Famous surnames of the Russian Empire. Noble families of the Russian Empire

List of noble families included in the General Armorial of the Russian Empire General Arms of the Russian Empire is a set of coats of arms of Russian noble families, established by decree of Emperor Paul I of January 20, 1797. Includes over... ... Wikipedia

Appendix to the article General armorial of the noble families of the Russian Empire General armorial of the noble families of the Russian Empire is a set of coats of arms of Russian noble families, established by decree of Emperor Paul I of January 20, 1797. Includes over ... ... Wikipedia

Title page of the Alphabetical list of noble families of the Mogilev province for 1909. List of noblemen of the Mogilev city ... Wikipedia

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Title page of the Alphabetical list of noble families of the Minsk province for 1903. List of nobles ... Wikipedia

General Armorial of the noble families of the All-Russian Empire ... Wikipedia

List of princely families of the Russian Empire. The list includes: the names of the so-called “natural” Russian princes who descended from the former ruling dynasties of Rus' (Rurikovich) and Lithuania (Gediminovich) and some others; surnames, ... ... Wikipedia

The more than 300 count families (including extinct ones) of the Russian Empire include: those elevated to the dignity of counts of the Russian Empire (at least 120 by the beginning of the 20th century), those elevated to the dignity of counts of the Kingdom of Poland... ... Wikipedia

Since ancient times, a surname could change a person’s life; it carried the entire history of the family and gave many privileges. People spent a lot of effort and finances to have a good title, and sometimes even sacrificed their lives for this. It was almost impossible for an ordinary resident to be included in the list of nobles.

Types of titles

There were many titles in Tsarist Russia, each of them had its own history and carried its own capabilities. All noble families followed the family tree and very carefully selected pairs for their family members. The marriage of two noble families was more of a calculated calculation than a love relationship. Russian noble families stayed together and did not allow members without a title into their families.

Among these genera could be:

1. Princes.
2. Graphs.
3. Barons.
4. Kings.
5. Dukes.
6. Marquises.

Each of these clans had its own history and led its own family tree. It was strictly forbidden for a nobleman to create a family with a commoner. Thus, it was almost impossible for an ordinary ordinary resident of Tsarist Russia to become a nobleman, unless for very great achievements before the country.

Princes Rurikovich

Princes are one of the highest noble titles. Members of such a family always had a lot of land, finances and slaves. It was a great honor for a representative of the family to be at court and help the ruler. Having proven himself, a member of the princely family could become a trusted person of the ruler. The famous noble families of Russia in most cases had a princely title. But titles could be divided according to the methods of obtaining them.

One of the most famous princely families in Russia were the Rurikovichs. The list of noble families begins with her. The Rurikovichs are immigrants from Ukraine and descendants of Igor’s great Rus'. The roots of many European rulers come from This is a strong dynasty that brought the world many famous rulers who were in power for a long time throughout Europe. But a number of historical events that took place in those days divided the family into many branches. Russian noble families, such as Pototsky, Peremyshl, Chernigov, Ryazan, Galician, Smolensky, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Belozersky, Suzdal, Smolensky, Moscow, Tver, Starodubsky, belong specifically to the Rurik family.

Other princely titles

In addition to the descendants of the Rurikovich family, noble families in Russia can be such as the Otyaevs. This family received its title thanks to the good warrior Khvostov, who had the nickname Otyay in the army, and dates back to one thousand five hundred and forty-three.

The Ofrosmovs are an example of a strong will and a great desire to achieve a goal. The founder of the family was a strong and courageous warrior.

The Pogozhevs are natives of Lithuania. The founder of the family was helped to obtain the princely title by his oratory and the ability to conduct military negotiations.

The list of noble families also includes the Pozharskys, Polevys, Pronchishchevs, Protopopovs, Tolstoys, and Uvarovs.

Count's titles

But surnames of noble origin are not only princes. Count dynasties also had high titles and powers at court. This title was also considered very high and gave a lot of powers.

Receiving the title of count was a great achievement for any member of royal society. Such a title, first of all, made it possible to have power and be closer to the ruling dynasty. The noble families of Russia mostly consist of counts. The easiest way to achieve this title was through successful military operations.

