In the life of every person, everything related to his past and the history of his family is very important, even if we do not every day remember how many destinies and stories lie behind our family, but for us it is our last name is a very significant part of one's own individuality.
The surname, like the name of a person, reflects the tribute to our ancestors that we pay, passing on the memory of our own family from generation to generation.
Until the middle of the 19th century most Russian people did not use surnames. The origin of surnames is of great interest, because at first they were used only by feudal lords, and only after that they began to be used by peasants and commoners. In addition, in addition to names, patronymics and nicknames were used to replace them.
With the abolition of serfdom, a very difficult task arose, the solution of which took quite a long time: it was necessary to endow yesterday's serfs with surnames that had recently been only among the upper strata of society. This is where their story begins.
Word "surname" It has latin origin. In ancient Rome, it only applied to slaves. But in Europe, this word has spread with the meaning of "family", "spouses". In the Slavic countries, this word was also first used as "family".
Having learned and remembered for the rest of their lives their last name in childhood, many perceive it simply as a given and very significant for us. A very popular question is what meaning this or that carries, how it affects its own carrier, and how significant such an influence is in life.
This thematic section provides a list of popular surnames, which may not be exhaustive, but can certainly help shed some light on what lies behind their diversity.
The ability to avoid cliches and hackneyed wording is of key importance. Because at this stage there is a lot of information that can hardly be called sufficiently reliable and accurate.
After all the surname is the legacy that a person carries through his whole life and passes on to his children giving them a connection with the history of their ancestors in several generations.
Also, the surname is what we use when we need an official tone in communication and a more accurate identification of a person. The wife takes it from her husband, for her it is an expression of a promise of fidelity and trust to the chosen man. The diversity of surnames is a direct reflection of the culture of the nation, the breadth of development of its representatives and society.
In the article, we will suggest various methods to help you in your investigation.
Names have been used to clarify the carrier's family since its inception. In ancient times, with the help of such nicknames, people designated the sphere of professional activity, features of appearance or personal characteristics characteristic of a particular community.
It is these details that have attracted the attention of many people who want to know the origin of their middle name in order to discover many previously unknown secrets. By revealing your origin, you will be able to understand the following:
- Who were your ancestors.
- Where they were born.
- Who worked.
- Distinctive features of character and appearance.
- What class did they belong to?
Surname as a family history: then and now
Previously, such designations were used for convenience. They were not permanent, and over time, a person could earn himself a new nickname. Now this expression has a completely different function. The second name is used to indicate blood ties and belonging to a particular family. It carries with it the history of the family and the continuity of generations.
Previously, not every person could receive a distinctive feature of the genus. It had to be earned. Often the presence of such a designation suggested noble roots and served as a symbol of uniqueness, difference from everyone else. Now everyone receives it from birth and does not give it due attention. Few people are interested in information that is hidden in one word.
Despite this, you can still find your origins, your ancestors and pay tribute to them to this day. With the development of the Internet, this has become even easier. Now, in order to understand how to find out the history of origin and the meaning of your last name, you can use specialized online portals. They store archives. With their help, you can not only find brothers or sisters, but also calculate the place and approximate date of birth of great-grandfathers, the cause of death and other important branches of development of your family.
Don't be discouraged if you don't find anything in the archives. There is a second way. In this case, you need to turn to experts who will help you find your roots, as well as conduct an analysis. The study will examine all available data. After that, the specialist will be able to tell you a lot about your family and name, as well as draw up a family tree.
How to find out family history by last name
Before answering the main question, let's look at how middle names were formed in our country. The main reason for their occurrence was the need to introduce an identifier. With the growth of villages, cities and villages, more and more people with the same names appeared.
Nicknames were given to people as an identification mark. Someone chose him for himself, someone got them because of their features. Serfs could not choose a nickname on their own. They were called whatever their owner wanted them to be. From this came a large number of unpleasant and humiliating names. Experts say that Shcherbakov (a) is primarily a reference to a distinctive feature of appearance, a disproportionately large gap between the teeth.
