Tsyarashchanok or Tsyarashchonak) became Tereshchenko; s Zmitronak - Zmitrenko (or even "more correctly" - Dmitrienko), and Zhautok - Zheltko. All surnames of Belarusians into –ko have been changed from Belarusian surnames into –onak, -yonak. It happens that a catch is hiding here - everyone calls, for example, Dudaronak or Zhautok, and in the municipality they are written “correctly”: Dudarenko, Zheltko.

Just as everything alien became in fashion in our country, and our own began to wane, so some Belarussians themselves, on their own initiative, changed their surnames to fashionable, alien, “gentry”. These replacements especially affected the surnames indicated in paragraph IV, i.e. surnames from the names of different words, birds, animals, etc. They noticed that it was not good to be called Sakol, Salavey, Sinitsa, Saroka, Gardzey and changed them to Sokolov, Sinitsyn, Solovyov, Gordeev, and Sakalyonak to Sokolenko, or even made them meaningless; so Grusha began to write his last name Grusho, Farbotka - Forbotko, Murashka - Murashko, Varonka - Voronko, Khotska - Khotsko, Khodzka - Khodzko, some Shyls began to write their surnames through two “l” - Shyllo, etc. They also changed surnames to surnames ending in -sky, which are not necessarily Belarusian, but other Slavs also have them. As an example, I will present the following. I knew one gentleman whose surname was Viduk (a type of poppy with large domes-petals, it blooms in red). Having become rich, he bought himself noble papers and submitted a request to the authorities to change his surname Viduk to Makovsky. His request was granted and his surname was changed to a double one - Viduk-Makovsky.

When surnames on -ich, -vich denote a family, on -onak, -yonak - a son, then surnames on -ov, -ev, -in denote belonging, these are “objects”, which answer the question of whose. Whose are you? - Ilyin, Drozdov, etc. These "objects" are not only Russians and Bulgarians, but also all other Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians, Serbs). Belarusians also have them. We often say Yanuk Lyavonav, Ganka Lyavonava, Piatruk Adamav, etc., where the words Lyavonav, Adamav, mean that he comes from Lyavon, Adam, often the son or daughter of Lyavon, etc.

The belonging of the object has to be used for separation, often Yanuk, Pyatruk, etc. is not alone. We, under Russian influence, could have our own Belarusian surnames with such endings. In this sense, the difference between Russians and Bulgarians, on the one hand, and other Slavs, on the other, is that for the latter these objects often do not become surnames.

Summarizing everything that has been said about surnames in -ov, -ev, -in, it must be said briefly - these surnames arose:
1) as a result of alteration or replacement by "Moscow" clerks and heads of Belarusian surnames,
2) some Belarusians recently independently remade them into then fashionable Russians and
3) they could partly have arisen in the Belarusian environment, or under Russian influence.
These surnames are all new and are not typical for Belarusians. Belarusians have 15-20% of these surnames. Surnames ending in -ov, -ev, -in are national among Bulgarians and Russians. Approximately as many as Belarusians have these surnames among Ukrainians, where they have the same character as ours.

http://soko1.livejournal.com/395443.html

In Latin, the word "surname" means "family". For the first time people began to assign different surnames in the tenth century in Italy. Belarusian surnames gained popularity in the fifteenth century. Belarusians still carry their family nicknames. Sometimes they captivate the ear with their beauty, and sometimes they evoke such an emotion as laughter. The list of surnames, their meaning and origin is presented below. It is worth noting that every person should know about the history of the origin of their generic name. This information allows you to reach the origins of the whole genus. More often than others in Belarus, surnames were formed depending on the place of residence, type of activity and the name of the father.

Sources of Belarusian surnames

During the existence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the territory of modern Belarus, people began to give not only names, but also surnames. The origin of Belarusian surnames dates back to the reign of Prince Mindovg. Then it was customary to give surnames to people of the princely or noble class. The serfs got only “nicknames”, which united the servants of one house. An important role in the origin of the surnames of the Belarusian people was played by their place of residence. Nicknames based on the father's name were also very popular. As an example, consider the situation when the father is named Vanya. It turns out that his son automatically becomes Vanya. This surname is one of the most common, since the name Ivan was found in every village and more than once.

