Belarusian gentry surnames. Belarusian surnames - a reflection of the history of the people

Belarusian surnames

The most ancient and original Belarusian surnames are those surnames that end in "ich". For example, Bobich, Savinich, Smolich, Jaremic and Babich. These surnames appeared at that time of the existence of the Belarusian people, when tribal relations existed. People who belonged to the Smala family began to be called Smolich, and those whose family was Bob began to be called Bobich. The same endings are in the names of all the tribes, which eventually formed the basis of the Belarusian people. These were Dregovichi, Krivichi and Radimichi. Belarus is a country in which a large number of different localities are located, the name of which ends with "ichi". They are Ignatichi, Byalynichi and Yaremichi. These areas are very ancient, they correspond to the Fatherland of the clan. In the set there are both localities in "ichi" and surnames in "ich". Localities on "ichi" originate from the Disna district of Vilenshchyna. Most of these places are in the south, west and center of the Vitebsk region. Most likely, there are many such surnames in the east of the beautiful Vitebsk lands. Often they come across throughout the vast Mogilev region, rarely - on the territory of the rest of Belarus. In addition to Belarusians, of all Slavs, surnames that end in "ich" belong to the Serbs. They are Vujacic, Pasic and Stojanovic.

Belarusian surnames - the origin of Belarusian surnames

There are both the names Smalyachich and Smolich, as well as Smolevich, Rodzevich, Klyanovich, Babrovich and Zhdanovich, who came out of the area Smolevichi, Rodzevichi and others. Those surnames that end in "vich" are considered very ancient. But they are less ancient than those surnames that end in "ich". It is interesting, but in the endings "evich", "ovich" the meaning of belonging intersects with the meaning of kinship. For example, the surname Babr-ov-ich. You can pick up a large number of examples. Surnames like Demidovich, Petrovich and Vaitsyulevich clearly demonstrate that the founders of these clans were Christians. And the surname Akhmatovich says that the founder of this family were Muslims. This comes from the fact that Ahmat is a Muslim name. Similar surnames (Rodkevich) belong to Belarusian Muslims. These surnames have not only a Belarusian ending, but also a Belarusian root or base. Such surnames demonstrate that the Belarusians were the founder of their clan in the past. It's just that either they or their children have previously converted to Islam. The most interesting thing is that not all Rodkeviches are considered and are in fact Muslims. Part of the Rodkeviches who live in Minsk belong to the Catholic faith. There are also surnames belonging to Jews, in which the Belarusian ending is “vich”, and the basis is German or Jewish. There are many examples: Rabinovich, Rubinovich and Mavshovich. These surnames are among those that arose in the Belarusian environment among the Jewish population. Surnames ending in "vich" are common throughout Belarus. It is estimated that 30-35 percent of Belarusian surnames in total are surnames with the endings "vich" and "ich". It is known that the names of localities correspond to surnames with the ending "vich". Surnames could be formed from the names of villages, towns and various places in which the carriers of the surname lived. For example, Popelevichi, Kupevichi, Dunilovichi, Klimovichi and Osipovichi. Very often, surnames with "vich" are considered Lithuanian. This happened because in ancient times the territory of Belarus was covered by the Lithuanian state. But the name of Belarusian surnames Lithuanian is considered a misunderstanding. Sometimes it happens that characteristic and original Belarusian surnames are also called Polish at the same time. There are no Poles with such surnames. The Sienkiewicz, Mickiewicz and Kandratovichi are Belarusians. They created the wealth of Polish culture in ancient times. A vivid example can be given: there are representatives who bear the surname Mitska and there is a village of Mitskavichi. These are unambiguous names. Only in the latter did the stress change and the “ts” hardened.

Belarusian surnames - endings in Belarusian surnames

Surnames ending in "tsky" and "sky" arose from the names of beautiful gentry estates and localities. Such surnames spread among the Belarusian gentry, which belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the fifteenth century. The gentry of Belarus, who owns the estate of Tsyapin, bore the surname Tsyapinsky, and the Belarusian gentry, who owned the estate of Ostrog, was called Ostrozhinsky. The same applies to Oginta - Oginsky, Dostoev - Dostoevsky, Mir - Mirsky and many others. Other Belarusian surnames were formed from the names of the localities. Dubeykovo - Dubeysky, Sudokhol - Sudokholsky. People living near the lake bore the surname Ozersky, and those who lived across the river - the surname Zaretsky. Then a student studying in Vilnius was named Vilna, and a student in Prague - Prague.
We found out that surnames that end in “vich” or “ich” are a gender designation. Belarusian surnames that end in "yonok" and "onok", "ik" and "chik", "yuk" and "UK" denote a son. For example, the surnames Yulyuchonok, Artyamenok, Lazichonok, Marcinchik, Ivanchik, Alyakseychik, Mikhalyuk, Vasilyuk, Aleksyuk are often found. Belarusian surnames that end in "enya" simply mean "child". For example, Vaselenia is a child of Vasily. Typical Belarusian and common people's surnames are surnames that end in "onak", "enya", "yonak", "ik" and "chik". They are not older than surnames ending in "vich" and "ich". Some Belarusians have surnames that end in "yonak" or "onak". These surnames correspond to Ukrainian surnames starting with "enko". 25-35 percent in Belarus are surnames that end in "yonak", "onak", "ik", "chik", "yuk". "uk". The same number of surnames ending in "vich" and "ich". In the Disna povet, the most common surnames end in "yonak" and "onak". Most of all they are common in the Vitebsk region. A little less - in the Mogilev region, as well as in the east of the Menshchina. There are such surnames throughout Belarus. In western Belarus, there are often surnames for "enya", "yuk", "uk". There are many surnames derived from a variety of names of plants, birds, animals, the name of the day of the week or month.

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 with a rich history that goes back to the very beginnings of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

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 drawn 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, he is Maxim Bogdanovich. However, based on the inventories of the estates of the late 17th and early 18th 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, as a rule, 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: potter- Not Goncharenkov, A Goncharenko , chicken- Not Kurilenkov, A Kurylenko . Although for the Smolensk region, surnames on -enkov are the most typical. In total, the last names -enko is worn by 15 to 20% of the population of Eastern Belarus.

In Belarusian anthroponymy, numerous common nouns are used as surnames without the addition of special suffixes ( Bug, Freezing, Sheleg ). Similar surnames (often with the same stems) are also common in Ukrainian anthroponymy.

The Belarusian family system finally took shape by the second half of the 19th century.