The easiest way to find out the history of ancestors is by the surname of the inhabitants of Veliky Novgorod. Chronicles have been kept in the city for eight centuries. According to ancient papers, it was here that the first nicknames appeared. Ancient archives have information about the participants in the Battle of the Neva.
In the upper strata of society, the designations of tribal affiliation appeared in the 1300s. They were given for special merits or spoke of attachment to some locality. The most famous are Donskoy, Shuisky or Nevsky. With the advent of foreign borrowings into Russian speech, surnames appeared in a foreign way: Karamzin or Fonvizin.
While rich and famous people got big names, the common people were left without them. Despite all the attempts of Peter I to streamline the peasants, no significant changes occurred. It was during these years that the term came into use. It was borrowed from Latin, where "familia" means blood ties and family.
In the era of the reign of Peter I, audits began to be carried out - an analogue of the population census. Having a permanent nickname passed down from generation to generation would make things easier. But at that time there was no such tradition.
If a person did not have an invariable nickname, this meant that he belonged to the lower stratum of society. Constant changes in the middle name occurred with the birth of each new generation. This continued throughout the existence of the Russian Empire.
Proof of this will be the works written in those years. None of the world-famous works indicate special designations for serfs. The works of Pushkin, Lermontov or Gogol confirm that only the nobility has a second name.
The family name did not appear just like that. It was invented in such a way that it corresponded to its carrier. The reason for the appearance could be the area in which the person lived, his profession or other distinctive features. Here are a few examples of the formation of such words, allowing you to find out the origin of the clan by last name.
- On a national basis - Polyakov, Tatarinov, Kozak, Shvedov, Khokhlov.
- By place of birth and residence - Sibiryak, Muromets, Samarin, Volgograd, Cherepovets, Arkhangelsk, Vyazemsky, Belozersky, Vyazmitin, Yaroslavtsev.
- By profession - Goncharov, Kuznetsov, Rybakin, Kozhevnikov, Bochkarev, Kalashnikov, Konovalov, Bortnikov, Reznikov, Serdyukov.
- By the name of the holiday on which the person was born - Annunciation, Sretensky, Vvedensky, Znamensky, Preobrazhensky, Voznesensky, Trinity, Christmas, Assumption, Resurrection, Pokrovsky.
- According to the instrument with which he worked - Serpov, Altov, Molotov, Shilov.
- Formed from the names of birds or animals - Lastochkin, Bykovsky, Golubinsky, Medvedev, Orlovsky, Lebedinsky, Lisitsyn, Pavsky, Barsov, Zverev, Volkov, Utkin, Vorobyov.
- By the name of the parents: Ivanov, Illarionov, Georgiev, Alexandrov, Dmitriev, Alekseev, Pavlov, Petrov, Romanov, Fedorov, Egorov, Andreev.
- In terms of intra-family relations - Malyshev, Menshikov, Starshov.
- According to the distinctive features of appearance - Belyaev, Chernyshov, Ryzhov, Chernyak, Lobach, Golovach, Levshin, Gubin, Glazunov.
- According to personal characteristics - Molchanov, Mirolyubov, Tikhomirov, Chistyakov, Myagkov, Tikhonravov, Smelov, Smekhov, Song-singers, Ostroumov, Slavolubov.
- By analogy with flowers and plants - Landyshev, Vinogradov, Lileev, Narcissus, Rozov, Violets, Ancharov, Tsvetkov, Apricots, Cypresses, Cedars, Almonds.
- According to natural phenomena, cardinal points - Zarnitsky, Yugov, Klyuchevsky, Vostokov, Nebosklonov, Vetrinsky.
By deciphering your own name, you can find a lot of new information about your roots. The Goncharovs and Kuznetsovs had potters and blacksmiths in their families. The Yaroslavtsevs have roots in Yaroslavl. One of the ancestors of Rozhdestvensky was born on January 7, and the Chernyshevs had a grandfather or great-grandfather with dark hair or eyes. This is how the meaning of words helps to know the history of the family and their ancestors by last name.
