The etymology of the name in certain language- it is always a process of research, knowledge of not only a specific linguistic unit, but also the history of a whole people. Thanks to changes in its structure, one can judge the changes that have taken place in the social and political system. This article discusses the issue of the origin of Belarusian names, changes in their morphology and the modern view of this lexical category.

Belarusian names in different periods

Consider the main historical periods, which influenced the emergence of new sources of lexemes and ways of their formation:

• Until the 14th century:

Most of them have come down to us thanks to the written sources of the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which completely included the entire current territory of Belarus. Due to the religious component (the majority of the population were Orthodox Christians) and the established language (on the territory of the Grand Duchy, the Western Russian written language was considered at that time) at that time the names were borrowed from the Orthodox calendar.

This period is characterized by a double name: according to pagan (Slavic) and according to Orthodox custom. Note that in some formally Christian families this is still done. For example, they call a child an unusual fashionable name, but according to the canons of the Orthodox Church, his name is different: Senko (Semyon), Mikhailo (Mikhail), Fedko (Fedor).

Interestingly, there are many times fewer female Old Russian names than male ones. There are only a few independent of them, they were mainly formed from men. This situation is explained by the fact that the female population at that time had few rights and little participation in public life.

• XV-XVII century:

During this time period, the Lithuanian principality was united with the Kingdom of Poland, and Orthodoxy was gradually replaced by Catholicism, and the Western Russian dialect was replaced by Polish. Naming system on Belarusian language becomes more complicated: one more name is added to the previous two - now according to the Catholic canons. For example, "Athanasius" in Orthodox tradition looked like "Athanasius", in the Catholic - "Athanasius", among the people a person was called "Apanas / Panas".

• XX century:

In Soviet times, citizens supported the fashion for new unusual names: this is how a whole generation of Vladlens and Aktsyabryns appeared. The heroes of serials and popular films could be taken as a basis.

Today, in the passport of a citizen of Belarus, the full name is indicated immediately in two languages, and in ordinary life the majority refuses to use names of Belarusian origin and names their friends and relatives using its Russian counterpart. Not so long ago, a law was passed on the possibility of assigning a double name, but so far this is relevant only for a couple of regions on the border with Poland.

We present to you the most popular Belarusian names last decade:

• Vladislav;
• Nikita;
• Artem;
• Daniel;
• Alesya;
• Anna.

Features of Catholic, Orthodox, Slavic borrowings

1. The Catholic forms of names were greatly influenced by the Polish language, which was the official language of the Commonwealth.
2. The old Belarusian names were influenced by Russian, which became the main one in office work in the 16th century, some of them acquired Russified versions. Belarusian names were written in Russian quite often. The moment of formation is curious folk forms: for this, truncation or suffixes were used, for example, Konstantin - Kastus. The choice of a particular suffix depended on two factors - from social position and age named.
3. Slavic names on the basis of origin are divided into several groups: two-part (Svyatoslav), formed from participles (Nezhdan), names of gods (Veles), characteristic features (Brave). In the XIV century, nicknames and names that clearly reflect the nature of their bearer became the basis for the formation of surnames.

Eat whole list Belarusian names, in which it is customary to highlight them Slavic origin, is Love, Faith, Hope. In fact, these are duplicates of the Greek variants.

The meaning of Belarusian names is underestimated - these lexemes help to unravel the mysteries of the multitude historical events that took place several centuries ago, and to solve some of the global issues of world politics, based on the most valuable experience of hundreds of previous generations.

Oleg and Valentina Svetovid are mystics, experts in esotericism and occultism, authors of 14 books.

Here you can get advice on your problem, find useful information and buy our books.

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Belarusian names

Belarusian female names

Belarusian names belong to the group of East Slavic names, they are similar to Russian and Ukrainian names.

The modern Belarusian name book includes several groups of names:

Slavic names (Belarusian, Russian, Polish, etc.)

Names from the church calendar (associated with religious tradition)

European names.

In a modern Belarusian passport, the name, patronymic and surname are written in two languages. Belarusian and Russian names are replaced by the corresponding analogues: Mary – Maria, Victoria - Victoria.