Forms of Belarusian surnames

Surnames on -ov/-ev

There is a strong opinion that surnames of this type are not originally Belarusian, and their presence in Belarus is due solely to the processes of Russian cultural and assimilation influence. This is only partly true. Surnames on -ov/-ev were ousted from the gentry family fund, but continued to be actively used among the peasantry in the eastern periphery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polotsk and Mstislav provinces). Another thing is that with the accession of the Belarusian territories to the Russian Empire, the prevalence of this morphological form in the East became dominant, and today in the northeast of the Vitebsk region, as well as in the eastern parts of the Mogilev and Gomel regions, surnames on -ov/-ev cover the majority of the population. At the same time, in the rest of the country, this type of surname is not native, and their carriers are from the eastern part of the country or ethnic Russians (such surnames as Smirnov And Kuznetsov are not typical for Belarusians, but at the same time are presented in the list of 100 most common surnames), or descendants of people Russified surnames (usually due to dissonance) in Soviet times.

Sometimes the reasons for late Russification cannot be explained at all, for example, in the Glubokoe district of the Vitebsk region, a mass change of the Belarusian surname was noted Nut on Orekhov . The motives of other examples of Russification are clearer: Herovets - Choirs(Borisovsky district), and everywhere Ram - Baranov , Goat - Kozlov , Cat - Kotov etc.

Most of the surnames -ov/-ev in the Russian-language notation are completely identical to Russian: Ivanov (Belarusian Ivanov), Kozlov (Kazlow), Baranov (Sheep), Alekseev (Alakseў), Romanov (Ramana).

Some surnames testify to the Belarusian origin by the presence of Belarusian phonetic signs in the basis: Astapov(instead of Ostapov), Kanankov(instead of Kononkov), Rabkov(instead of Ryabkov) etc.

Many surnames are formed from Belarusian words: Kovalev , Bondarev , Pranuzov, Yagomostev, Ezovites, Masyanzov.

Others from personal names unknown in Russian anthroponymy: Samusev, Kostusev, Wojciechow, Kazimirov.

Surnames on -in

Family suffix variant -ov/-ev used in Russian to create surnames whose stems end in -A/-I. Therefore, everything that is written about family names on -ov/-ev, fully applies to surnames on -in. A feature of this suffix among Belarusians is its significantly lower prevalence in comparison with Russians. In Russian populations, the average ratio of surnames to -ov/-ev to last names -in can be defined as 70% to 30%. In some places in Russia, especially in the Volga region, surnames on -in cover more than 50% of the population. Belarusians have the ratio of suffixes -ov/-ev And -in completely different, 90% to 10%. This is due to the fact that the basis of surnames was perceived not in the original Russian diminutive form of names on -ka, and with the Belarusian form on -ko (Ivashkov, Fedkov, Geraskov- from respectively Ivashko, Fedko, Gerasko, instead of Ivashkin , Fedkin, Geraskin).

Most of the surnames -in identical to Russian: Ilyin , Nikitin . Some have a pronounced Belarusian character: Yanochkin.

There are surnames that are decorated with the same suffix -in, but have a different origin from ethnonyms and other words of the Belarusian language: Zemyanin, Polyanin, Litvin , Turchin. Surnames of given origin should not give a feminine form Zemyanina, Litvina etc. Although this rule is often violated. Surname Zemyanin often undergoes even more Russification and occurs in the form Zimyanin(from the Russian “winter”), although the original meaning of “zemyanin” is the owner of the land, a nobleman.

Surnames on -ovich/-evich

The most characteristic Belarusian surnames include surnames with -ovich/-evich. Such surnames cover up to 17% (about 1,700,000 people) of the Belarusian population, and in terms of the prevalence of names on -ovich/-evich among Slavs, Belarusians are second only to Croats and Serbs (the latter have a suffix -ich almost monopole, up to 90%).

Suffix -ovich/-evich due to its widespread use in the personal names of the gentry ON, along with the suffix -sky/-sky, began to be considered as a nobleman and, being Belarusian by origin, firmly entered the Polish anthroponymic tradition, completely displacing the original Polish-speaking analogue from everyday life in Poland -ovic/-evic(Polish -owic/-ewic) (cf. Polish. Grzegorzewicz → Grzegorzewicz ). In turn, this type of surname, under the influence of the Polish language, changed the Old Russian stress, as in Russian patronymics, to the penultimate syllable (cf. Maksimovich And Maksimovich). Many surnames in -ovich/-evich, figures of Polish culture, are certainly Belarusian in origin, as they are formed from Orthodox names: Henryk Sienkiewicz(on behalf of Senka (← Semyon), with the Catholic counterpart Shimkevich "Shimko"), Yaroslav Ivashkevich(from the diminutive name Ivashka (← Ivan), with the Catholic form Yanushkevich), Adam Miscavige (Mitka- diminutive of Dmitriy, in the Catholic tradition there is no such name).

Since initially the surnames on -ovich/-evich were essentially patronymics, most of their foundations (up to 80%) originate from baptismal names in full or diminutive forms. Only the fund of these names is somewhat more archaic, in comparison with the surnames of other types, which indicates their more ancient origin.

Among the 100 most common Belarusian surnames on -ovich/-evich from Orthodox and Catholic baptismal names, originates 88 surnames: Klimovich, Makarevich, Karpovich, Stankevich(from Stanislav), Tarasevich, Lukashevich, Bogdanovich(pagan name included in the Christian tradition), Borisevich, Yushkevich(mind from Yuri), Pavlovich, Pashkevich, Petrovich, Matskevich(mind from Matvey), Gurinovich, Adamovich, Dashkevich(mind from Danila), Matusevich(mind from Matvey), Sakovich(mind from Isaac), Gerasimovich, Ignatovich, Vashkevich(mind from Basil), Yaroshevich(mind from Yaroslav), Romanovich, Nesterovich, Prokopovich, Yurkovich, Vasilevich, Kasperovich, Fedorovich, Davidovich, Mitskevich, Demidovich, Kostyukovich(mind from Konstantin), Grinkevich(mind from Gregory), Shinkevich(claimed by Shimko"Semyon") Urbanovich, Yaskevich (Yas mind. form from Jacob), Yakimovich, Radkevich(from Rodion), Leonovich, Sinkevich(distorted Senka ← Semyon), Grinevich(from Gregory), Martinovich, Maksimovich, Mikhalevich, Aleksandrovich, Yanushkevich, Antonovich, Filipovich, Yakubovich, Levkovich, Ermakovich, Yatskevich(from Jacob), Tikhonovich, Kononovich, Stasevich(from Stanislav), Kondratovich, Mikhnevich(from Michael), Tishkevich(from Timothy), Ivashkevich, Zakharevich, Naumovich, Stefanovich, Ermolovich, Lavrinovich, Gritskevich(from Gregory), Yurevich, Aleshkevich, Parkhimovich(from Partheon), Petkevich(from Peter), Yanovich, Kurlovich(from Kirill), Protasevich, Sinkevich(from Semyon), Zinkevich(from Zinovy), Radevich(from Rodion), Grigorovich, Grishkevich, Lashkevich(from Galaction), Danilovich, Denisevich, Danilevich, Mankevich(from Emmanuel), Filippovich.

