The most popular Russian surname in the world. Here it is worth noting such a fairly common Russian surname as Kovalev

About 7 billion people live on our planet. There are many names and

surnames that were formed over the centuries by our ancestors. Have you ever wondered what are the most common surnames? In this article we present a selection of the most around the world and in Russia.

Common Russian surnames

Surely you would be interested to know what is the most common Russian surname? Unfortunately, this question cannot be answered unambiguously. Let's just say there are quite a few of them. The list below is based on the book "Russian Surnames" by B.G. Unbegaun, published in 1972. Before compiling this list, the author of the book studied the St. Petersburg address book of 1910 and analyzed all the names of that time presented in it. So, before you are the 100 most common Russian surnames.

Please note that the names are listed alphabetically, not by importance. If you read the list, you probably noticed in it the names of German origin - Schultz, Schmitt, Miller. By their presence, one can judge ethnic composition that time.

World surnames
Now let's look at the most common surnames in the world. The first place is occupied by the surname Lee (about 100 million people worldwide, and the most famous of them is Bruce Lee). The second place is the surname Zhang, it is also owned by about 100 million people. Third place - Van. It is used as a prefix to Belgian and (eg Jean Claude Van Damme). The fourth place in the list "The most common surnames" belongs to the surname Nguyen (about 36 million people). Fifth place - Garcia (it is worn by about 10 million people).

It is most prevalent in countries South America, Philippines and Spain. Sixth place - Gonzalez (10 million people). This surname is from Spain. Seventh place belongs to the surname Hernandez (8 million people), which has Spanish-Portuguese roots. Eighth place - Smith (4 million people). The ninth place is occupied by the Russian surname Smirnov. Closes the top ten rating "The most common surnames" - German surname Muller.

They say "as you call a boat, so it will float." Does this mean that a popular surname can make a person popular too?

Among the most popular surnames there are not only Chinese or English, but also Russian, Spanish, African and even Greek.

Here are the most common surnames in the world:

The most famous surnames

25. Smith

This surname appeared in England and gradually spread to English-speaking countries. Smith is by far the most common surname in the US, UK, Canada, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.

24. Garcia

It's easy to guess that given surname is the most popular in Spain. However, it is also the second most popular in Cuba and third in Mexico. Due to the fact that many Latin Americans come to work in the United States, the surname Garcia is in 8th place in popularity here.

23. Martin

In France, more than 235,000 people have this surname, making it the most popular in the country. It is also worth noting that in many languages ​​there are other versions of this surname that are used as given names rather than surnames, such as names such as Martinus or Martin, which are derived from Latin.

22. Rossi

in italian plural this surname Rosso (Rosso), which means "red". In Italy, this is the most common surname. However, it is also very popular in countries like Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Peru, USA and Uruguay.

21. Novak

This surname translates as " new person", "beginner" or "foreigner". This is very popular Slavic name or last name. Most bearers of this surname live in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, but it is also very popular in Croatia, Serbia and Romania.

The most common surnames

20. Fernandez

This surname is translated as "son of Fernando". It is a very popular surname in Spain (8th place), 4th most popular in Argentina, 10th in Paraguay and 13th in Mexico. In Portugal, this surname is also quite common.

19. Smirnov

Researchers from the Medical Genetic Center Russian Academy medical sciences decided to deeply study the issue of the most popular surname. They divided Russian Federation into hypothetical regions, each of which has been studied in detail.

As a result of the study, it turned out that the most popular surname in Russia is Smirnov. It will be interesting to note that one of the versions of the origin of the surname says that the word "Smirnoy" served as the basis of the surname, which denoted a character trait ("meek" = "obedient").

• Kuznetsov

18. Silva

More than 10% of all Brazilians have this surname, making it the most common in this country. This surname comes from Latin word"silva" which means "forest" or "woodland". It is also popular in Portugal and the former Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (including India and Sri Lanka).