Of the traditional Belarusian names, the most popular are the names Alesya, Alena And Yana.

The spelling of Belarusian names conveys the peculiarities of Belarusian pronunciation.

Belarusian alphabet uses the same characters as Russian, but there are differences:

To denote the sound "and" the letter is used і

Letter ў denotes a sound close to English w

Instead of solid mark' is used.

Belarusian female names

Agapa

Aglaida

Agniya

Agrypina

Adelaide

Akilina

Aksinnya

Alla

Alyona

Alesya

Alimpiyada

Alina

Alice

Albina

Alzhbeta

Alexandra

Anastasia

Angelina

Angela

Anzhelika

Anissia

Anna

Antanina

Anthony

Anfisa

Aryyadna

Augustine

augusta

Augustine

Audience

Bagdan

Balyaslava

Barbara

Branislava

Valery

Valiantsina

Wanda

barbarian

Vasilina

Vasilisa

Faith

Veranika

Viktaryn

Victoria

Vialeta

Volga

Vuliana

Galina

Ganna

Gardzislava

Helena

Glafira

Glyceria

Grazhyna

Grypina

Daminika

Danuta

Darafeya

Dar "I

Dziana

Blast furnace

Elizabeth

Evdakia

Eupraxia

Euphrasinnia

Jean

Zinaida

Zinovia

Iryna

Kazimir

Kaleria

Camila

Kanstantsia

Karalina

Katsyaryna

Kira

Clara

Claudzia

Kryscina

Xenia

Larysa

Lidzia

Lina

Looker "I

Any

Ludvika

Lyudmila

Magda

Magdalena

Makryna

Malanya

Margaryta

Markela

Martha

Marcina

Maryna

Mary

Mar "yana

Matron

Maura

Melentina

Mechyslava

Miraslava

Mikhalina

Nastassia

Natallia

Nika

Nina

Nona

Palina

Paraskeva

Paula

paulina

Pelagia

Praskoya

Pruzyn

Pulcheria

Ragneda

glad

Radaslava

Raina

Raisa

Ruja

Ruzhana

Rufina

Safiya

Svyatlana

Seraphim

Stanislav

Stephania

Suzana

Scyapanida

Tadora

Taisiya

Tamara

Tazzyana

Teklya

Teresa

Uladzislava

Ulyana

Austin

Faina

Facinnia

Flaryyan

Fyadora

Fyadossia

Fiaronnya

Kharytsina

Hvyador

Hvyadossya

Khrystsina

Yadviga

Janina

Yarmila

Yaўgeniya

Yalampiya

Yaўhimiya

Traditional Belarusian female names

Alesya- forest, protector

Alyona- beautiful, torch

Aryn- peaceful

Lesya- forest, protector

Olesya– forest

Ulada

Yana- grace of God

Yarina- sunny, fierce

Yarina- peaceful

Our new book "The Energy of Surnames"

The book "The Energy of the Name"

Oleg and Valentina Svetovid

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Belarusian names. Belarusian female names

Love spell and its consequences - www.privorotway.ru

Also our blogs:

Surnames Slavic peoples basically similar to each other lexical composition root. The difference can be a change in the ending or suffix. The history of origin on the territory of modern Belarus is peculiar and interesting. Learn how to distinguish a person with Belarusian roots.

Belarusian names and surnames

Belarus belongs to the group of Slavic peoples, whose ancient ancestral roots are closely intertwined. The neighboring states of Belarus had a great influence on family formations. Representatives of Ukrainian, Russian, Lithuanian, Polish communities mixed their ancestral path, creating families. Belarusian names are not much different from other East Slavic ones. Common names: Olesya, Alesya, Yana, Oksana, Alena, Vasil, Andrey, Ostap, Taras. More detailed list, sorted alphabetically, can be found in any dictionary.

Belarusian "nicknames" were formed by using a certain ending or suffix. Among the population, one can find derivatives from the Russian direction (Petrov - Petrovich), Ukrainian (Shmatko - Shmatkevich), Muslim (Akhmet - Akhmatovich), Jewish (Adam - Adamovich). The names have changed over the centuries. The sound that has come down to our days could take different forms several centuries ago (Gonchar - Goncharenko - Goncharenok).