And only 12 come from other bases: Zhdanovich (Zhdan- pagan name) Korotkevich(from nickname Short), Kovalevich (farrier- blacksmith) Kuntsevich (Kunets- pagan name) Kazakevich, Gulevich (ghoul- Belarusian "ball", possibly the nickname of a fat person), Voronovich, Khatskevich(from Khotko- "to want, to desire"), Nekrashevich (Nekrash"Ugly" - a pagan name-amulet), Voitovich (Voight- village headman) Karankevich(from nickname Korenko), Skuratovich (skurat- Belor. vypetrashy would be skurat"faded like a piece of skin", perhaps the nickname of a nondescript person).

Surnames on -ovich/-evich distributed across the territory of Belarus unevenly. Their main range covers the Minsk and Grodno regions, northeast of Brest, southwest of Vitebsk, the region around Osipovich in Mogilev, and the territory to the west of Mozyr in Gomel. Here, up to 40% of the population belongs to surnames of this type, with the maximum concentration of carriers at the junction of Minsk, Brest and Grodno regions.

Surnames on -ich/-its, -inich

To stems ending in a vowel, patronymic suffix -ovich/-evich often added in an abbreviated form to -ich. The most common surnames of this type are: Akulich, Kuzmich, Khomich , Savic, Babich , Mikulich, Borodich, Ananich, Verenich, Minich.

This suffix is ​​sometimes found in an archaic expanded form on -inich: Savinich, Ilyinich, Kuzminich, Babinich, Petrinich. An expanded archaic form of surnames, easily confused with a truncated one added to female names on -ina: Arinich, Kulinich, Marinich, Katerinich.

Sometimes, especially if the stem of the surname ends in -ka, suffix -ich in the Belarusian tradition is replaced by -its. Examples: Konchits, Kazyuchits, Savchits, Vodchits, Mamchits, Steshits, Aksyuchits, Kamchits, Akinchits, Golovchits.

Belorusov with surnames starting with -ich about 145,000 people, suffix -its is much rarer and covers only about 30,000 carriers.

Surnames on -sky/-sky

This type of surname covers up to 10% of Belarusians and is distributed throughout the country, with the highest concentration in the Grodno region (up to 25%) with a gradual decrease to the east. But in a minimum number of 5-7% of the inhabitants, such surnames are represented in Belarus in any locality.

Surnames of this type are native to a vast cultural area, they are typical of the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish languages. Suffix -sk- (-sky/-sky listen)) is Common Slavic in origin. However, such surnames were originally among the Polish aristocracy, and were formed, as a rule, from the names of estates. This origin gave surnames social prestige, as a result of which this suffix spread to other social strata, eventually establishing itself as a predominantly Polish suffix. As a result, first in Poland, then in Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, which were part of the Commonwealth, the suffix -sky/-sky also spread in the lower social strata and different ethnic groups. This explains its popularity among Belarusians as well. Family Prestige -sky / -sky, which were considered Polish and gentry, was so high that this word-formation type also spread to patronymic surnames. For example, someone Milko became Milkovsky, Kernoga - Kernozhitsky, A Skorubo - Skorubsky. In Belarus and Ukraine, among the magnates Vishnevetsky, Pototsky part of their former peasants received the names of their owners - Vishnevetsky, Pototsky. A large number of surnames -sky/-sky in Belarus it does not have a toponymic basis; these suffixes often formed ordinary peasant names.

However, it can be seen with the naked eye that the bases of surnames on -sky/-sky other than those of other types of surnames. So out of the 100 most common surnames on -sky/-sky baptismal names underlie the 13; at the heart of 36 objects of flora and fauna; based on 25 relief features.

The most common Belarusian surnames in -sky/-sky: Kozlovsky, Savitsky, Vasilevsky, Baranovsky, Zhukovsky, Novitsky, Sokolovsky, Kovalevsky, Petrovsky, Chernyavsky, Romanovsky, Malinovsky, Sadovsky, Pavlovsky, Dubrovsky, Vysotsky, Krasovsky, Belsky, Lisovsky, Kuchinsky, Shpakovsky, Kaminsky, Yankovsky, Belyavsky, Sobolevsky, Lapitsky, Rusetsky, Ostrovsky, Mikhailovsky, Vishnevsky, Verbitsky, Zhuravsky, Yakubovsky, Shidlovsky, Vrublevsky, Zavadsky, Shumsky(this is how the surname of the boyars was distorted in ON Shuisky), Sosnovsky, Orlovsky, Dubovsky, Lipsky, Gursky, Kalinovsky, Smolsky, Ivanovsky, Pashkovsky, Maslovsky, Lazovsky, Barkovsky, Drobyshevsky, Borovsky, Metelsky, Zaretsky, Shimansky, Tsybulsky, Krivitsky, Zhilinsky, Kunitsky, Vitkovsky, Lipnitsky, Markovsky, Tchaikovsky, Bychkovsky, Selitsky, Sinyavsky, Glinsky, Khmelevsky, Rudkovsky, Makovsky, Mayevsky, Kuzmitsky, Dobrovolsky, Zakrevsky, Leshchinsky, Levitsky, Berezovsky, Osmolovsky, Kulikovsky, Yezersky, Zubritsky, Gorbachevsky, Babitsky, Shpilevsky, Yablonsky, Kolosovsky, Kamarovsky, Gribovsky, Rutkovsky, Zagorsky, Khmelnitsky, Pekarsky, Poplavsky, Krupsky, Rudnitsky, Sikorsky, Bykovsky, Shablovsky, Alshevsky, Polyansky, Sinitsky.

With regard to the gentry surnames on -sky/-sky, there is such a peasant story, full of sarcasm:

Where did the gentlemen come from? When God decided to create people, he fashioned them from dough, a man from rye, so he turned out black and tasteless, and pan from wheat, so he came out lush and fragrant. He fashioned, it means the god of the pan and the peasant, and put them to dry in the sun. At that time, a dog ran by, sniffed the peasant and turned his face away, sniffed the pan, licked his lips and ate it. God was very angry, grabbed the dog by the tail and let it "Pyarestsіts ab chym papal"(beat on anything). God beats the dog, and the eaten pan flies out of the mouth in pieces and where the spewed piece falls, such a pan grows there. Falls under a willow - pans will become Verbitsky, will fall under the pine Sosnovskiye, under the aspen Osinsky. A piece will fly across the river, here's your gentlemen Zaretsky, will fall in the meadow Polyansky, under the mountain Podgorskie. "Adtul and paishl pany"(From there the pans went).