17. Mohammed

This name translates as "Praised", "Worthy of Praise" and is the most popular name and surname in the Islamic world. There are several versions of this name, including Mohammed (Mohammed), Mohammed and Muhammad.

16. Kumar

The roots of this surname can be found at the beginning of the development of Hinduism. This is not only the most popular name in India, but also a surname and even a patronymic. Kumar is also the 8th most popular surname in the world.

15. Gonzales

It is a very popular Spanish given name and the second most common surname. In addition, it is very common in Latin America, including countries such as Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela.

What are the most common surnames

14. Muller

The German word "muller" (also spelled "mueller" or "miller") translates as "miller". This is the most popular surname in Germany, Switzerland and parts of France. In Austria, she occupies the 5th line in the list of the most common surnames in the country.

13. Cohen

Initially, the word "cohen" in Hebrew was called a priest. It is also very popular Jewish surname, and can often be heard in countries where there are large Jewish communities. There are several variants of this surname: Coen, Cohn, Kahn, Kohn and others.

12. Nguyen

Without any competition, this surname is the most popular in Vietnam, where about 40% of the inhabitants are its bearers. But this surname is also popular outside the country, thanks to the many immigrants from Vietnam.

11. Khan

This surname and title is of Mongolian origin. Initially, Khan was the title of the leader of the tribe, and in the states that appeared after the collapse of the Mongol Empire, it was the title of the sovereign. IN Ottoman Empire Sultan was called Khan. Today it is the most popular surname in the countries of Central and South Asia. It is one of the most common surnames in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Oman and Turkey.

10 Rodriguez

A very popular surname in Spain, the USA and Latin America. Rodriguez means "descendant of Rodrigues" and is the most common surname in Colombia, the second most common in Argentina, and the ninth most common in Brazil, where it is often spelled "Rodrigues".

Top Surnames

9. Wang

This is the most popular surname in China. In total, about 100,000 inhabitants of the country are its owners. 2nd most popular Chinese surnames goes Lee (Lee), and on the third Zhang (Zhang).

8 Anderson

This surname comes from a word indicating origin, meaning "descendant of Anders (Anders) / Andrew (Andrew)". The surname appeared in parallel in the British Isles and in the countries northern Europe. Anderson is a popular surname in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (where it is spelled "Andersen").

7. Yilmaz

This surname is translated as "brave" or "invincible." It is very popular in Turkey. In Turkey, until 1934, there were no surnames, and after the adoption of the "Law on Surnames", the most popular surnames became Kaya (Kaya), Demir (Demir) and Sahin (Sahin), but the surname Yilmaz became the most popular and by a wide margin.

6. Traore

This surname has roots in the Manding languages. Traore is a very popular surname in several countries. West Africa including Mali, Senegal and Guinea.

The most common surname in Russia

5. Ivanov

It is worth noting that many attempts have been made to find out which surname is still the most popular in Russia.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Oxford University philologist Ottokar Genrikhovich Unbegaun, who was a native of Russia, was one of the first to try to figure out the most popular surname. He began in St. Petersburg, where, in his opinion, the most common surname for 1910 was Ivanov, which comes from one of the most popular Russian names, Ivan.

• Kuznetsov

  Vasiliev.

The second attempt took place in modern Russia. Anatoly Fedorovich Zhuravlev, trying to find out which surname is the most popular in his homeland, came to the same result - the surname Ivanov.

Vasiliev

• Mikhailov.

4. Ahmed

Very popular Arabic name Ahmed also boasts a large number of various options his spellings are Ahmad, Ahmet, Ahmat. The world's most popular options are Ahmet and Ahmad. Many people named Ahmed can be found in Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Bangladesh and other countries.

The most common surnames in the world

3. Lopez

This surname comes from the Latin word "lupus", which means "wolf". Lopez is popular Spanish name. In Portugal, it sounds Lopes (Lopes), in Italy - Lupo (Lupo), in France - Loup (Loup), in Romania - Lupu (Lupu) or Lupescu (Lupescu). In Latin America, the surname Lopez is also very popular.