Surnames of noble origin

Belarusian nobles usually got their surnames based on their place of residence, the name of a castle or family estate. Typically, the endings of this kind of nominal nicknames were such sets of letters as “ski” or “tsuki”. As an example, consider the situation - a wealthy nobleman lives in a castle called Ostrog, which means that he is given the surname Ostrogsky. Often there are surnames of Belarusians with the ending "-ovich". On this basis, you can immediately determine that the ancestors of this person were Christians. These nominal nicknames include Petrovich, Demidovich, Martsinovich.

After the resettlement of the Jewish population in the Principality of Lithuania in the fifteenth century, the first Belarusian surnames with Jewish roots appeared. Their endings were characteristic of the Belarusian people, but despite this, the typical Jewish basis of the surname always distinguished them from the indigenous population. Examples of Belarusian-Jewish surnames are Koganovsky, Ribinovich, Gurevich. It is worth noting that the Jews influenced the change of Belarusian surnames, but they did not create new ones among them.

Non-noble Belarusian surnames

The appearance of the first Belarusian surnames among the common population is justified by a very simple reason. Since many people with the same names lived in villages and villages, it was simply necessary to distinguish them somehow. Initially, they were given a nickname, which, in the process of generational change, began to be passed on to children and grandchildren. Suffixes characteristic of peasant surnames are “ich”, “onok”, “enya”, “chik”, “uk”. Among the common Belarusian surnames of non-noble origin are Ivanchik, Vaselyuk, Lazichonok. Commoners were often given nicknames and, as a result, generic names associated with their character traits. So, for example, a lazy person was called Lyanutska, a forgetful person - Zabudzko, a snoring person - Sapotska.

Coming from Russia

Extensive influence Russian people the culture and way of life of the Belarusian nation was also affected by the moment of the formation of surnames. So, generic names very popular in Belarus with traditional Russian suffixes “ov”, “in”, “ev” are proof of this. They are especially widespread in the east of the country. A long stay under Russian rule led to the appearance in purely Belarusian surnames of the endings inherent in the inhabitants of Muscovy. As a result, many Belarusians living under the auspices of Russia became the owner of two surnames. One they wrote in documents, the other was called in the process of communication. Such dual ownership of the surname did not last long, and as a result, the version adapted to the Russian style became one. Barys began to be called Borisovs, and Trakhima Trokhimovs. Many Belarusians renamed their generic names into Russian on their own initiative. At that time, such surnames as Sakol, Grusha, Shaly fell under the influence of fashion, which turned into Sokolov, Grushko, Shallo, respectively.

Smiling

Often Belarusian surnames have very deep and interesting roots. If earlier some of them were frequently encountered and did not evoke any emotions, now it is impossible to pronounce them without an involuntary smile. Often the determining factor in choosing a surname was weather conditions, pets, houseplants and other objects and phenomena found in Everyday life. Over time, such words turned into common nouns and became full-fledged surnames of Belarusians. The list of surnames with a funny sound includes:

Beetle - given to people with black hair.

Nose - assigned to owners of outstanding noses.

A deck is a surname characteristic of a full and clumsy person.

Windmill - that was the name of the miller.

Pear - a surname derived from the name of a tree sacred to the Slavs.

Cancer - such a surname was usually given to indecisive people

Borsch - inherent in people engaged in excessive chatter.

Despite their unusualness, these are common Belarusian surnames that anyone can meet in everyday life.

declination

Before inclining a Belarusian surname, you need to pay attention to its ending. The declension of the Belarusian surname is carried out according to the rule of writing the case used. There are usually three main principles of declination in practice:

1. Women's surnames do not change in the process of changing the case, the ending "a" is added to the masculine. Considering the surname Remizovich as an example, we get that the absence of a man will sound: “There is no Ivan Remizovich.” For a woman, the form of the surname remains the same: "No Olga Remizovich."
2. There is music, but no music.
3. Surnames ending in "o" remain unchanged in any case.

endings

Today you can meet a variety of Belarusian surnames. Their endings are also different - it all depends on the origin of the generic name. The most common endings of Belarusian surnames are:

Yevich, -ovich - Karpovich, Yashkevich;

Ivich, -lich - Smolich, Savinich;

Ev, -ov - Oreshnikov;

Sky, -tsky - Polyansky, Neizvitsky;

Onok, -enok - Kovalenok, Savenok;

Ko - Shurko;

Ok - Top;

Enya - Kovalenya;

Yuk, -uk - Martynyuk, Abramchuk;

Ik - Novik;

Etz - Small.