Almost all surnames -sky/-sky are listed in the armorials of the Commonwealth. The history of many families originates in ancient times, for example Belsky are descended from Gediminas, A Glinsky from Mom, I etc. The remaining families, although less noble and ancient, also left their mark on history. For example, there were five gentry families with the surname Kozlovsky , various origins with coats of arms hawk , fox , Vezhi, Slepovron And Horseshoe. Almost the same can be said about the nobility of surnames in -ovich/-evich. For example, two noble families are known Klimovichi emblems Yasenchik And Kostesha, and two kinds Makarevich emblems fox And Samson. However, closer to the beginning of the 20th century, surnames largely lost their class coloring.

Pan Podlovchiy was from somewhere in the Grodno region and came, as he himself said, from an old noble family. The local population considered him a Pole, but Pan Podlovchi himself did not agree with this. "I am Litvin", - pan podlovchiy declared with some pride, and he proved his belonging to the Litvins, among other things, by the fact that his surname - Barankevich- ended in "ich", while purely Polish surnames end in "sky": Zhulavsky, Dombrovsky, Galonsky.

original text(Belarusian)

Pan bastards were born here from Grodzenshchyny and pakhodzіў, like yon kazaў himself, from an old Dvaran family. Tuteyshae zhyharstvo lychyla yago palyaks, the lady herself bastards with this do not hesitate. “I am a lіtsvin”, - with some pride, I designate pan padloўchy, and I’m piled up and lizvіnaў davodzіў, the memory of others, and tym, which I have nicknamed - Barankevich - mela kanchatak on “ich”, then yak pure Polish prozvіshch s canchayuzza on "skі" : Zhulaўskі, Dambrowski, Galonski.

Surnames on -enko

Almost all the most common Belarusian surnames in -enko in the Russified record are absolutely indistinguishable from the Ukrainian ones: Kravchenko, Kovalenko, Bondarenko, Marchenko, Sidorenko, Savchenko, Shevchenko, Borisenko, Makarenko, Gavrilenko, Yurchenko, Timoshenko, Romanenko, Vasilenko, Prokopenko, Naumenko, Kondratenko, Tarasenko, Moiseenko, Ermolenko, Zakharenko, Ignatenko, Nikitenko, Karpenko, Tereshchenko, Maksimenko, Alekseenko, Potapenko, Denisenko, Grishchenko, Vlasenko, Astapenko(in Ukraine Ostapenko), Rudenko, Antonenko, Danilenko, Tkachenko, Prokhorenko, Davydenko, Stepanenko, Nazarenko, Gerasimenko, Fedorenko, Nesterenko, Osipenko, Klimenko, Parkhomenko, Kuzmenko, Petrenko, Martynenko, Radchenko, Avramenko, Leshchenko, Pavlyuchenko, Lysenko, Kukharenko, Demidenko, Artemenko, Isachenko, Efimenko, Kostyuchenko, Nikolaenko, Afanasenko, Pavlenko, Anishchenko(in Ukraine Onishchenko), Malashenko, Leonenko, Khomchenko, Pilipenko, Levchenko, Matveenko, Sergeenko, Mishchenko, Filipenko, Goncharenko, Evseenko, Sviridenko(exclusively Belarusian surname), Semchenko, Ivanenko, Yanchenko(also Belarusian) Lazarenko, Gaponenko, Tishchenko, Lukyanenko, Soldatenko, Yakovenko, Kazachenko, Kirilenko, Larchenko, Yashchenko, Antipenko, Isaenko, Doroshenko, Fedosenko, Yakimenko, Melnichenko, Atroshchenko, Demchenko, Savenko, Moskalenko, Azarenka.

As can be seen from the list, the basis for the vast majority of surnames on -enko, baptismal names and nicknames from professions served.

Surnames on -yonok/-onok

This form of surnames is associated only with Belarus, although the range of surnames of this type extends into the southern regions of the Pskov region of Russia. Belarusians with such surnames are only about a percent. More or less widely, this form has been preserved among the population of the western part of the Vitebsk region and a little in the adjacent areas of Minsk.

The most common surnames in -yonok/-onok: Kovalyonok, Borisenok, Savenok / Savyonok, Kazachenok, Klimenok / Klimenok, Kleshchenok, Rudenok / Rudenok, Laptenok, Kuzmenok, Lobanok, Kinglet, Vasilyonok, Astashonok, Azarenok, Luchenok, Gerasimyonok, Zuyonok, Mikhalyonok, Kukharenok, Kruchenok, Kurilyonok, Peacock, Kravchenok, Goncharyonok, Fomenok, Khomenok, Zubchenok, Zaboronok, Lysyonok, Strelchenok.

In fact, there are two hard-to-distinguish suffixes in Belarus - these are -yonok/-onok with stress on the penultimate syllable (Belor. Kavalyonak, Barysenak), characteristic of the Vitebsk region, and the suffix -enok/-yanok with stress on the last syllable Savyanok, Klimyanok). The latter form belongs to the south-east of the Gomel region, entering the Chernihiv region of Ukraine and the Bryansk region.

Surnames on -ko

Such surnames are found throughout Belarus, with the highest concentration in Grodno Oblast. The total number of carriers of surnames of this type is about 800,000 people. Basically the suffix -ko- this is a Polonized version of the old Russian common diminutive suffix -ka. This suffix can be added to virtually any stem, name [ Vasil - Vasilko(Belarusian Vasilka)], human features ( Deaf - Glushko), professions ( Koval - Kovalko), the name of animals and objects ( wolf - Volchko, deja - Dezhko), from the adjective "green" - Zelenko(belor. Zelenka), from the verb "come" - Prikhodko (belor. Prykhodzka), etc.

The most common surnames in -ko: Murashko, Boyko, Gromyko, Prikhodko, Meleshko, Loiko, Senko, Sushko, Velichko, Volodko, Dudko, Semashko, Daineko, Tsvirko, Tereshko, Savko, Manko, Lomako, Shishko, Budko, Sanko, Soroko, Bobko, Butko, Ladutko, Goroshko, Zelenko, Belko, Zenko, Rudko, Golovko, Bozhko, Tsalko, Mozheiko, Lapko, Ivashko, Nalivaiko, Sechko, Khimko, Sharko, Khotko, Zmushko, Grinko, Boreiko, Popko, Doroshko, Astreiko, Skripko, Aleshko, Zaiko, Voronko, Sytko, Buyko, Baby, Chamomile, Chaiko, Tsybulko, Radish, Vasko, Sheiko, Malyavko, Gunko, Minko, Sheshko, Shibko, Zubko, Milk, Busko, Klochko, Kuchko, Klimko, Shimko, Rozhko, Shevko, Lepeshko, Zanko, Zhilko, Burko, Shamko, Malyshko, Kudelko, Tolochko, Galushko, Shchurko, Cherepko, Krutko, Snitko, Pin, Turko, Nareiko, Serko, Yushko, Shirko, Oreshko, Latushko, Chuiko, Grishko, Shkurko, Vladyko, Shibeko.