One of these surnames is Sheremetv. This is a count family that still exists in our time. The army general received this title for his achievements in military operations and service to the royal family.

Ivan Golovkin is the founder of another family of noble origin. According to many sources, this is a count who appeared in Russia after the wedding of his only daughter. One of the few count families that ended with a single representative of the dynasty.

The noble surname Minich had many branches, and the main reason for this was the large number of women in this family. When marrying, Milikh women took a double surname and mixed titles.

Courtiers received many count titles during the reign of Catherine Petrovna. She was a very generous queen and awarded titles to many of her military leaders. Thanks to her, such names as Efimovsky, Gendrikov, Chernyshev, Razumovsky, Ushakov and many others appeared on the list of nobles.

Barons at court

Many holders of baronial titles also had famous noble families. Among them are family families and granted barons. This, like all other titles, could be obtained with good service. And of course, the simplest and most effective way was to carry out military operations for the homeland.

This title was very popular in the Middle Ages. The family title could be received by wealthy families who sponsored the royal family. This title appeared in the fifteenth century in Germany and, like everything new, gained great popularity. The royal family practically sold it to all rich families who had the opportunity to help and sponsor all the royal endeavors.

To bring rich families closer to him, he introduced a new title - baron. One of the first owners of this title was the banker De Smith. Thanks to banking and trading, this family earned its finances and was elevated to the rank of baron by Peter.

Russian noble families with the title of baron also added the surname Fridriks. Like de Smith, Yuri Fridriks was a good banker who lived and worked at the royal court for a long time. Born into a titled family, Yuri also received a title under Tsarist Russia.

In addition to them, there were a number of surnames with the title of baron, information about which was stored in military documents. These are warriors who earned their titles by actively participating in hostilities. Thus, the noble families of Russia were replenished with such members as: Baron Plotto, Baron von Rummel, Baron von Malama, Baron Ustinov and the family of Baron Schmidt brothers. Most of them came from European countries and came to Russia on work matters.

Royal families

But not only titled families are included in the list of noble families. Russian noble families headed the royal families for many years.

One of the most ancient royal families of Russia were the Godunovs. This is the royal family, which was in power for many years. The first of this family was Tsarina Godunova, who formally ruled the country for only a few days. She renounced the throne and decided to spend her life in a monastery.

The next, no less famous surname of the royal Russian family is the Shuiskys. This dynasty spent little time in power, but was included in the list of noble families of Russia.

The Great Queen Skavronskaya, better known as Catherine the First, also became the founder of the royal family dynasty. We should not forget about such a royal dynasty as Biron.

Dukes at court

Russian noble families also have the title of dukes. Receiving the title of Duke was not so easy. Basically, these families included very rich and ancient families of Tsarist Russia.

The owners of the title of Duke in Russia were the Chertozhansky family. The family existed for many centuries and was engaged in agriculture. This was a very rich family that had a lot of land.

The Duke of Nesvizh is the founder of the city of the same name Nesvizh. There are many versions of the origin of this family. The Duke was a great connoisseur of art. His castles were the most remarkable and beautiful buildings of that time. Owning large lands, the duke had the opportunity to help tsarist Russia.

Menshikov is another of the famous ducal families in Russia. Menshikov was not just a duke, he was a famous military leader, army general and governor of St. Petersburg. He received his title for his achievements and service to the royal crown.

Title of Marquis

The title of marquis in Tsarist Russia was mainly given to wealthy families with foreign origins. This was an opportunity to bring foreign capital into the country. One of the most famous families was the Traversi. This is an ancient French family, whose representatives were at the royal court.

Among the Italian marquises was the Paulluci family. Having received the title of marquis, the family remained in Russia. Another Italian family received the title of marquis at the royal court of Russia - Albizzi. This is one of the richest Tuscan families. They earned all their income from entrepreneurial activities in the production of fabrics.

Meaning and privileges of title

For courtiers, having a title provided many opportunities and wealth. When receiving a title, it often brought with it generous gifts from the crown. Often these gifts were lands and wealth. The royal family gave such gifts for special achievements.

For wealthy families who earned their wealth on the generous Russian soil, it was very important to have a good title, for this they financed the royal endeavors, thereby buying their family a high title and good attitude. In addition, only titled families could be close to the royal family and participate in ruling the country.