Top surnames and their meaning

There are a wide variety of Belarusian surnames. Masculine usually differ from feminine by changing the ending when declining. But this is not always the case. In frequent cases, women's Belarusian surnames do not change at all. Female generic names in Belarus, as in Russia, are lost after marriage. The family name is taken from the male side. The TOP-20 popular Belarusian surnames include:

1. Poznyak - given to a person who was born late at night.
2. Tretyak is a surname formed from the name of an old coin of the same name.
3. Ozersky - given to a person whose ancestor lived near the lake.
4. Zelensky - created on the basis of the worldly name Zelenya, this surname was also assigned to inexperienced people.
5. Sverdlov - the surname in the past belonged to a carpenter or joiner.
6. Vanin is the son of Ivan.
7. Kovalev - the ancestor of the bearer of the surname was a blacksmith.
8. Sinitsyn - in honor of the worldly name Sinitsa.
9. Gomel - an ancestor who received given surname, was born or lived in Gomel.
10. Pinchuk - the first bearer of the surname was born in the Brest region in the city of Pinsk.
11. Bystritsky - living in the city of Bystritsa.
12. Gnatyuk - in honor church name Ignatius.
13. Adamovich is a surname formed from the name Adam.
14. Krasik is the nickname of a handsome and well-groomed person.
15. Puzik - the progenitor of the surname was a full and well-fed man.
16. Gavrilyak - formed on behalf of Gavril.
17. Brilevsky - the surname came from the word brila - lip. Assigned to a person with a plump lip or with an overly touchy character.
18. Talyuk - appeared from the nickname Tal, which was given to a person living in a swampy area.
19. Yurchak - that was the name of a person who was fast, nimble and very sneaky.
20. Avdeenko - associated with the baptismal name Avdey.

Each of the surnames presented above has its own deep history and takes its rightful place in the fate of many Belarusians. Knowing the origin of your family name, you can discover new knowledge about your ancestors, their occupation and place of residence. More often than others in Belarus, the surname Kovalev is found (more than ten percent of the country's population), which means that the Kuznetsk business was widely developed in this territory.

1. Belarusian surnames are often confused with Lithuanian and Jewish ones.
2. Abramovich is a native Belarusian surname.
3. Belarusian surnames have been formed over several centuries.
4. Tatars, Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Jews had an influence on the formation of Belarusian generic names.
5. The official adoption of surnames by the entire population of Belarus took place in the middle of the nineteenth century.