Some surnames of this type represent single words on their own - Murashko("ant"), Tsvirko("cricket"), soroko etc.

Some surnames ending in -eyko(lit. -eika), are Lithuanian in origin: Mozheiko(lit. Mažeika ← mãžas "small, small"), Nareiko(lit. Nareikà ← norėti, nóras "want, desire"), Boreyko(lit. Bareikà ← barejas "to reproach, scold"), etc.

Suffix -ko- is under stress in polysyllabic surnames; in other cases it is unstressed and in Belarusian orthography it is written then as -ka. Many surnames in -ko in Russified notation it is impossible to distinguish from Ukrainian surnames with the same suffix.

Surnames on -OK

Another characteristic type of surnames, rare, but characteristic of Belarusians (although sometimes such surnames can be found among Ukrainians). The most common surnames in -OK: Top, Popok, God, Checker, Gypsy, Zubok, Zholtok, Babok / Bobok, Titok, Cockerel, Sheaves, Turk, Zhdanok, Shrubok, Pozhitok.

Surnames on -enya

Surnames on -enya peculiar only to Belarusians (although this suffix is ​​found in Ukrainian, it is typical for Belarusian surnames). Surnames of this type are not frequent, although in the center of their distribution (southwest of the Minsk region) they cover up to 10% of the inhabitants. Interestingly, to the north and east of their range, surnames on -enya did not spread, but in the north of the Brest and Grodno regions, these surnames are noted in isolated cases. In total, there are 381 surnames of this type in Belarus with a total number of carriers of 68,984 people.

There are cases of transformation of surnames into -enya, with suffix change -enya on -enko: Denisenya - Denisenko, Maksimenya - Maksimenko etc.

The most common surnames in -enya: Protasenya, Rudenya, Kravchenya, Serchenya, Kondratenya, Yasyuchenya, Sergienya, Mikhalenya, Strelchenya, Sushchenya, Gerasimenya, Kienya, Deshchenya, Prokopenya, Shcherbachenya, Kovalenya, Varvashenya, Filipenya, Yurenya, Yaroshenya, Nikolaenya, Kruglenya, Artsimenya, Amelchenya, Khanenya.

Surnames on -uk / -uk, -chuk

Surnames of Baltic origin

Among the surnames of the modern Belarusian area, a layer of Baltisms stands out, which is due to deep and long-term contacts of Belarusians with the Baltic peoples, primarily Lithuanian. Nicknames of Baltic origin are noted mainly on the territory of the Balto-Slavic borderlands, however, they are also recorded far beyond its borders, in particular, in the central and eastern parts of Belarus.