Belarusian surnames - endings

Modern endings of Belarusian surnames can be different, it all depends on the roots of origin from which they had to be formed. Here is a list of the most recognizable Belarusian surnames ending in:

• -evich, -ovich, -ivich, -lich (Savinich, Yashkevich, Karpovich, Smolich);
• based on Russian -ov, -ev (Oreshnikov - Areshnikov, Ryabkov - Rabkov);
• -sky, -sky (Neizvitsky, Tsybulsky, Polyansky);
• -enok, -onok (Kovalenok, Zaboronok, Savenok);
• -ko consonant with Ukrainian (Popko, Vasko, Voronko, Shchurko);
• -ok (Snopok, Zhdanok, Volchok);
• -enya (Kravchenya, Kovalenya, Deshchenya);
• -uk, -yuk (Abramchuk, Martynyuk);
• -ik (Yakimchik, Novik, Emelyanchik);
• -ets (Borisovets, Malets).

Declination of Belarusian surnames

The possible declension of Belarusian surnames depends on the ending. In most cases, according to the rules for writing the used case, the last letters will change:

• Remizovich: in the male version it will change (the absence of Taras Remizovich), in the female version it will remain the same (absence of Anna Remizovich).
• Music - no Music.
• With the ending -o remains unchanged (Golovko, Shevchenko).

Origin of Belarusian surnames

The very first ancient family changes among Belarusians began to appear among wealthy representatives of the nobility and merchant family in the 14th-15th century. The serfs belonging to one or another house, which they served, wore the same common noun "nicknames". Boyar Kozlovsky, all the peasants were called Kozlovsky: this meant that they serve and are related to one owner.

The ending -ich indicated a noble origin (Toganovich, Khodkevich). The origin of Belarusian surnames was greatly influenced by the name of the area where the people lived (the village of Berezy - Berezovsky), who at that time had the dominant power on the territory of modern Belarus. A derivative on behalf of the father could give a chain to the whole subsequent generation - AleksandrOvich, Vasilevsky.

Official statistics of the registry offices of the Republic of Belarus, reliable analytics, ranked lists of the most popular names, rare names("piece", "unique") - all the latest materials on this topic.

Fundamental reference books on Belarusian names:

1) Personal names / Asabovya names (see "Russian-Belarusian Dictionary")// Minsk, Narodnaya Asveta, 1990, 224 p., ISBN 5-341-00474-4. The author of the dictionary is Grabchikov Stepan Mitrofanovich. A brief parallel dictionary of personal names and patronymics (in Russian and Belarusian writing) is given at the end of the book (pp. 216-223). See in pdf format, 5 pages, 3 Mb .

2) "Sloўnіk аsabovyh ulаsіnіn" ("Dictionary of personal proper names")// Minsk: Literature and Mastatstva, 2011, 240 pages, ISBN 978-985-6941-10-1 // author Ustinovich Anna Konstantinovna (Ustsinovich Anna Kanstantsina), candidate of philological sciences; scientific editor of the book - Alexander Aleksandrovich Lukashanets, Doctor of Philology, Professor, Corresponding Member. of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus // text in pdf format, the file "weighs" 40 Mb

3) "Belarusian Antrapanimia" ("Belarusian Anthroponymy"), V three volumes, in Belarusian. Author - Biryla Mikalai Vasilevich (Birillo Nikolai Vasilyevich, 1923-1992), linguist, Doctor of Philology, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, worked at the Yakub Kolas Institute of Linguistics:

Volume 1 (Proper names, nicknames, patronymics, surnames), Minsk: Navuka i tehnika, 1966 // see text pdf, 328 p., 9 Mb

Volume 3 The structure of classy male names ( Structure of proper male names), Minsk: Science and Technology, 1982 // see text in pdf format, 320 pages, 7 Mb, text in DjVu format, 9 Mb

Textbooks on Belarusian onomastics and anthroponymy for universities:

1) "Belarusian Antrapanimia" ("Belarusian Anthroponymy")// authors: G. M. Mezenka, G. M. Dzeravyaga, V. M. Lyashkevich, G. K. Semyankova (Department of Belarusian Linguistics). Tutorial for students of philology, edition of the Vitebsk State. University named after P.M. Masherova, 2009, 254 pages, ISBN 978-985-517-127-0 // at the end of the book is a "Glossary of terms onomastics" (A short dictionary of anamastic terms) // text in pdf format, 2 Mb

2) "Razmoўna-everyday forms of male asabovy names of Brestchyna" ("Conversational forms of male personal names of the Brest region")// author Shumskaya I. A. // zb. article "Belarusian anamastyka", Yakub Kolas Institute of Educational Studies, ed.: Biryla M. V., Lemtsyugova V. P. Minsk, "Science and Technology", 1985, pp. 5-25 // text in pdf format, 2 Mb

3) " Belarusian regional names: Belarusian anthrapanimics and tapanimics". A guide for mentors ("Belarusian personal names: Belarusian anthroponyms and toponyms". Manual for teachers)// author Vasil Vasilievich Shur, Doctor of Philology, Head. cafe Belarusian Linguistics, Mozyr State. ped. un-t im. I.P. Shamyakina // Minsk, “Mastatskaya Litaratura”, 1998, 239 pages, ISBN 985-02-0164-9 // text in pdf format, 2 Mb

Correspondence of names in Russian and Belarusian languages

(in Belarusian Cyrillic / Cyrillic and Belarusian Latin / Belarusian Latin, Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin alphabet - Latin)find here:

Belarusian-Russian sloўnik of Belarusian asabovyh names on "Akademik" http://dic.academic.ru/

Russian-Belarusian online dictionary "Skarnik" http://www.skarnik.by/names (here are two examples of presenting information on Skarnik): 1) Ekaterina (in Russian), Katsyaryna (pa-Belarusian), Kaciaryna, Kasia (Belarusian latin), (size Katsia, Kasia, Katra; Greek) - pure. Name zhanochae, 2) Boleslav (in Russian), Balyaslav (in Belarusian), Balasłaўǔ (Belarusian Latin)(meaning Boles; slav.) - pain of glory for others. The name is male.

- Slutsk namesaker(in Russian and Belarusian). See on the site "Heritage of the Slutsk region"

- "Belarusian Names"(Dapamozhnik for young fathers), author Simon Barys // this dictionary is interesting in that each name - 506 male and 234 female - is given both in Belarusian Cyrillic and in Belarusian Latin // posted on the website http://knihi.com/ "Belarusian stick. Al electronic library»

On the transliteration of Belarusian names in Latin letters (instruction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs),

Belarusian virtual keyboard on-line (several options):

What were the old names?

1) What names were popular with our ancestors 100 years ago? // An article in the newspaper “Astravetskaya Pravda” dated April 27, 2013, which analyzes list of parishioners of the Catholic Church in the village. Svir near Minsk, compiled in 1909// (in Belarusian)

2) "List of male and female names dissimilar to the names of the Russian language "(1845) P. Shpileuskaga ў Historical Belarusian anamastics// Prygodzich M.R., Prygodzich A.A. (Prigodich Nikolay Grigoryevich, Prigodich Elena Alexandrovna, Faculty of Philology, Belarusian State University) // article in the book "Collection of Materials of the International Scientific Conference "Dyyalectalology and history of the Belarusian language", pp. 28-31, Publishing House of Law and Economics, Minsk, 2008 // see text in pdf format, 4 p .

3) "Asabov's show", i.e. list of names in a book about the uprising of 1863-1864, posted on pp. 471-490:Collection of documents "Pasts of 1863-1864 in Vitebsk, Magileus and Minsk provinces: documents and materials of the National Historical Archive of Belarus"/ stacker cand. gіstar. scienceDzmitry Chaslavavich Matveychyk; National Historical Archives of Belarus, 2014, 542 pages // ISBN 978-985-709203-1 // .