I. The oldest and most original Belarusian surnames on: -IC (Savinich, Bobich, Smolich, Babich, Yaremich). These surnames began to appear even at that time in the life of the Belarusian people, when tribal relations took place. Those that were from the Smala clan began to be called Smolichs, from the Baba (Bob) clan - Bobichi, from the Baba clan - Babich, etc. The same endings - ich are present in the names of all the tribes that eventually formed the basis of the Belarusian people (Krivichi, Dregovichi, Radimichi). In Belarus there are a lot of localities in -ichi (Byalynichi, Ignatichi, Yaremichi), all of them are very ancient and designate the Fatherland of the clan. Surnames on - ich and localities on - ich, are found in a variety, starting from the Disnensky district (district) of the Vilenshchyna. There are even more of them in the west, south and center of the Vitebsk region, and it is likely that there are quite a lot of these surnames in the east of the Vitebsk lands, quite often they are found throughout the Mogilev region, and little by little throughout the rest of Belarus. Of all the Slavs, except for Belarusians, only Serbs have surnames in -ich (Pashic, Vuyachich, Stoyanovich). - HIV. Next to the names Smolich, Smalyachich, etc. there are surnames Smolevich, Klyanovich, Rodzevich, Babrovich, Zhdanovich, etc., Smolevichi localities, etc. Surnames in -ich are very ancient, but still less ancient than those already mentioned above in -ich. In the endings -ovich, -evich, the meaning of belonging also intersects with the meaning of kinship (Babr-ov-ich). Surnames such as Petrovich, Demidovich, Vaitsyulevich, etc. show that the founders of these clans were already Christians, and those like Akhmatovich - that their founders were Muslims, because. Akhmat is a Muslim name. The same surnames of Belarusian Muslims, like Rodkevich, mean surnames not only with a Belarusian ending, but also with a Belarusian root (base), and show that the founders of these clans were Belarusians who themselves, or their descendants, converted to Islam. Not all Rodkeviches are Muslims, some of them, like, for example, those who live in Mensk (now Minsk), are of the Catholic faith. There are surnames of Jews with Belarusian -vich, but with a Jewish or German basis - Rubinovich, Rabinovich, Mavshovich. These are the surnames that arose among the Jewish population in the Belarusian environment. Surnames ending in -vich are common throughout Belarus; -ich and -vich make up 30-35% of all Belarusian surnames. Surnames in -vich correspond to the names of localities (villages, towns, settlements): Kutsevichi, Popelevichi, Dunilovichi, Osipovichi, Klimovichi. Surnames ending in –vich are sometimes called Lithuanian. It went because once the Lithuanian state covered the entire territory of present-day Belarus. The naming of Belarusian surnames as Lithuanian ones is the same misunderstanding in the names as Mensk-Litovsky, Berestye-Litovsky and Kamenets-Litovsky, etc. It sometimes happens that original and characteristic Belarusian surnames are simultaneously called Polish. There are no Poles with such surnames at all. Mickiewicz, Sienkiewicz, Kandratovichi are Belarusians who created the wealth of Polish culture. For example, in the Benitsa volost of the Oshmyany povet there are many representatives who bear the surname Mitska, and there is the village of Mitskavichi, which means the same thing as Mickavichi, just in the last version the “ts” has hardened and the stress has changed. On the personal website of the Belarusian historian Vyacheslav Nosevich there is another very interesting information : ... the share of one of the brothers, in addition to the main estate of Upniki in ethnic Lithuania, included, among others, the Tomilovichi court (in the Dokshitsy district, 70 km north of Koren), numbering 32 people (families) ... ... Obviously, all the duty of subjects from Tomilovich (Tumilovich) was a honey tribute ... Here the replacement of the letters o and u is striking. Perhaps it is no accident that there is a similar replacement in the spelling of the surname: Tomilovich and Tumilovich. For example, the first of "our" Tumilovichi in 1811 was recorded exactly as Tomilovich (see essay on Tumilovichi) - the record of 1795, which indicates the surname Tamilovich, requires additional study. Both Nikolayevshchina and Tumilovichi belonged to the landowners Radziwills (I will not go into the genealogy of the Radziwills - it is possible that they were the same). The spelling of the surname of the owners of the village Tumilovichi, as Radivilov, is explained by Vyacheslav Nosevich in the same article "Traditional Belarusian Village in the European Perspective": the Polish form