see also

Notes

1. According to the "Census of the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania" in 1528, naming for -ovich/-evich added up 83.46%. This led to the widespread use of forms on -ovich/-evich in the formation of Belarusian surnames. Surnames on -sky/-sky, formed from the names of the area, prevailed in the southwest (about 80%), which is associated with the influence of the Polish anthroponymic system. Formant in different territories -ich covered from 80% to 97% of names. The absence of social restrictions in its use ensured the high performance of this suffix throughout the entire period of the 15th-18th centuries. The anthroponymic materials of the Belarusian Polissya of the 16th century demonstrate totality, solidity in its use, which unites them with the anthroponymy of the Ukrainian Polissya, as well as with the Serbian and Croatian ones. In the X-XIII centuries, naming -sky were strictly regulated by the social affiliation of the named and were formed from the name of the inheritance or property of the prince. In ancient Russian monuments, the names for -sky covered 5%. Gradually, their share grew. This limitation was preserved in the Russian language in the 16th-17th centuries. While since the 17th century their number in Belarusian sources has increased dramatically due to a decrease in patronymic names by -ich due to the influence of the Polish language.
2. Surnames on -ich there is also in Ukrainian anthroponymy. Such surnames are distributed mainly in the north-west of Ukraine, as well as in a special ethnographic region - Transcarpathia, in which they make up 9.7% ( -ich - 6,4 %, -ovich - 2,7 %, -evich- 0.6%); in some villages surnames on -ovich make up to 5%, and in the middle of the 16th and in the 17th century in Transcarpathia they reached 40%, and in some places up to 50% ( Dukhnovich, Sandovich). Poles have surnames -ich were common among urban residents, in Lodz they were even 20%, but in Poland as a whole - less than 5%. Surnames of this type are common among Montenegrins and Bosnians, among Croats they are up to 70%, among Slovenes 14.5% (Slovenian Vidovič, Janžekovič). Slovaks have some surnames of this form, but are rare among Czechs, although they were common in the Old Czech language (Czech Vítkovic, Vilamovic). The original Slovak and Czech was the suffix -its, -ovits (-ic, -ovic) (cf. surnames: Slovak. Hruškovic, Krajčovic; Czech. Vondrovic, Kovařovic, Václavovic, Matějovic); some of these surnames under South Slavic influence have the suffix -its (-ic) moved to -ich (-ic) (cf. surnames: Slovak. Hruškovič, Krajčovič; Czech. Kovařovič, Václavovič). In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, it is difficult to distinguish between Slovak and Czech surnames of this type with Croatian and Serbian surnames that appeared after migrations. Among the Lusatian Serbs, anthroponyms also have the West Slavic form in -its (-ic) (d.-pud.-srp. Jakobic, Kubic, Jankojc ← Jankowic, Markojc ← Markowic). Bulgarians have surnames -ich had some distribution in the 19th century under Serbian influence ( Genovich, Dobrinovich, Knyazhevich), it was a fashionable phenomenon for some time, after which their productivity fell, in particular due to the Serbian-Bulgarian conflicts. Occurring Macedonian surnames on -ich (-u) also appeared under Serbian influence. West Slavic suffix -its (-ic), displaced in Polish surnames by East Slavic -ich (-icz), preserved in German ( -itz, -witz; cf. Clausewitz, Leibniz), where he penetrated from the Germanized Western Slavs. Slavic suffix -ic the Germans turned out to be very productive and began to form surnames from the German foundations (it. Wolteritz, Ettelwitz). In Russia, there are surnames on -ich-ev (Ganichev, Demichev), the spread of this model probably came from Belarus (in some places of their accumulation there were giving that the population came "from Lithuania" [Belarusian or Smolensk lands]). Surnames on -ich under Belarusian influence, they also firmly entered Lithuanian anthroponymy, for example, one of the most frequent Lithuanian surnames Stankevičius (lit. Stankevičius) goes back to the Belarusian surname Stankevich . Such surnames also gained some distribution among Latvians in Latgale [ Jurevics(Latvian. Jurevičs), Adamovichs(Latvian. Adamovičs) - Yurevich , Adamovich ]. However, in Lithuania, a significant part of the surnames on -ich also has Lithuanian roots [ Narushevičius(lit. Naruševičius) ← Narushevich(from lit. Narúšas, Narúš)]. Suffix -ich spread among other peoples who lived in the Belarusian environment (as well as in Ukrainian and Polish), therefore, Jews and Belarusian Tatars have surnames decorated with this suffix, are found among gypsies in Belarus, Armenians in Western Ukraine and Moldovans. Just as in Russia the suffix -ov/-ev entered the anthroponymy of many peoples. Surnames in these cases are indistinguishable at the end, however, the bases and roots of these surnames often have names characteristic of a particular nationality. For example, Jewish roots have surnames Rabinovich (rabin- rabbi) Izrailevich(on behalf of Israel), and Tatar - Akhmatovich(on behalf of Akhmat), Assanovich etc.
3. Suffix -ich, known (with phonetic variants) to all Slavic peoples, goes back to Proto-Slavic *-itjь(St.-Slav. -it [-ist], Rus. -ich, Serbian -ic [ -iћ], Polish. -ic), and its beginning corresponds to the period of the Balto-Slavic linguistic community (cf. lit. -ytis). First, he denoted ancestral or tribal ties (belonging / origin), and after - a descendant on the paternal side (the state of sonship, youth). Complex suffix *-ov-itje- developed in several Slavic languages ​​to express a patronymic or surname (cf. Rus. Petrovich, Croatian Petrovic). Moreover, the Slavic suffix *-ov-itje- represents an exact structural parallel to the West Baltic *-av-ītjo-(cm.:). Wed names of Slavic tribes: lyutichi, krivichi, radimichi, dregovichi, vyatichi, street and others. In the Russian language, a trace of the derivative of the suffix -ich: relative(cf. Polish. rodzic), relative, stepfather, grandfather(hereditary heir by grandfather), prince, prince(son of the king) prince(cf. Czech kralevic), Voevodich, Muscovite, Pskov(resident of Pskov) and other patronymics on -ich is in the ancient Russian chronicles: Pretich, governor (under 969); Alexander Popovich, governor (under 1001); Guryata Rogovich, Novgorodian (under 1096); Dobrynya Raguilovich, governor (under 1096), etc. The same in the Novgorod birch bark letters: Kulotinich, Dobrychevich, Onkovich, Yaroshevich, Stukovich; however, the suffix is ​​often -its, but not -ich, in accordance with the "clattering" dialect pronunciation: "Vodovikovits", "Vsevolodits", "Sinkinitsya", "plskovitsy", "Seeds of Shubinitsya". Wed also in epics - Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich, Mikula Selyaninovich, Churilo Plenkovich etc. Names of princely dynasties: Rurikovichi (Svyatoslavichi, Monomakhovichi), Gediminovichi, Přemyslidichi and others. It is worth noting that on the territory of the settlement of the Slavs there are names of localities on -ichi. They are most densely and expressively distributed in the Belarusian lands ( Baranovichi, Ivatsevichi, Gantsevichi) and in the north of Ukraine ( Belokorovichi, Zamyslovichi), gradually thinning, they go to the east ( Dedovichi in Russia). The Novgorod-Pskov area is also characterized by the suffix -ice (Treskovitsy, Russkovitsy). In general, names with a formant -ichi(West Slavic -ici, -icy, -ice), are found in all Slavic languages, and belong to archaic types. The lower chronological limit of their occurrence is attributed to the II-III centuries AD. e. and to an earlier time in the autochthonous Slavic lands, connecting with the period of formation of Slavic tribal territorial communities. In the west of the Slavs, they are especially frequent on the territory of Poland [ Katowice(Polish Katowice), Skierniewice], in the Czech Republic ( České Budějovice, Luhačovice) and on the lands of settlement of the upper and lower Lusatians in Germany ( Krauschwitz , Oderwitz), are less common in Slovakia ( Kosice). In the Slavic South, they are more common in Western Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
4. Poles have surnames -sky/-sky make up 35.6% (up to 50% in northern Poland). Eastern Ukrainians - 4-6%, Western - 12-16%. For Slovaks, they make up 10% ( Yesensky, Vayansky), for Czechs - 3% ( Dobrovsky , Palacky). The share of these surnames among Slovenes (Sloven. Pleterski, Ledinski), Croats ( Zrinski, Slyunsky), Serbs. Bulgarians have about 18% ( Levsky, Rakovsky). Among the Macedonians, surnames of this type cover half of the population. Lusatians also have them (v.-luzh. Kubas-Worklecanski, Grojlich-Bukecanski). Russians have surnames -sky/-sky belonged to special social groups: nobles (in imitation of princes and gentry), clergy (often from the names of churches and villages), from the 19th century - raznochintsy. Wed princely and boyar surnames - Shuisky , Vyazemsky , Kurbsky , Obolensky , Volkonsky ; surnames of the Russian clergy - Tsevnitsky, Speransky , Preobrazhensky , Pokrovsky . In the second half of the 19th century, they began to spread among the peasants, but they had very few such surnames. In the North of Russia, they are many times more common than in other regions. The highest frequency of surnames in Russia on -sky located in the northeast of the Vologda Oblast, where they cover 8-12% of the total rural population ( Voengsky, Edensky, Korelsky), while in the southwestern regions their number rarely exceeds 1%. For peasants, such surnames could also appear from their former owner, especially in the estates of large magnates. In the 20th century, aristocratic surnames could be found among Tula and Oryol collective farmers Trubetskoy , Obolensky and others. Thousands of Ukrainian peasants had such surnames as Kalinovsky, Olshansky, Pototsky and others. Originally Russian surnames on -sky later merged and were practically absorbed by similar Polish, Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames, such as Borkovsky, Tchaikovsky, Kovalevsky, Lozinsky, Tomashevsky. Lithuanian anthroponymy under Polish influence also included surnames with -sky / -sky. Wed The most common surnames in Lithuania: Kazlauskas (

A long history of the formation of Belarusian surnames.

History of Belarusian surnames inseparable from the pan-European political processes. The first generic names appeared among Belarusians in the XIV-XV centuries, when they were part of the multinational Principality of Lithuania. However, at that time they did not yet have stability. Until the 19th century, Belarusian surnames continued to form under the influence of the Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian languages. Naturally, while maintaining their national characteristics. The formation of Belarusian surnames most rapidly took place in the 18th-19th centuries, and they became legally fixed only in the 30s of the last century.

Originally Belarusian surnames.