4) "Named pakazalnik"(list of names) in the collection of articles about Adam Mickiewicz (on pp. 295-313): "Adam Mickiewicz and Belarus" // National Center named after F. Skaryna, Polish Institute near Minsk, Belarus Cultural Fund // athoarder Valiantsina Gryshkevich, science editors Maldzis Adam (Belarus), Nyagodzish Tomasz (Poland),Minsk, 1997, 320 p. // see text in pdf format, 23 p .

5) "Names in Belarusian history"on the site about world history http://www.istmira.com/

6) "Kryўska-Belarusian name". This article was published in the journal Kryvich (1923, No. 6, pp. 34-43), which was published in Kaunas (Lithuania) in those years. Author - Vaclav Lastovsky (Vlast), Belarusian writer, historian, philosopher (1883-1938). Aўtar zmyashchae vyalіkuyu table of zmenаў kryvіtskіkh іmenаў (іmennik) // see the original text in pdf format, 2 Mb, 15 pages; also in the blog "Ethnagraph ia Blarus" /// Note: In ancient times, representatives of the East Slavic tribes were called Krivichi, whose descendants are modern Belarusians (see https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryvіchy)

Belarusian folk calendar

Gives a good idea of ​​whatin what form did most Christian names come into life in ancient times common man, Belarusian peasant:

1) "Belarusian national calendar". Autar-packer Ales Lozka, Minsk, “Polymya”, 1993, 184 pages // Electronic version - on the site " Belarusian Internet Library" ( Camunikat.org), 2010

2) "Belarusian national calendar". Aўtar Vasilevich Uladzimir Aliaksandravich// in the collection "Paeziya of the Belarusian earth-working calendar" (pp. 554-612), Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, Institute of Arts, Ethnagraphy and Folklore, Minsk, 1992 //see in pdf format, 16 Mb, 66 pages, and also on the website"History of Belarus in the IX-XVIII centuries. Pershakrinitsy ". About the author .

Materials about the names of other Slavic peoples

About the names of Ukrainians;

As for Russian names, most sections of this site are devoted to them.

The site "Thousand Names" has a place for alternative (unusual, very controversial, but fascinating) points of view on the history of Belarusian names:

1) "Proper names in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania". Victor Veras, see a large article on the site http://veras.jivebelarus.net/ ("At the origins of historical truth")

Church calendars (saints). Saints' names. Cross names. name day

Belarusian Orthodox Church / Belarusian Orthodox Church

First, one important note: The BOC is a division of the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of the Republic of Belarus and has the statusexarchate. Its official name is "Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate" (official name - Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate). And this means that the saints (church calendar) and all the saints at Orthodox people Russia and the Republic of Belarus are the same.Here is a selection of the most interesting materials on the chosen topic:

1) Alphabetical list of Orthodox saints in Belarusian(“Zvod imenaў saints, yakіya shanuyutsa Pravaslavnai Tsarkovoy”), see male names, female names.

2) Orthodox saints in Belarusian(Belarusian pravoslauny tsarist calendar: “Months, Saints, Imeninny calendar), .

4) How to choose a name for a child at baptism. ArticlePriest Alexander Bogdan(Grodno diocese of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Volkovysk), .

5) IN general list Orthodox saints a separate place is occupied by Belarusian saints.Cathedral of Belarusian Saints(the word "cathedral" in this case is derived from collect, assembly, and has the meaning list, list) is presented on the website of the pilgrimage department of the Belarusian Orthodox Churchhttp://piligrim.by/ , in the Orthodox online encyclopedia "Tree" https://drevo-info.ru/ , on the website of the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Minsk http://sppsobor.by/ and Wikipedia http://www.wikiwand.com/be-x-old/Cathedral_of_Belarusian_Saints . Each saint has his own day of remembrance, and on the 3rd Week after Pentecost, the celebration of all the saints of this Council at once is celebrated annually (a rolling celebration with a "floating" date).

6) Other materials related to choosing a name for baptism are given in a special section of this site called Cross name, name day.