prevailed - the Radziwills. Perhaps (also taking into account the origin of the surname), further genealogical search will "lead" us to the village of Tumilovichi. If you look, for example, at the lists of friends of Polish associations in Poland, then next to typical Polish surnames and many German ones, only in some places, very rarely, you can find a surname in -ich or -vich and you can always find out that its owner is Belorus. Surnames and occurring words in -vich and -ich are completely foreign in Polish. A word such as krolewicz is Belarusianism with a “Polish” base. In Russian, where surnames in -ich, -ovich, -evich did not appear, the paternal name (patronymic) with these suffixes has survived to this day. Ukrainians have surnames ending in -ich, but mostly in the north Ukrainian lands, where they could have arisen under Belarusian influence. Names after the father were preserved in Ukrainian. There were in the old days the names of the father and the Poles and Chekhovs and other Slavs (for example, the Luzhitsky Serbs), as evidenced by the names on -ice (-itse and -its) (Katowice), corresponding to the Belarusian ones on -ichi (Baranovichi). The opinion about the Polish origin of these surnames went because the Belarusian lands from 1569 to the partition of the Commonwealth were an integral autonomous part of the entire federal (and even confederate) Commonwealth of the Both Peoples, but even more so because the apolitical Belarusian magnates (Khodkevichi, Khrebtovichi, Valadkovichi, Vankovichi) had their own interests throughout the territory of the Commonwealth. According to the traditions of the Belarusian language, the names of dynasties in Belarusian should end in -vich. Therefore, it is correct and necessary to say: Rogvolodovichi (Belarusian dynasty of Rogvolod Polotskag), Vseslavichi (Belarusian dynasty of Vseslav the Great Sorcerer), Gediminovichi, Jagailovichi (and not Jagielons), Pyastovichi (Polish Piast dynasty), Arpadovichi (Ugric (Hungarian) dynasty), Fatimidovichi ( Egyptian Muslim dynasty), Premyslovichi (Czech dynasty of Premysl), but not Premyslids, which sounds awkward in Belarusian. II. Surnames ending in -sky, -sky are local. They arose from the names of localities and the names of patrimonial gentry estates. They have been distributed among the Belarusian gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 15th century. The Belarusian gentry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who owned the estate of Tsyapin, was called Tsyapinsky, Ostrog - Ostrozhsky, Oginty - Oginsky, Mir - Mirsky, Dostoevo - Dostoevsky, etc. According to the names of the localities, who was from Dubeikovo, he became Dubeikovsky, who from Sukhodol - Sukhodolsky, who lived near the lake - Ozersky, across the river - Zaretsky, behind the forest - Zalesky, etc. Zubovsky, Dubitsky, Sosnovsky. A student who studies in Vilnius will be called Wilnosky, and one in Prague - Praguesky, etc. Among the many local Belarusian surnames that have already arisen in –sky, -tsky, similar or new surnames could arise according to the (already considered) analogy with Belarusian Jews and Zhamoits (i.e. Lithuanians in the modern sense). Surnames are both old and new. Moreover, in the case of the old one, they probably belonged to quite famous people, that is, the boyars, or the gentry. But the new surnames in -sky, -sky belong equally to all classes, villagers and even Belarusian Jews. One gentleman told me the following incident: Jews lived near the village of Oshmyany, beyond the mountain; As soon as the decision came from the Russian authorities to put all the inhabitants on the lists, it turned out in the office that these Jews did not have any surname, their grandfather was simply called Lipka, Berk's father, Shimel's son, etc. Didn't know how to write them down. One neighbor helped out - Belarus, who turned out to be nearby: “So this is it,” he says, “Zagorsk Jews.” So they were recorded by the “Zagorskys”. The surnames of the Muslim gentry in Belarus in -sky, -sky, along with the Belarusian basis (Karitsky and others), show, like surnames like Rodkevich, that these Muslims are not of the Tatar, but of the Belarusian family. But there are also many surnames among the Belarusian Tatars in -sky, -tsky and with a Tatar basis (Kanapatsky, Yasinsky). Surnames ending in -sky, -sky correspond to Belarusian names of places in -shchina (Skakavshchina, Kazarovshchina). Surnames ending in -sky, -sky among Belarusians make up about 12%. Surnames in -sky, -sky, as derivatives of localities, are found among all Slavic peoples. So, in addition to the Belarusians, the Poles (Dmovski), Chekhovs (Dobrovsky), Ukrainians (Grushevsky), as well as the Serbs, Bulgarians