2. Kim

Sometimes this surname is written as Gim. It is very common on the Korean Peninsula (both in the South and in North Korea). About 22% of the inhabitants of the peninsula bear the surname Kim, which can be translated as "metal", "iron" or "gold".

1. Papadopulos

The meaning of this surname is "son of a priest". Papadopoulos is the most popular surname in Greece and Cyprus, as well as in countries with a Greek diaspora such as the US, UK, Australia and the Scandinavian countries.

What is the most common Russian surname

If we take into account all three studies, we can say that Ivanov and Smirnov are the most common surnames in Russia. However, it is worth noting that one of the most popular surnames today is also the surname Kuznetsov (Kuznetsova). And if we consider that in English the blacksmith is smith, then there are several million carriers of this surname on Earth.

In Rus', the first people who began to assign each other not only names, but also surnames, were the Novgorodians, who adopted this custom from the Lithuanians. The annals mention the names of Lugotinits, Pineshchinich and Nezdylov.

Rus' nameless

The habits of the Novgorodians did not have a significant impact on the whole of Rus', individual surnames began to come into use only two centuries later, when boyars and governors appeared. Basically, the people received surnames only after the abolition of serfdom, until that moment everyone was practically nameless, getting by with nicknames or being called by the names of their fathers and grandfathers (Ivanov and Alekseev), and the surname could change from generation to generation.

Even the surname of the royal family of the Romanovs came from the name Roman, which he wore early dead father the first wife of Ivan the Terrible Anastasia voivode Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin-Koshkin. His father had the surname Koshkin, and the surname Romanovs was assigned to his children - two daughters and three sons. One of the sons - Nikita became the grandfather of the first tsar from the dynasty - Mikhail Fedorovich.

In 1888, by decree of the Senate, every inhabitant of Russia was required to have a surname, but according to the 1897 census, it turned out that 75% of the population of the empire live without a surname. Is it true, most census takers found nameless people on the outskirts of the country, where people of other nationalities lived; only the Bolsheviks managed to give surnames to the entire population of the country in the 1930s.

Derogatory surnames

There were many funny and funny, and sometimes even humiliating surnames in Rus' - there were Koshkins, noblemen Trusovs and Durasovs, peasants with the surnames Bosyak, Obyedkin, Pakostin, Lentyaev or Paskydin, and even Cossacks with the surnames Dristunov, Netudahata, Perdyaev, Sukhozad or Mokhnazhopkin ( S. Koryagin in the work "Genealogy and family history of the Don Cossacks").

Why do people take such surnames

It turns out that the custom originated in pagan superstitions, according to which a person should bear such an insignificant name that evil spirits do not pay attention to him. This custom among the Russians is not unique - customs similar to it existed in Central Asia, and still exist in China.

In addition, in the old days they were afraid of envy, the evil eye, and therefore they hoped that few people would envy the “lucky one” with the surname Mochalo or Trifle.

In the peasant environment, there was also a kind of prevention of sins through surnames - the parents hoped that Lentyaev would be hardworking, Fornication would become faithful and loving spouse, and the Fool will show remarkable mental abilities.

With humiliating surnames Russian Empire they tried to fight legislatively - the tsarist decree of 1825 “On the replacement of obscene surnames among the lower ranks” was obligatory for those who served in the army, but he did not save the situation - and after him many Pukins, Gnids, Pysya and Sruchkins remained in Russia.

However, it is known for certain that once in the history of Russia there was also a reverse episode, when by the decree of Catherine, everyone who bore the surname Pugachev was to become Fools, and it was forbidden to change the surname from now on. It was, as you probably already understood, after the suppression of the Pugachev uprising.

Later, Orthodox priests acquired the surname of all - they were awarded surnames at the end of the seminary, and the higher the academic performance, the more harmonious the surname was given: Uspensky, Troitsky, Nikolsky, Blagoveshchensky.