Separately, it is worth talking about seminary nicknames. They appeared much later, in the 1600s. Their carriers were clergy, and in the common people such designations began to be called priestly. These names were created intentionally and appeared due to the desire of the clergy to be closer to the people.
Nicknames were deliberately made harmonious and pleasant for perception. This emphasized the prestige of the profession of those who left the worldly life.
How to determine the origin of the surname at the end
In most cases, the second names of the church type were formed with the help of two suffixes -skyi and -tsky. The most popular include:
- Derzhavinsky.
- Trinity.
- Sergievsky.
- Dostoevsky.
- Vetrinsky.
- Apollonian.
- Zarnitsky.
- Desnitsky.
- Bethlehem.
- Athenian.
- Benemansky.
- Pavsky.
Such nicknames were based on words from the Latin vocabulary. The inspiration came from the names of saints, philosophers or the area where they were from. Most often, when compiling middle names, direct transliteration from a foreign language was used.
Now such nicknames are rare, and their pronunciation is surprising to people.
If in the designation emphasizing your belonging to the family, instead of the traditional suffixes ov / ev or yn / in, there are -sky and -sky, one of your ancestors was a clergyman, confessor.
How and where to find out the origin and history of a family by last name
If you decide to make a family tree or just study the history of your family, you will need information about the profession and field of activity of your ancestors. In the course of deciphering the nickname, it can be revealed that someone was a man of art, a brave warrior or a skilled craftsman. Such information can not only tell a lot about your roots, but will also allow you to decide on the choice of specialty in the future.
To obtain such information, you need to contact the archives. On the Internet, you can find resources where chronicles, historical papers and other useful documents are freely available. The only negative is that not every site will allow you to use sources for free.
We advise you to start your independent analysis with morphemic analysis. To do this, take your last name and highlight the prefix, suffix and ending. Next, you will need to find out from which word or phrase your family name comes from. To do this, let's get acquainted with the characteristic features of the names within different classes in Rus'.
nobles
This word denoted a group of people who were at the royal court and had many privileges. The prestigious status was passed down from generation to generation, and the surname of the representatives of this category was unchanged.
Consider the typical names of nobles:
- Many persons belonging to the higher nobility received their title in the early 1600s. These include the Eropkin family.
- Those who became princes, counts or barons were listed in the genealogical books. These are the Urusovs, the Lenchevskys, the Sushinskys.
- Foreign nobles took second names from foreign languages with characteristic prefixes "fon" or "de".
Merchants
Representatives of this class have always been held in high esteem in Rus'. It was this that was the factor due to which the merchants gained the possibility of a special name for their dynasty much earlier than the rest.
Consider the most famous generic designations:
- Tretyakov.
- Mammoths.
- Schukin.
- Eliseev.
- Bakhrushin.
- Demidov.
Servicemen
How to find the origin of such a surname? People who were in the service of the state and the king also had their own privileges and could bear a distinctive name that emphasizes blood ties. In most cases, it was given according to the area where wars and battles took place: Karelin, Kazantsev.
Peasants
Despite all attempts by the state to keep a record of this estate, officially the former servants acquired a permanent name only after the coup and revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. Often the nickname reflected the profession or external features of a person. The most common include:
- Pivovarov.
- Melnikov.
- Kuznetsov.
- Karetin.
- White.
How and where to learn the history of the family
Let's look at a couple of tips to help you with this.
Ask family for help
Talk to your moms and dads, grandparents. They will tell you a lot of new information: where your mother and father come from, what was your maternal maiden name, who are your distant relatives. Record all important points: dates of birth and death, marital status and information about the profession of your ancestors.
Organize your workspace.
You can't keep everything in your head. Get a notebook or notebook to keep records and record all the data received. To simplify the task, you can create a family tree and mark your grandparents in it, tracking all the branches of your family.