The word “nobleman” itself means: “courtier” or “person from the princely court.” The nobility was the highest class of society.
In Russia, the nobility was formed in the XII-XIII centuries, mainly from representatives of the military service class. Starting from the 14th century, nobles received land plots for their service, and family surnames most often came from their names - Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Obolensky, Vyazemsky, Meshchersky, Ryazan, Galitsky, Smolensky, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Belozersky, Suzdal, Smolensky, Moscow, Tver... Other noble surnames came from the nicknames of their bearers: Gagarins, Humpbacks, Glazatyes, Lykovs. Some princely surnames were a combination of the name of the appanage and a nickname: for example, Lobanov-Rostovsky.
At the end of the 15th century, surnames of foreign origin began to appear in the lists of the Russian nobility - they belonged to immigrants from Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Asia and Western Europe who had aristocratic origins and moved to Russia. Here we can mention such names as Fonvizins, Lermontovs, Yusupovs, Akhmatovs, Kara-Murzas, Karamzins, Kudinovs.
Boyars often received surnames from the baptismal name or nickname of the ancestor and included possessive suffixes. Such boyar surnames include the Petrovs, Smirnovs, Ignatovs, Yuryevs, Medvedevs, Apukhtins, Gavrilins, Ilyins.
The royal family of the Romanovs is of the same origin. Their ancestor was the boyar from the time of Ivan Kalita, Andrei Kobyla. He had three sons: Semyon Zherebets, Alexander Elka
Kobylin and Fedor Koshka. Their descendants received the surnames Zherebtsov, Kobylin and Koshkin, respectively. One of the great-grandsons of Fyodor Koshka, Yakov Zakharovich Koshkin, became the founder of the noble family of the Yakovlevs, and his brother Yuri Zakharovich began to be called Zakharyin-Koshkin. The latter’s son’s name was Roman Zakharyin-Yuryev. His son Nikita Romanovich and his daughter Anastasia, the first wife of Ivan the Terrible, bore the same surname. However, the children and grandchildren of Nikita Romanovich became the Romanovs after their grandfather. This surname was borne by his son Fyodor Nikitich (Patriarch Filaret) and the founder of the last Russian royal dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich.
In the era of Peter the Great, the nobility was replenished by representatives of the non-military classes, who received their titles as a result of promotion in public service. One of them was, for example, an associate of Peter I, Alexander Menshikov, who from birth had a “low” origin, but was awarded the princely title by the tsar. In 1785, by decree of Catherine II, special privileges were established for nobles.

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Before being included in the lists of nobility, the gentlemen of Russia belonged to the boyar class. It is believed that at least a third of the boyar families came from immigrants from Poland and Lithuania. However, indications of the origin of a particular noble family sometimes border on falsification.

In the middle of the 17th century, there were approximately 40 thousand service people, including 2-3 thousand listed in Moscow genealogical books. There were 30 boyar families who had exclusive rights to senior positions, including membership in the royal council, senior administrative positions in major orders, and important diplomatic appointments.

Discord between boyar families made it difficult to govern the state. Therefore, it was necessary to create next to the ancient caste another, more submissive and less obstinate service class.
Boyars and nobles. The main difference is that the boyars had their own estates, while the nobles did not.

The nobleman had to live on his estate, run the household and wait for the king to call him to war or to court. Boyars and boyar children could appear for service at their own discretion. But the nobles had to serve the king.

Legally, the estate was royal property. The estate could be inherited, divided between heirs, or sold, but the estate could not.In the 16th century, an equalization of the rights of nobles and boyar children took place.During the XVI-XVII centuries. the position of the nobles approached the position of the boyars; in the 18th century, both of these groups merged, and the nobility became the aristocracy of Russia.

However, in the Russian Empire there were two different categories of nobles.
Pillar nobles - this was the name in Russia for hereditary nobles of noble families, listed in columns - genealogical books before the reign of the Romanovs in the 16-17 centuries, in contrast to nobles of later origin.

In 1723, the Finnish “knighthood” became part of the Russian nobility.
The annexation of the Baltic provinces was accompanied (from 1710) by the formation of the Baltic nobility.