They could ennoble the "old" surname by changing it into the Latin manner. So, the Bobrovs became Kastorsky (castor - “beaver”), the Orlovs took the surname Akvileva, and Skvortsov became Sturnitsky.

The most common surname

Studies by Russian scientists, which were conducted in 2005 under the leadership of Elena Balanovskaya, revealed that the most common surname in Russia is the surname Smirnov, followed by Ivanovna, who held absolute primacy in the 19th century, followed by the Kuznetsovs, Sokolovs, Popovs, Lebedevs, Kozlovs, Novikovs, Morozovs, Petrovs, Volkovs and Solovyovs.

However, chief Anatoly Zhuravlev, head of the Department of Etymology and Onomastics of the Institute of the Russian Language of the Russian Academy of Sciences, still believes that the surname Ivanov remains the most common in Russia. There is no data on the number of its carriers, but the scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences operate with such a concept as frequency and indicate that for 1,000 Ivanovs in Russia there are only 750 Smirnovs, 700 Kuznetsovs and 500 Popovs. Nevertheless, some linguists claim that at least 2,500,000 people with the surname Smirnov live in Russia, which puts this surname in 9th place in the world in terms of prevalence.

We just don't know

If the surname seems funny to us, it may mean that we do not know something about its origin. For example, linguists have found that funny last name The Vagina came from the Vag, a tributary of the Danube, and Blyablin got his nickname because he was a bully (the word “fuck-fuck”) meant a slap in the face. Zhirnosek's ancestors made (flogged) millstones, and Kretinin's grandfather was distinguished by stinginess, because the surname came from the word "cret", which in the south of Russia meant "mole".

The surname Pupkin comes from the word "navel", which meant the bud of a plant; there is a version about the origin of this surname on behalf of Pupko (V. O. Vasiliev, “ Dictionary Russian surnames). A famous surname Gagarin - from the old Russian verb "gagarit", which meant - to laugh a lot and not on business.

Today it is impossible to imagine life modern man no surname. It connects people with family members and the whole family. This is how the ancestors who lived hundreds of years ago designated themselves. There are many surnames in Russia that came from the distant past, but there are also more common ones.

Origin of Russian surnames

In Rus', initially there were no surnames. What in the annals looked like a generic name had a completely different meaning. For example, Ivan Petrov meant Ivan the son of Peter. The most common forms that were encountered (Chobot, Shemyaka, Ghoul) were nicknames that were given for some personal qualities to a person or for his profession. They were individual and did not pass by inheritance to descendants.

The history of the origin of surnames among the upper class referred to places of residence or to belonging and princely (royal) family. So, the princes Vyazemsky were called because of the possessions that were in the city of Vyazma, Rzhevsky - because of the city of Rzhev and so on. The formation of nominal families in Russia began with a change in endings, prefixes, suffixes, or due to the connection of the root system with the name or nickname of the founder of the genus.

The process of formation of the boyar dynasties is perfectly illustrated by the history of the royal family of the Romanovs, whose ancestors lived in the XIV century. The founder was Andrey Koshka Kobylin, and his descendants were called Koshkins. One of the children of Kobylin's grandson began to be called Zakharyin-Koshkin, and the latter's son was named Roman. Then Nikita Romanovich was born, whose children and grandchildren were already called Romanovs. Until now, this is a common Russian surname.

When did they appear

The first naming of an entire family in Rus' took place in the 15th century. The sources, as already mentioned, were the profession of the ancestor, the name of the craft or the geographical name. First, the upper classes received generic names, and the poor and peasants acquired them last, since they were serfs. The emergence of surnames in Russia foreign origin for the first time fell on the nobles, immigrants from Greek, Polish or Lithuanian families.

IN XVII century Western pedigrees were added to them, such as the Lermontovs, the Fonvizins. Generic names from Tatar immigrants are Karamzins, Akhmatovs, Yusupovs and many others. The most common dynasty in Russia at that time was the Bakhteyarovs, which were worn by the Rurik princes from the Rostov branch. Also in fashion were the Beklemishevs, whose name was the boyar of Vasily I Fedor Elizarovich.