Check out the family records
Find all old papers, birth certificates, and other important papers. With their help, you will find information about the profession and the roots of the ancestors. In the same way, you can find people who will provide new information and help in further searches.
Today we found out how to find the origin of your surname and connect the data obtained with the history of the family, told what is needed for this. Don't waste time - start your own investigation right now.
What does the surname mean in general?
Here we present well-known definitions according to two interpretations of this concept.
Option one. Last name is "Clan name".
An inherited family name added to a personal name and passed from father to children. (Dictionary of foreign words); Genus, tribe, generation, tribe, blood, ancestors and offspring. Nickname, name, generic name. (Dictionary Dahl).
Surname (lat. familia - family) - a hereditary generic name, indicating that a person belongs to one genus, leading from a common ancestor, or in a narrower sense - to one family. Surnames were widespread in ancient Rome, primarily among the tribal nobility. According to the research of V. A. Nikonov, surnames arose late; measured on a historical scale, apparently, in northern Italy in the X-XI centuries, the most economically developed regions of Europe.
From Lombardy through Piedmont, the surname "came" to neighboring Provence (southeast of France), in 1066 the Normans, having conquered England, transferred it from Normandy (north of France) there. In Europe, in the Middle Ages, they were practically not used; they began to revive from the 15th century, primarily among the upper classes. At the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. Surnames reached Denmark. In 1526, the king ordered all nobles to acquire surnames. From Denmark and Germany, the surnames passed to the Swedes. In Russia, surnames were introduced by law in the 16th century, first for princes and boyars, then for nobles and eminent merchants. Among the peasantry, surnames began to be used only after the abolition of serfdom. At the same time, quite often the peasants were recorded under the name of their former owners.
FAMILY GENUS - A kindred community that has a founder - a person who gave his family his own nickname as a surname. All namesakes are related to each other. Each family clan is a branch of an older clan clan.
Option two. Surname - a set of the same genera.
As with the NAMES of people, there are namesakes among the births. There are common generic names, for example Ivanovs, Petrovs, Smirnovs. Each such The surname unites several family genera.
HOWEVER, MOST OF THE 15,000 RUSSIAN SURNAMES ARE UNIQUE AND BELONG TO NO MORE THAN ONE GENUS.
Russian non-noble surnames have a short history. Our ancestors, especially peasants, did not have fixed surnames. In the census books, a person was determined by his first name and patronymic, sometimes a yard nickname was indicated, which was not inherited. The total "surname" occurred only in the 19th century, at the same time, Russian clans are documented from the 17th century.
In fact, Russian family clans are just named branches of more ancient clans. (I took everything stated in this part of the section from serious sources without changing anything).
At the end of this section of the page, I would like to give an interesting thought on the topic of family genera, kinship, etc., coming from young researchers. I found this note in 2004 on the page http://news.battery.ru/theme/science/?news...64&from_m=smail . So, read the revelation of the century:
“The Krasnoyarsk school pedigree society, after studying genealogical trees, came to the conclusion that all the inhabitants of the planet are 14 cousins to each other. All research has led to the fact that by tracking the pedigree of any person, you can find a relationship with another person, the degree of remoteness of which is a maximum of 14 genera. ….. and further: “It turned out that almost every student is a descendant of a famous historical figure. One is closer to Leo Tolstoy, the other is closer to Alexander Pushkin, the third has roots in the family of Roman emperors,” said Margarita Karnaukhova. Chairman of the Regional Historical and Genealogical Society Sergey Mesyats, who has been studying genealogy for more than 10 years, noted that schoolchildren's research has a full scientific justification and is "not only interesting, but practically important."
Like this!!! So, maybe there is no need for us to clarify something at all about our family and about our ancestors - all the same, one of us will “come” to the Roman emperor, the other to Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Choose!