Roman Catholic Church in Belarus

1) To start - small article "How many saints are there in the Catholic Church?" on the site www.katolik.ru

2) Why did abavyazkov choose the name of saints? See the answer on the site Catholicnews.by (online version of the newspaper Vіtsebskaya Dyatsezіі “Katalytski Vesnik”).

3) How choose the day of the Angel, if the calendar does not have the name you wear?(see on the website of the newspaper "Slova Zhytsya", May 1, 2016, by the way, All Saints' Day is celebrated on November 1)

4) Names for skin day. Kalyandar of Ryma-Katalytskaya Church(uh that birthday calendar is published annually on the website of the Slova Zhytsya newspaper,its publisher is the Grodno diocese of the Roman Catholic Church),

5) Catholic saints- list of Catholic saints on Wikipedia, in Belarusian

6) Saints - list to the saints on the site Catholic. by (Ryma-Katalytsky Kastsel near Belarus), in Belarusian http://catholic.by/2/liturgy/saints.html

7) How to choose the name of the person + catalic calendar of names- on the site "Katolik Gomel" katolik-gomel.by(calendar of the names of saints - in Russian)

8) Saints of the Catholic Church- on the Catholic spiritual and educational portal Slavorum Apostoli www.slavorum.ru (website language - Russian), saints in alphabetical order, by date (memorial day)

9) Święci katoliccy - list of Catholic saints on Wikipedia, in Polish

10) Kalendarium dzień po dniu - a detailed and convenient calendar, here you can find information about the days of the celebration of Catholic name days https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalendarium_dzień_po_dniu, Polish. lang.

11) Timeline spis informacjio świętych i błogosławionych- calendar list of saints posted on the website of the Conference of Polish Bishops http://www.brewiarz.katolik.pl/, Polish. lang.

12) Sections Calendar (Calendar) and Saints (Saints) on the site Catholic Online (Inform. Inspire. Ignite). The language of the site is English. In the Saints section, you can view alphabetically, by day of the month, there is even a ranking of the popularity of saints.

Belarusian Greek Catholic Church

2) Just in case, we provide links to church calendar of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: http://news.ugcc.ua/calendar/ (official website of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), http://www.saintjosaphat.org/kalendar/ (website of the Priestly Brotherhood of the Holy Hieromartyr Yosaphat, Lviv)

Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

Belarusian aўtakefalnaya right-winged church

1) The site of the consistory of this church http://www.belapc.org/ contains such interesting documents as "Belarusian Orthodox Church Calendar for 2016"(Belarusian Pravaslavny Tsarkovy calendar for 2016), "Names of Saints" (Names of Saints), "Saints of the Belarusian land" (Holy Belarusian Lands)

2) Note. Since 1944, the BAOC has been in exile. The headquarters is located in the USA (New York). Wikipedia articles about this church: in Belarusian, in Russian.

Media about Belarusian names. Serious and "light" articles and videos:

1) "Specificity of Belarusian names". Guest of the studio "Dyyablog. Pramov” (http://diablog.by) - Doctor of Philology V.V. Shur. Cm. video on youtube(26 min.), published 10/15/2015

2) "Modze has double and old names". An article about the situation with Belarusian names, the author is the director of the Institute of Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Professor A.A. Lukashanets (see on the website of the newspaper "Belarus Segodnya", 04/05/2008)

4) "Why are children called double names?". Video channel ONT, Minsk (2 min.), 06/15/2014

5) " Belarusian children have double names". Video of the TV channel "Minsk 24 DOK"(1 min.), 6.06.2014

6) "The most popular names of Belarusians are Nastya and Sasha" ( , 10/16/2014, Daria Puteiko)

7) "Unusual names modern children."

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 high officials. 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 a noble and ancient origin kind. 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 family after weather events, animals, insects, months of the year and human characteristics. Everyone famous surname Frost is exactly what happened. The Nose, Windmill, March or Beetle can be attributed to the same category. It's typical 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 simple family wanted to simply designate the child as the son of her 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 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. They are so beautiful and interesting surnames, How:

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

Surnames describing the main distinguishing feature person and his entire family. 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 the surnames Belarusian land formed over several centuries. It was an interesting and lively linguistic process. Now generic names became 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.