Dictionary of Belarusian surnames shows a large number of surnames with the ending -ich. These are the original, ancient hereditary names of Belarusians. They began to appear even in the period of tribal relations and showed belonging to a certain genus. Bobichi came from the Bob clan, Dregovichi - Dregov. Surnames with -vich (Smolevich, Zhdanovich, Rodzevich) can also be attributed here. It's interesting that interpretation some Belarusian surnames allows you to determine belonging to a particular faith. For example, the owners of the surnames Petrovich, Demidovich, Vaitsyulevich were Christians. The surname Akhmatovich is based on a Muslim name, most likely, and the members of this family were Muslims. And the Jewish surnames Rubinovich, Rabinovich, Mavshovich can be easily separated from Belarusian, despite their Belarusian ending. Meaning many of these common Belarusian surnames corresponds to the name of the area where their first carriers were from - Kutsevich (from Kutsevichi), Popelevich (from Popelevichi). It is believed that the surnames that are traditionally perceived as Polish (Sienkiewicz, Mickiewicz, Kondratovich) actually have Belarusian roots.

Polish, Ukrainian and Russian influence.

The common Slavic educational suffixes -sk, -sky, -tsky were the first to use the Poles. However, Belarusians also have a lot of them, just look alphabetical list of belarusian surnames. Such surnames, being the privilege of the Polish aristocracy, were considered prestigious among Belarusians as well. "Aristocratic" surnames were usually associated with the names of the lands (Zaretsky, Ostrovsky, Pototsky), but over time, no one followed this rule. Milko was staged by Milkovsky, and Skorubo - by Skorubsky.

A lot of Belarusian surnames are formed following the example of Ukrainian ones and end in -ko. The basis for them was the baptismal names and the names of professions - Kukharenko, Artemenko, Soldatenko, Isaenko. A large part of Belarusian surnames has a Russian ending. They differ in terms of gender and decency such Belarusian surnames complies with the rules of Russian grammar. Surnames ending in -ov, -ev, -in are relatively new. They appeared among the Belarusians as a result of alteration of the original Belarusian surnames or were formed under Russian influence. So, Borisevich became Borisov, and Tsyareshchanok became Tereshchenko.

Top Belarusian surnames in addition to popularity, it also shows their great diversity.

29/09/12
what stupid sheep ... apparently they once heard Abramovich and Rabinovich .. and now they think that all people with such surnames are Jews ... surnames ending in "-vich2" -ich "are the traditional surnames of the Serbs, Croats, as well as Belarusians and Poles and sometimes other Slavs (except Russians).

scramasax, 29/09/12
Vich are Serbian and Belarusian surnames, but they can also be Jewish. As in the case of the above gentlemen.

29/09/12
Naumova Ekaterina the main thing is the root of the surname, not the ending. the ancestors of Abramovich and Berezovsky came from the Commonwealth, where surnames ending in -vich (Belarusian) and -ovsky (Polish) were common, which is why they called themselves - in the Slavic manner. I meant people who believe that ALL surnames with such an ending are Jewish. This is simply absurd.

VovaCelt, 29/09/12
During the Second World War, there was such a German field marshal - Manstein. Well, wow - just a double Jew! Both "man" and "matte" at the same time. Well, now seriously. The Jews are a specific people, "scattered" over many countries and even continents for two thousand years. And the Jews borrowed a lot from the peoples among whom they lived. From the same Germans, because there were many Jews in medieval Germany. And even the Jewish language "Yiddish" is a slightly "altered" German, that is, the language of German Jews, which has nothing in common with the original Jewish language "Hebrew", which is much closer to Arabic. And all these "vichis" are a "trace" from the once large Jewish diaspora in Eastern Europe. And this Slavic trace.

Maxwell1989, 30/09/12
2344 I think he said everything

Theodosius, 07/10/12
vich is a Slavic ending, it’s just that many Jews took Polish and Ukrainian surnames for themselves. So it’s not a fact. By the way, the famous Soviet symphonic composer Dmitry Shostakovich was a Belarusian. And what about the President of Ukraine Yanukovych and General Mladic, what do you say, Jews too?

xNevividimkax, 07/10/12
they are not Jewish but just HIV xDDDDDDD ahahahahah lol No offense, I just laugh xDDD

scandmetal, 08/01/16
Yes, this is bullshit. The Jews are a people scattered throughout the world, and in each country their surnames are formed "according to the language" of that country. Original Jewish surnames - such as Cohen, Levi, and maybe 10-12 more. But for example, Levin is not from our word "lion", but precisely from the position of a Levite, only for convenience stylized as Russian ("-in"). -Man, -Berg and -Stein are German-speaking surnames, and among Georgian Jews they end in -shvili. Vich is a South Slavic type of surname. And among them there are obviously non-Jewish.

Evlampy Incubatorovich, 09/01/16
Surnames ending in "vich" are not Jewish surnames. Jewish surnames end in "in" and "an". Maybe even like, but definitely not on "vich". By and large, I don’t care whether a Jew or a Russian, at this time all nations are the same, you can’t distinguish, but people differ only on religious grounds.

Field, 18/01/16
Yes, this is nonsense. Someone heard about Rabinovich and Abramovich and: “Aha, here they are Jews! Now I know them!” Only not quite like this: -ich or -ovich, -evich. Rabinovich says that the Jews passed through the Slavic countries. And the surnames are primarily Serbian, but the second is Polish. Serbs are Petrovich, Obradovic, Zivkovic, Milutinovic, Jorgovanovic, or according to a simpler model: Graic, Mladic. And the Poles are Tyshkevich, Senkevich, Stankevich, Yatskevich, Palkevich, Pavlyukevich, Lukashevich, Borovich, Urbanovich, Kurylovich. Well, Jews may have such surnames, but they are still Polish. As for Yanukovych, he doesn’t look like a Jew in any way :) Ukrov rarely, but there are Odarichi, Khristichi, Katerinichi. This is how we write them, but in fact Odarych, Khrystych, Katerynych. It sounds terrible, but that is precisely why it is necessary to write as it really is, if we are talking specifically about Ukrainians, and especially about the Shiry. So that all the ugliness of ukromov was in full view.

It has always occupied humanity. Each of us involuntarily thought about the history of our family tree and the meaning of the surname. Even a superficial historical and linguistic research in this area can lead to unexpected results. So, for example, the surname Khazanov can turn into Khazanovich, Khazanovsky or Khazanovuch by virtue of the location of a person. Depending on the ending, the nationality of the individual is judged, but this is not always an indicator. Khazanovich can be Russian, Belarusian, and Jewish.

Anthroponymy, a science that collects and studies the origin of proper names, will help to figure out who is who really. It helps to understand their belonging to a certain region, where and for what reasons they appeared. Belarusian surnames and their origin are very confused, since the invasions of Poles, Russians, Tatars and Lithuanians have influenced the lands of Belarus at all times.

The period of the appearance of the first surnames on the lands of Belarus

Belarusian surnames can contain a variety of roots and endings. Anthroponymic analysis shows that the culture of the country was greatly influenced by many individual states. They occupied the lands and established orders according to their ideas. One of the most significant influences is the power of the Principality of Lithuania. It made changes not only in the development of the language of Belarusians, but also began to call the noble estates by their family name.