Such a scientific conclusion did not convince me of the truth of what was stated and did not diminish my interest in my ancestors and in everything that was connected with them. Probably, I didn’t convince because by that time I had already managed to see something related to the history of mankind: as a schoolboy in my homeland in Primorye, I participated in the excavations of the medieval settlement of the Jurgens, a state that once conquered China and later plundered by the Tatar-Mongols ; visited the obelisk installed in Kabul at the place where, according to legend, the war horse of Alexander the Great was buried; climbed Mount Emei in the Sichuan province of China in the foothills of the Himalayas, where the Buddha was supposedly born; bathed in a hot spring in the city of the Romans, built by them in the 1st century on the territory of modern Turkey; looked at the bends of the Danube from the height of the monastery in Vyshgorod - the old capital of the Hungarians, who had wandered for hundreds of years from the Urals to Transcarpathia; shuddered from what he saw and learned in the "Museum of War" in Saigon in Vietnam, etc. and so on. These observations and impressions convinced me more that “one must search and everything will be found!” than the “scientific conclusions” of young scientists from genealogy and others like them.
Fortunately, most people on the planet do not believe that all people on Earth are relatives, in any case, this has not been proven in the last 15 generations. That is why, probably, the science of onomastics was created by the labors of many researchers of the origin and spread of the surname. What is onomastics? Does it stand alone or is it part of some kind of science?
ONOMASTICS - the science of proper names, consisting of two parts - anthroponymy (names, surnames, nicknames of people) and place names (place names). …..Formally, it is believed that onomastics is a branch of linguistics, and in fact, the main problems in it are of a linguistic nature. In addition, onomastics is at the junction of two more humanitarian disciplines:
- Stories, since names and surnames were assigned to representatives of different peoples who lived at different historical times in different places on the planet. Over time, in connection with migration, wars, regroupings of nations, the names and surnames also changed.
- Epistemology- a branch of philosophy that studies the methodology of the search for scientific truth.
A fairly large number of books on onomastics can be cited, not counting the dictionaries of surnames, but for our study, a few, affecting the surnames of the Slavic peoples and some European ones, are enough. Of particular note are the works on the onomastics of Jewish surnames, which we will also need to study, probably since we are invading territories where, along with Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian surnames, Jewish surnames are also widespread. On the "Bookshelf" of our site there are several articles by famous scientists in the field of onomastics, whose works we will use to study the place and time of origin of our surname "Tsuprik".
But - the study of the origin of the surname is only part of our big task!
Maybe no less but more important part - building your family tree from the living carriers of our family back centuries! After all, this is perhaps a more reliable way of knowing not only the time and place of the appearance of our surname, but also its meaning! And this is the science of genealogy.
GENEALOGY, or genealogy (other Greek γενεαλογία - genealogy, from γενεά (genea) - "family" and λόγος (logos) - "word, knowledge") - a systematic collection of information about the origin, succession and relationship of surnames and genera; in a broader sense, the science of family ties in general [Wikipedia].
Genealogy is an auxiliary historical discipline (applied historical discipline) and is engaged in the study of family relationships of people, the history of childbirth, the origin of individuals, the establishment of family ties, the compilation of generational paintings and family trees. Genealogy is linked to heraldry, diplomacy and many other historical disciplines. Below are the most common variants of the image of the "family tree" of the surname (family), but there are many differences in the options! We also have our options.
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Below in the figure, taken, as well as the previous ones, from the site on genealogy, you can clearly see how this relatives are distributed “around the person”. In the center is the person for whom the genealogy is being compiled, then the circle is divided in half, in one half of the paternal ancestors, in the other - on the maternal side. Such an image of the genealogy is called a circular (circular) table. Round tables are only ascending, they were used in English and French genealogy.
Some constructions of genealogies of separate branches of the genus Tsuprikov you can look at our website on the page "Genealogy". We are waiting and hoping that you will be able to build a genealogy of your branch of the family, we are even sure that your branch will definitely find that place on the common family tree Tsuprikov where it originally grew from - we just haven't found out about it yet.