During this period, the peasants had only patronymics or nicknames. Documents of that time had such entries: "Danilo Soplya, peasant" or "Efimko son Crooked cheeks, landowner." Only in the north of the country did peasant men have real pedigree names, since the Novgorod lands serfdom did not spread.

The most common families of free peasants are Lomonosov, Yakovlev. Peter the Great by his decree in 1719 officially introduced documents - travel letters, which contained the name, nickname, place of residence and other information. From this year, the dynasties of merchants, employees, clergy, and subsequently, from 1888, among the peasants, began to be fixed.

What is the most common Russian surname

Beautiful, and therefore popular even now, surnames were given to representatives of the clergy. The basis was the name of the church or parish. Prior to this, priests were called simply: Father Alexander or Father Fedor. After that, they were given generic names such as Uspensky, Blagoveshchensky, Pokrovsky, Rozhdestvensky. Non-church common dynasties in Russia are associated with the names of cities - Bryantsev, Moskvichev, Tambovtsev, Smolyaninov. Successful seminary graduates were given beautiful names Diamonds, Dobrolyubov, Pharaohs, who are still successful.

For men

of great importance for modern people has a good last name. Popular among men are the names of the genus, which have semantic load. For example, the names of descendants recognized by all, derived from the professional nickname Bondarchuk (cooper), Kuznetsov (blacksmith), Bogomazov (icon painter), Vinokur (manufacturer of alcoholic beverages).

Interesting Russians male surnames have a loud and sonorous pronunciation - Pobedonostsev, Dobrovolsky, Tsezarev. Beautiful and now popular Russian generic names come from nominal origin - Mikhailov, Vasiliev, Sergeev, Ivanov. No less successful, which are based on the names of birds and animals, Lebedev, Volkov, Kotov, Belkin, Orlov, Sokolov. Trees and shrubs also left their mark. Popular families are formed from the names of plants - Kornev, Berezkin, Malinin, Oaks.

Women's

According to history, women's generic names formed in the same way as masculine - by means of prefixes and suffixes. The most famous Russian surnames for girls come from proper names, the names of animals, birds. They sound great - Morozova, Vorontsova, Arakcheeva, Muravyov-Apostol and others. The list of pedigrees for girls descended from representatives of flora and fauna sounds no less beautiful - Strizhenov, Medvedev, Vorontsov, Vorobyov.

No less popular, formed from deep semantic meaning with an emphasis on the first syllable: Slavic, Wise, Generous, Motherland. Perfectly heard and pronounced - Popova, Novikova, Svetlova, Lavrova, Teplova. Among foreign generic names there are also a large number of beautiful:

• German: Lehmann, Werner, Braun, Weber;
• English: Mills, Ray, Taylor, Stone, Grant;
• Polish: Yaguzhinskaya, Koval, Vitkovskaya, Troyanovskaya;
• Belarusian: Larchenko, Polyanskaya, Ostrovskaya, Belskaya;
• Bulgarian: Toneva, Blagoeva, Angelova, Dimitrova.

The most famous Russian surnames

Researchers of the statistics of Russian hereditary names argue that they often originate from populated regions, holy holidays or parents' names. Sometimes surnames were given in a noble-landlord environment by truncating full family names, and assigned them, as a rule, to an illegitimate child. Among them: Temkin (Potemkin), Betskoy (Trubetskoy), Pnin (Repnin). In modern Russia, the families of hereditary artists are most famous: Bondarchuk, Tabakov, Mashkov, Mikhalkov.