and Muscovites (Russians). Such surnames in -sky, -sky, as Uspensky, Bogoroditsky, Arkhangelsky, of church origin and can equally be among all Orthodox Slavs. III. When surnames in -ich, -vich denote a genus, surnames in -onok, -yonok (Yuluchonok, Lazichonok, Artyamenok), -chik, -ik (Martsinchik, Alakseichik, Ivanchik, Yazepchik, Avginchik, Mironchik, Mlynarchik, Syamenik, Kukharchik) , -uk, -yuk (Mikhalyuk, Aleksyuk, Vasilyuk) denote a son (son of Yazep or son of Avgini, or son of Mlynar), and surnames in -enya (Vaselenya) are simply a child (child of Vasil). Surnames in -onak, -yonak, -enya, -chik, -ik are characteristic Belarusian and common among Belarusians, although not as ancient as in -ich and -vich. Only Belarusians have surnames in -onak, -yonak. Belarusian surnames in -onak, -yonak correspond to Ukrainians in -enko (Cherkasenko, Demidenko), and in Swedish and English, surnames in -son (son), and surnames in -enya correspond to Georgian ones with endings in -shvili (Remashvili) . Surnames ending in -onak, -yonak, -enya, -chik, -ik, -uk, -yuk in Belarus are 25-35%, which means approximately as many as in -ich and -vich. Surnames ending in -onak, -yonak are most common in the Disna povet of the Vilna region, even more in the Vitebsk region, perhaps a little less in the Mogilev region and in the eastern part of the Menshchina (i.e. Minsk region). There are also all over Belarus. Surnames ending in -chik, -ik are also scattered throughout Belarus. On -enya, -uk, -yuk - most of all in the Grodno region (i.e. in the western part of Belarus). IV. Next come the surnames that came from various names (accepted in everyday life) (Tooth, Book, Kacharga, Tambourine, Sak, Shyshka, Shyla), plants (Cabbage, Redzka, Burak, Gichan, Gryb, Pear, Bulba, Tsybulya), birds (Verabey, Busel, Batsyan, Saroka, Gil, Tit, Shulyak, Karshun, Kite, Kazan, Voran, Kruk, Shpak, Chyzh, Golub, Galubok), animals (Karovka, Hare, Beaver, Myadzvedz, Fox, Korsak), names month or day of the week (Listapad, Serada, Vechar), holiday (Vyalikdzen, Kalyada, Kupala), the names of people became surnames (Syargey, Barys, Gardzey, Mitska, Tamash, Zakharka, Kastsyushka, Manyushka, Myaleshka). This includes such surnames that characterize a person. So on -ka, -ka, at the heart of the words Parotska, Lyanutska (one who is lazy), Zabudzka (one who forgets) there are also surnames: Budzka (who wakes up), Sapotska (who snores), then Rodzka (from giving birth), Hodzka (from walking), Khotska (from wanting), Zhylka, Dubovka, Brovka and a lot of similar surnames. These surnames, both old (Wolf, Zhaba, Kishka, Korsak), and new ones, are found throughout Belarus; they will be about 10-12% of all Belarusian surnames. V. Surnames ending in -ov, -ev, -in are found among Belarusians, starting from the east and north of the Vitebsk region, from the east of the Mogilev region; there are quite a lot of such surnames in the Smolensk region and in the Belarusian parts of other provinces (Pskov, Tver, etc.). In some places they can be found in the center and in the west of Belarus. The question arises how such surnames, characteristic of Muscovites (i.e. Russians) and Bulgarians, could arise among Belarusians. First of all, it must be borne in mind that these Belarusian lands for a long time (about 145 years, and some 300-400 years) were part of Russia, that, being under the rule of Russia, they were governed not on the basis of autonomy, but from center of the Russian state. One must think that already in the old days of Moscow domination on these Belarusian lands, not observing other features of the Belarusian lands and people, the Muscovites did not observe the features of Belarusian surnames, remaking them into their template ones with endings in -ov, -ev, -in. Interestingly, when our printer Fedarovich appeared in Moscow, he was named as Fedorov. As the surname Fedarovich was remade in Moscow, a lot of other Belarusian surnames were remade in the Belarusian lands dependent on Muscovy. Thus, the Belarusians of these lands sometimes had two surnames - one that they themselves used, the other - which the authorities knew. Speaking, they were “called” by one, and “written” by another surname. Over time, however, these last “correct” surnames took over. Their owners, for their own interests, decided to remember these written names. Thus, the Baryseviches became the Borisovs, the Trakhimoviches became the Trokhimovs, the Saprankas became the Saprankovs, and so on. But where a family tradition was associated with the old native surname, it was stubbornly kept and such national Belarusian surnames have survived to the present on the remote borders of the ethnic territory of the Belarusians. (Continued read