Friends, remember that Genealogy - this is not a hobby, this is a common sense of history, and origin of the surname- this is part of our past, this is the history of the surname, and, therefore, the history of our ancestors, the history of our family. And we believe that getting in touch with the history and origin of a surname is taking a step towards knowing one's family, to preserving the genealogy of one's family. Therefore, our site is for those who have ancestors, and it is not at all necessary that they be the Tsupriks!
Today we often ask ourselves the question: "Who are we? Where do our roots come from?" But we do not always find the answer to our question. Time has passed, much has been lost and forgotten. And finding ancestors by last name is not at all easy. Our roots go back to the distant past of ancient times. But, respecting the memory of our ancestors, we are drawn to history, to the history of a kind.
Origin of the surname
Scientists-historians in our time are actively working in search of roots by surname. Special sites have been created on the Internet where you can conduct your research, and if you're lucky, you can find traces of your ancestors. You can look through dictionaries, reference books, in which the meaning of your last name is written. It may come from the occupation of the father of the family, that is, your distant relative. For example, "the son of a cooper is a cooper." Surnames that came from a princely family were called like the lands that were in their possessions. Vyazemsky, Shuisky are examples of this. Surnames came from the churches in which the clergy ruled, as well as from the geographical location of the area.
If independent research has not given you any clue, then you can contact the Center for Genealogical Research or its website, its address is http://rosgenea.ru/. It was created to help those who want to explore their family tree, who do not want to lose their roots. On the RosGenea.ru website, you can find out how to find your ancestors, whose roots go back to pre-revolutionary times. The site provides a database that is constantly updated. There are no analogues of this system on the Internet, so you have the opportunity to find ancestors by last name for free.
Search through the archive
If you have the opportunity and time to turn to archival institutions, then set yourself up for the fact that you will need to spend a lot of time and leaf through a lot of literature. At the same time, you should know the most minimal information about your ancestors, in particular about the place where they lived. In the archive, you must write a request and its employees will look for references to a particular surname in the file cabinet. Immediately, information can be found out when a person was born, who his parents are. Gradually, the “glomerulus unwinds” and a family tree begins to be drawn.
Internet search
The link http://www.familyspace.ru can also tell you where to find your ancestors. When you visit the FamilySpace website, you will see that there is unique information about genealogy here. Here you can learn a lot about your roots. People are searched by profession, region and last name. The information on the website is constantly being updated. And if you registered here, but did not find the one you were looking for, then you can just wait. When the information you are interested in appears on the site, you will be sent a notification. The site provides instructions that describe in detail how to use the site. The opportunity to find your ancestors is provided free of charge on this site.
If you have minimal information about relatives: place of residence, last name, then you can check the places where they used to live. Surely, there are old-timers who can remember these people. It often happens that abandoned old photographs can be found in attics, which would be of great value to you. Older people usually do not immediately want to remember the past, but when the conversation gains momentum, you can learn a lot of interesting facts.
TV shows
If you want to find your ancestors by last name, who are still alive, but lost somewhere for one reason or another, please contact the Wait for Me program website at poisk.vid.ru. A simple people search system works here, which will give you the opportunity to see if any of your relatives and friends are looking for you, and you can also submit an application to search for the person you need.
Design your family tree while there is such an opportunity, while grandparents are alive. Let history remain for future generations, let your great-grandchildren know and remember their genealogy. Leave your photos for them, and time will pass, and the successors of your family will know you.
Almost everyone, over time, has a desire to learn more about their family and ancestors. Who were they and what did they do, what kind of memory did they leave about themselves? But, unfortunately, few can boast of a good knowledge of their pedigree. In the daily bustle, people have no time to listen to the stories of elderly family members about distant and, it seems, completely unimportant things. After all, you need to work, raise children, do household chores. Where can you patiently listen to your grandmother's memories of people who have long been dead?
Nevertheless, with age, a craving for one's origins appears in almost every person.
Root search. Where to begin?
So how do you find out the history of your ancestors? You can ask questions to senior representatives of the family - they will tell about their parents, grandparents. Elderly relatives will tell much more than any archive, because they are living witnesses of history. It is better to write down such memories on any medium or take notes, and only then systematize.