By a decree of 1783, the rights of Russian nobles were extended to the nobility of three Ukrainian provinces, and in 1784 - to princes and murzas of Tatar origin. In the last quarter of the 18th century. The formation of the Don nobility began at the beginning of the 19th century. the rights of the Bessarabian nobility were formalized, and from the 40s. 19th century - Georgian.
By the middle of the 19th century. The nobility of the Kingdom of Poland is equal in personal rights with the Russian nobility.

However, there are only 877 real ancient Polish noble families, and there are at least 80 thousand current noble families. These surnames, along with tens of thousands of other similar noble Polish surnames, got their start in the 18th century, on the eve of the first partition of Poland, when the magnates of their lackeys, grooms, hounds, etc. raised their servants to gentry dignity, and thus formed almost a third share of the current nobility of the Russian Empire.

How many nobles were there in Russia?
“In 1858 there were 609,973 hereditary nobles, 276,809 personal and office nobles; in 1870 there were 544,188 hereditary nobles, 316,994 personal and office nobles; According to official data for 1877-1878, there were 114,716 noble landowners in European Russia.” Brockhaus and Efron. Article Nobility.

According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd ed.), in total in the Russian Empire (without) Finland) the big bourgeoisie, landowners, high officials, etc. of both sexes were: in 1897 - 3.0 million people, in 1913 4 ,1 million people. The share of the social group in 1897 was 2.4%, in 1913 - 2.5%. The increase from 1913 to 1897 was 36.7%. USSR article. Capitalist system.

The number of nobility (male): in 1651 - 39 thousand people, 108 thousand in 1782, 4.464 thousand people in 1858, that is, over two hundred years it increased 110 times, while the country's population increased only five times: from 12.6 to 68 million people. Korelin A.P. Russian nobility and its class organization (1861-1904). - History of the USSR, 1971, No. 4.

In the 19th century in Russia there were about 250 princely families, more than half of them were Georgian princes, and 40 families traced their ancestry to Rurik (according to legend, in the 9th century called to “rule in Rus'”) and Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who ruled in XIV century in what is now Western Belarus (“Cornet Obolensky” belonged to the Rurikovichs, and “Lieutenant Golitsyn” belonged to the Gediminovichs).

Even more amusing situations arose with the Georgians than with the Poles.

Since in St. Petersburg they were afraid that the princes would again turn to oligarchic freedom, they began to count the princes carefully, namely, they ordered everyone to prove their right to the principality. And they began to prove it - it turned out that almost none of the princes had documents. A large princely factory of documents was established in Tiflis, and the documents were accompanied by the seals of Heraclius, King Teimuraz and King Bakar, which were very similar. The bad thing was that they didn’t share: there were many hunters for the same possessions. Tynyanov Y. Death of Vazir-Mukhtar, M., Soviet Russia, 1981, p. 213.

In Russia, the title of count was introduced by Peter the Great. The first Russian count was Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev, elevated to this dignity in 1706 for pacifying the Astrakhan rebellion.

Barony was the smallest noble title in Russia. Most of the baronial families - there were more than 200 of them - came from Livonia.

Many ancient noble families trace their origins to Mongolian roots. For example, Herzen’s friend Ogarev was a descendant of Ogar-Murza, who went to serve Alexander Nevsky from Batu.
The noble Yushkov family traces its ancestry back to the Horde Khan Zeush, who went into the service of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy, and the Zagoskins - from Shevkal Zagor, who left the Golden Horde in 1472 for Moscow and received estates in the Novgorod region from John III.

Khitrovo is an ancient noble family that traces its origins to those who left in the second half of the 14th century. from the Golden Horde to the Grand Duke of Ryazan Oleg Ioannovich Edu-Khan, nicknamed Strong-Cunning, named Andrei in baptism. At the same time, his brother Salokhmir-Murza, who left, was baptized in 1371 under the name John and married the sister of Prince Anastasia. He became the founder of the Apraksins, Verderevskys, Kryukovs, Khanykovs and others. The Garshin family is an old noble family, descended, according to legend, from Murza Gorsha or Garsha, a native of the Golden Horde under Ivan III.