List of the most common surnames in Russia

Based on the results of many years of research, scientists compiled a list of 500 generic names common in Russia. The ten most popular included:

1. Smirnov. There is no unequivocal opinion about the origin. Offered different versions from the acquaintance of backward peasants with the “new world”, to being tied to the name Smirna, which in Rus' characterized a complaisant and peaceful person. More likely is the version based on naming people who are humble before God by this name.
2. Ivanov. It is not difficult to guess that the origin is associated with the Russian name Ivan, popular at all times.
3. Kuznetsov. He is the most respected among the village men. In every village, the blacksmith was held in high esteem and had big family, the male part of which was provided with work until the end of days. In the dialects of the western and southern regions of Russia, the word koval is present instead of a blacksmith, therefore one of the transformations of Kuznetsov is Kovalev.
4. Vasiliev. Although Vasily modern world children are not often called, the surname is firmly entrenched in the top ten most common.
5. Novikov. Popularity is due to the fact that every newcomer or newcomer was previously called Novik. This nickname passed to his descendants.
6. Yakovlev. Derived from a popular male name. Jacob is the secular counterpart of the church name Jacob.
7. Popov. Initially, this nickname was given to the son of a priest or worker (farm laborer) of a clergyman.
8. Fedorov. The basis was male name, very common in Rus'. The same roots have the surname Khodorov on behalf of Hodor.
9. Kozlov. Before the introduction of Christianity, the Slavs were pagans, so naming a person by the name of a plant or animal was a tradition. The goat has always been considered a symbol of fertility and vitality, therefore, among the Slavs it is a favorite fairy tale character. The animal became a symbol of the devil after the advent of Christianity.
10. Morozov. Also a non-church common name in Rus'. Former name Frost was given to an infant born in winter. This is the image of a hero who has unlimited power in the cold season.

Video:

Scientists have been able to full list true Russian surnames by regions of the country: Kuban turned out to be Russian
Unfortunately, the interpretations of family analysis that appeared in the media this summer (after the first publication of the data in a specialized scientific journal), could create a false impression of the goals and results of the enormous work of scientists, the main thing was not that the surname Smirnov turned out to be more common among Russian people than Ivanov, but that for the first time a complete list of truly Russian surnames was compiled by regions of the country. At the same time, scientists had to spend a lot of time collecting Russian surnames on their own.

The Central Election Commission and local election commissions flatly refused to cooperate with scientists, arguing that only if the voter lists are secret can they guarantee the objectivity and honesty of elections to federal and local authorities. The criterion for inclusion in the list of a surname was very lenient: it was included if at least five carriers of this surname lived in the region for three generations.

First, lists were compiled for five conditional regions - Northern, Central, Central-Western, Central-Eastern and Southern. In total, about 15 thousand Russian surnames were accumulated in all regions, most of which were found only in one of the regions and were absent in others. When regional lists were superimposed on each other, scientists identified a total of 257 so-called "all-Russian surnames".

Interestingly, on final stage research, they decided to add the names of residents to the list of the Southern Region Krasnodar Territory, expecting the dominance Ukrainian surnames descendants of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, evicted here by Catherine II, will significantly reduce the all-Russian list. But this additional restriction reduced the list of all-Russian surnames by only 7 units - to 250. From which the obvious and not pleasant conclusion followed that the Kuban was inhabited mainly by Russian people. And where did the Ukrainians go and were there at all here - the big question.

An analysis of Russian surnames generally provides food for thought. Even the simplest action - searching it for the names of all the leaders of the country - gave an unexpected result. Only one of them was included in the list of top 250 all-Russian surnames - Mikhail Gorbachev (158th place). The surname Brezhnev takes 3767th place in the general list (found only in the Belgorod region of the Southern region). The surname Khrushchev is in 4248th place (found only in the Northern region, Arkhangelsk region). Chernenko took 4749th place (only the Southern region). Andropov - 8939th place (only the Southern region). Putin took 14250th place (only the Southern region). But Yeltsin did not get into common list. Stalin's surname - Dzhugashvili - for obvious reasons was not considered. But on the other hand, the pseudonym Lenin got into the regional lists under the number 1421, second only to the first president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev.

250 MOST RUSSIAN SURNAMES