Old photographs play an important role in restoring the history of their ancestors. They are usually signed, and in this way you can find out what a relative looked like, with whom he communicated, where he lived.
Diaries and letters must be collected. The stamp on the envelope may indicate where one of the ancestors worked or served, and the notes will help restore the chronology of events.
What can a surname tell about?
You can learn a lot about your ancestors by their last names. As a rule, she can tell about the origins of the birth of the clan, indicate belonging to a certain class. For ordinary people, peasants and artisans, the surname was often formed from the name, profession, nickname or appearance, and for representatives of the nobility from the name of the family's possessions.
Special reference books contain information on Sometimes she can say a lot about her carriers, because it is not for nothing that the main character traits inherent in the family were reflected on family coats of arms and seals
Using Archives
Unfortunately, not everyone has relatives from whom one can learn about their ancestors. Surname - both by chance and on purpose can be significantly changed. Some representatives of the nobility could give their children truncated or changed surnames. Records in church books are also sometimes erroneous. Therefore, for the exact result, you need to go to the archive.
It has been going on in our country since the 18th century. All important documents, such as marriage, birth and death certificates, were issued in two copies, one of which remained in the church, and the other was transferred to the vault.
Visiting the archive requires a lot of free time and painstaking work. Some of the departments are closed to ordinary visitors, and they can only be visited with special passes. A huge number of documents greatly complicates the task of restoring the history of the family. Those who do not have time to visit the archives can turn to professionals for help.
But it is important to understand that before starting the search, you need to collect at least minimal data on your ancestors, find out both the surname and the year and place of birth. Without such information, even experts are unlikely to be able to help.
Search for relatives on the web
Some archival data has now been converted into electronic form, and therefore more and more people are trying to find out about their ancestors on the Internet. By last name and place of birth, you can find the burial places of soldiers who died or went missing during the war, clarify the fate of relatives if information about them was posted on the Web. If there is no data on the Internet, but it is known for sure that they are in the archive, then you can try to write a request there. It is important to understand here that some documents are still classified as classified, and no one can provide this information.
On specialized sites dedicated to genealogy, you can find many useful tips on where to start. The recommendations will help you understand the confusing terminology of kinship, tell you what information and where to look, teach you how to systematize the data obtained, and on their basis correctly compile the genealogical tree of the family.
Drawing up a pedigree
All found papers, photographs, collected in one pile, have an unattractive appearance. Therefore, all known information about their ancestors must be systematized. The generally accepted method is the compilation of a family tree, which is a diagram of all family ties.
There are certain design rules: the roots of the tree are the oldest representatives of the genus, the trunk is the main representatives, the branches are the descendants. Sometimes there is an opposite arrangement of family ties.
When compiling a family tree, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the inheritance of the genus. In Russian families, it was transmitted only through the male line, and if there were no children in the family or only girls appeared, then the lineage was considered interrupted.
You can compile it both on your own and by contacting specialists for help. It will be a real gift for any family celebration and will be passed down from generation to generation, acquiring new descendant branches.
Moscow was not built in a day…
Drawing up a pedigree is a painstaking task that requires a lot of time and a great desire to understand the history of your ancestors. As practice shows, not everything can be learned by last name, because it could undergo various changes or be lost for several generations.
It is also difficult that much information was lost or deliberately destroyed in the whirlwind of bloody events of the 20th century. The revolution and wars that claimed millions of human lives, hundreds of thousands of children who ended up in orphanages after the loss of their parents, and sometimes do not even know and do not remember their family - all this is a serious obstacle to establishing genealogical roots.
Great desire, patience and diligence are indispensable in this difficult task. Many give up what they started in the middle, unable to get through the intricacies of family ties, a huge amount of documents and information. But when the information, collected with difficulty bit by bit, begins to take shape, it becomes the best incentive to continue such a great work as restoring the history of your Family.