V. Arsenyev points out that the Dostoevskys descended from Aslan Murza Chelebey, who left the Golden Horde in 1389: he was the ancestor of the Arsenyevs, Zhdanovs, Pavlovs, Somovs, Rtishchevs and many other Russian noble families.

The Begichevs were descended, naturally, from the Horde citizen Begich; the noble families of the Tukhachevskys and Ushakovs had Horde ancestors. The Turgenevs, Mosolovs, Godunovs, Kudashevs, Arakcheevs, Kareevs (from Edigei-Karey, who moved from the Horde to Ryazan in the 13th century, was baptized and took the name Andrei) - all of them are of Horde origin.

During the era of Grozny, the Tatar elite strengthened even more.
For example, during the Kazan campaign (1552), which in history will be presented as the conquest and annexation of the Kazan Khanate to the Moscow state, the army of Ivan the Terrible included more Tatars than the army of Ediger, the ruler of Kazan.

The Yusupovs came from the Nogai Tatars. Naryshkins - from the Crimean Tatar Naryshki. Apraksins, Akhmatovs, Tenishevs, Kildishevs, Kugushevs, Ogarkovs, Rachmaninovs - noble families from the Volga Tatars.

The Moldavian boyars Matvey Cantacuzin and Scarlat Sturdza, who emigrated to Russia in the 18th century, received the most cordial treatment. The latter's daughter was a maid of honor to Empress Elizabeth, and later became Countess Edling.The Counts Panins traced their ancestry back to the Italian Panini family, which came from Lucca back in the 14th century. The Karazins came from the Greek family of Karadzhi. The Chicherins descend from the Italian Chicheri, who came to Moscow in 1472 in the retinue of Sophia Paleologus.

The Korsakov family from Lithuania (Kors is the name of the Baltic tribe that lived in Kurzeme).

Using the example of one of the central provinces of the empire, one can see that families of foreign origin made up almost half of the provincial nobility. An analysis of the pedigrees of 87 aristocratic families of the Oryol province shows that 41 families (47%) have foreign origins - traveling nobles baptized under Russian names, and 53% (46) of hereditary families have local roots.

12 of the traveling Oryol families have a genealogy from the Golden Horde (Ermolovs, Mansurovs, Bulgakovs, Uvarovs, Naryshkins, Khanykovs, Elchins, Kartashovs, Khitrovo, Khripunovs, Davydovs, Yushkovs); 10 clans left Poland (the Pokhvisnevs, Telepnevs, Lunins, Pashkovs, Karyakins, Martynovs, Karpovs, Lavrovs, Voronovs, Yurasovskys); 6 families of nobles from the “German” (Tolstoys, Orlovs, Shepelevs, Grigorovs, Danilovs, Chelishchevs); 6 - with roots from Lithuania (Zinovievs, Sokovnins, Volkovs, Pavlovs, Maslovs, Shatilovs) and 7 - from other countries, incl. France, Prussia, Italy, Moldova (Abaza, Voeikovs, Elagins, Ofrosimovs, Khvostovs, Bezobrazovs, Apukhtins)

A historian who studied the origin of 915 ancient service families provides the following data on their national composition: 229 were of Western European (including German) origin, 223 were of Polish and Lithuanian origin, 156 were Tatar and other eastern, 168 belonged to the house of Rurik.
In other words, 18.3% were descendants of the Rurikovichs, that is, they had Varangian blood; 24.3% were of Polish or Lithuanian origin, 25% came from other Western European countries; 17% from Tatars and other eastern peoples; The nationality of 10.5% was not established, only 4.6% were Great Russians. (N. Zagoskin. Essays on the organization and origin of the service class in pre-Petrine Rus').

Even if we count the descendants of the Rurikovichs and persons of unknown origin as pure Great Russians, it still follows from these calculations that more than two-thirds of the royal servants in the last decades of the Moscow era were of foreign origin. In the eighteenth century, the proportion of foreigners in the service class increased even more. - R. Pipes. Russia under the old regime, p.240.

Our nobility was Russian only in name, but if someone decides that the situation was different in other countries, they will be greatly mistaken. Poland, the Baltic states, numerous Germanic nations, France, England and Türkiye were all ruled by aliens.

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