Surnames began to appear at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century, their carriers were mostly boyars, people of high ranks. The name of the genus was influenced by the culture and language of other states. A great many roots and endings depend on the time period and the peoples ruling the Belarusian lands during this period.

Surnames of peasants and gentry class

With the family names of noble families, the situation was more or less stable and understandable. These included the most ancient and well-known Gromyko, Tyshkevich, Iodko or Khodkevich. Basically, the ending -vich / -ich was added to the base of the name, which indicated the noble and ancient origin of the family. The gentry class did not differ in constancy in the name of the house. The surname was taken by the name of the father or grandfather, for example, Bartosh Fedorovich or Olekhnovich. An interesting fact was the transfer of the names of estates and estates to the family estate. The peasants also received their hereditary names after the owners. For example, the surname Belyavsky arose due to the name of the estate. And the owners-boyars and peasants were called the same - Belyavsky. It could also happen that the family of serfs had several names. During this period, their surnames were of a sliding nature.

18th-19th century

At this time, the areas and differences in the names of both peasants and the noble class began to appear. More than half of the population had surnames ending in -ovich / -evich / -ich, for example, Petrovich, Sergeich, Mokhovich. The regions of these generic names were the central and western parts of the Belarusian lands. It was during this period of time that common proper names were formed, they are also considered the most ancient. For example, the surname Ivashkevich refers to the 18-19 centuries in its origin.

The name may have deep roots and have a direct connection with the nobility. Aleksandrovich - a surname that tells not only about belonging to a noble family, but also the name of the father of the house - Alexander, the generic name dates back to the 15th century.

Such interesting hereditary names as Burak or Nos have peasant roots. were not subjected to assimilation and addition of endings adopted during this period.

Russian influence

Russian surnames, usually ending in -ov, began to be worn by Belarusians due to the Russian invasion of the eastern lands of Belarus. A typically Moscow ending was added to the basics of names. So there were Ivanov, Kozlov, Novikov. Also, endings in -o were added, which is more typical for Ukrainians than Russians. For example, the wonderful surname Goncharenok turned into Goncharenko. The trend of such changes in the name of the genera is typical only for regions where the influence of Russians was observed - the east of the country.

Interesting and beautiful surnames of Belarus

The most interesting and unforgettable surnames of Belarusians came from the depths of centuries, which have not undergone changes and assimilation. Their origin is due to the rich imagination of the peasants. Very often, people named their genus in honor of weather phenomena, animals, insects, months of the year and human characteristics. The well-known surname Frost appeared just like that. The Nose, Windmill, March or Beetle can be attributed to the same category. These are typically Belarusian surnames, but they are quite rare.

Male names

It was interesting to designate a clan in the Belarusian lands, the basis of which were male surnames. By the name of the clan, it was possible to understand who is the father and who is the son. If it was a son, the ending -enok/-ik/-chik/-uk/-yuk was added to his name. In other words, for example, surnames starting with “ik” indicate that a person is the son of a noble family. These include Mironchik, Ivanchik, Vasilyuk, Aleksyuk. So purely masculine surnames appeared, talking about belonging to a particular clan.

If a simple family simply wanted to designate a child as the son of their father, then the ending -enya was used. For example, Vaselenia is the son of Vasil. Common surnames of this etymology date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. They began to appear a little later than the famous Radzevich, Smolenich or Tashkevich, related to

The most common hereditary names

Belarusian surnames differ from the general mass by the endings "vich", "ich", "ichi" and "ovich". These anthroponyms indicate ancient roots and primordially Belarusian origin, denoting the pedigree.

• Smolich - Smolich - Smolich.
• Yashkevich - Yashkevichi - Yashkovich.
• Zhdanovich - Zhdanovichi.
• Stojanovic - Stojanovici.
• Surname Petrovich - Petrovichi.

This is an example of well-known Belarusian generic names, the origin of which dates back to the early 15th century. Their consolidation took place already in the 18th century. The official recognition of these designations dates back to the end of the 19th century.

The second layer of names in terms of popularity and prevalence refers to surnames with the endings "ik", "chik", "uk", "yuk", "enok". These include:

• Artyamenok (everywhere).
• Yazepchik (everywhere).
• Mironchik (everywhere).
• Mikhalyuk (west of Belarus).

These surnames more often indicate that a person belongs to a noble or gentry family.

Russified and unusual surnames

The third layer of common surnames implies the endings "ov", "o". Most of them are located in the eastern part of the country. They are very similar to Russian surnames, but more often they have a Belarusian root and stem. For example, Panov, Kozlov, Popov - these can be both Belarusians and Russians.

Surnames ending in "in" also refer to the eastern part of the country and have a Russian echo. Muslims were attributed "in" to the basis of the name. So Khabibul became Khabibulin. This part of the country was strongly assimilated under the influence of Russians.

No less common are surnames derived from the names of villages, estates, animals, holidays, plants, months of the year. These include such beautiful and interesting surnames as:

• Kupala;
• Kalyada;
• Tit;
• Tambourine;
• March;
• Pear.

Surnames that describe the main distinguishing feature of a person and his entire family also have a significant distribution. For example, lazy people will be called Lyanutska, absent-minded and forgetful - Zabudzka.

Prevailing stereotypes and misunderstandings

Belarusian surnames, the list of which is diverse and rich in origin, are often confused with Jewish, Lithuanian and even Latvian ones. Many are sure that, for example, the surname Abramovich is purely Jewish. But this is not entirely true. At the time of the formation of anthroponyms on Belarusian lands, people bearing the names Abram or Khazan were added the ending -ovich or -ovichi. So Abramovichi and Khazanovichi came out. Often the root of the names was German or Jewish in nature. Assimilation took place in the early 14-15 centuries and became the basis of the family heritage of Belarus.

Another misconception is the opinion that -wich surnames come from Lithuanian or Polish roots. If we compare the anthroponyms of Latvia, Poland and Belarus, then it is impossible to find a similarity between them. There are no Senkeviches or Zhdanoviches either in Latvia or in Poland. These surnames are originally Belarusian. The Lithuanian principality and other states undoubtedly influenced the formation of generic names, but did not introduce their own, original names. It can also be said that many common surnames of Belarusians are very similar to Jewish ones.

The origin of surnames on the Belarusian land was formed over several centuries. It was an interesting and lively linguistic process. Now generic names have become a reflection of the rich and diverse history of Belarus. The multi-layered culture of the country, the development and formation of which was influenced by the Poles, Lithuanians, Tatars, Jews and Russians, can be clearly traced by the names of people. The final and official adoption of proper names on the territory of Belarus occurred only in the middle of the 19th century.