The history of the origin of the word surname. Compiling a family tree

VISHNITSKY - CHERRY - CHERRY ORCHARD

I was a reader and subscriber of the magazine "Science and Life" back in Soviet times. Now there is an opportunity to read electronic version favorite magazine, which is what I do with pleasure. And now the question. What word does my last name come from? I read a lot, but never saw anything about her. Isn't she related to the Vishnevsky surname?

V. Vishnitsky (Sumy, Ukraine).

Surname Vishnitsky comes from Ukrainian word cherry - cherry orchard . Nickname Vishnik could have been received by a person whose garden was especially large and good. The descendants of such a person began to be called Vishnitsky. When forming words, consonants To And ts alternate.

Surname Vishnevsky formed from a geographical name. There are many places in Ukraine from the names of which this surname could come from: Vishnev, Cherry , Cherry , Vishnevka , Vishnevets , Vishnevo, Cherry .

PRILUTSKY - FROM THE VILLAGE OF PRILUKI

I have long wanted to ask you: explain the meaning and origin of our surname. The ancestors lived in the city of Rivne, which is located in the north-west of Ukraine. Perhaps the surname comes from the name of the city of Lutsk, neighboring the Rivne region? Our surname is often mistakenly written with an “i”: Prilutsky.

I also ask the doctor philological sciences Superanskaya to explain the origin of the surnames of our relatives: Dubina, Savochenko (the surname Savchenko is more common) and Temchenko.

Regular subscriber and problem solver of the headings "Mathematical Leisure" and "Psychological Workshop" I. Prelutsky (St. Petersburg).

Last names on -sky/-tsky most often formed from geographical names. In Brest, Grodno, Minsk, Chernigov, as well as Arkhangelsk, Vologda and a number of other regions there are settlements with title Pryluky where the last name comes from Prilutsky. There is a village in the Novgorod region Pereluchi, in Pskov - Pereluchye. From these names the surname would be Perelutsky . Similar titles - Priluka, Pryluky(in Polish pronunciation Przyluka, Przyluki) is available in Poland. The surname is also derived from them Prilutsky(in Polish pronunciation Przylucki). But along with this, the Poles fix the spelling variant Prelutsky. Perhaps somewhere there was such a “literate” scribe who believed that writing should be done through e, not through And.

Surname Cudgel with emphasis on And repeats the Old Russian nickname without any changes. Compare common surname Dubinin, derived from the nickname Cudgel.

Surname Savochenko comes from one of the Ukrainian colloquial forms church name Sava (Savva) - Savochko. The Ukrainian dictionary notes the accent in it Savo"chenko.

Surname Temchenko derived from one of the colloquial variants of the church name Timofey. The Ukrainian dictionary notes a rare form of this name Temokhfey, where the abbreviated forms come from Subject, Temka and last name Temchenko.

Forms with e instead of And also noted among the Poles. Short form Temo entered documents in 1242, later the surname was attested Temkovich, confirming the availability of the option Temko, from which the surname could also be formed Temchenko when the so-called person moves to Ukraine.

UTYUMOV - ON BEHALF OF USTIN

I really like the section “Origin of names and surnames” in the magazine. Therefore, I decided to turn to Mrs. Superanskaya: I would like to find out about the origin of the surnames Shanchurov (there is also a surname Shanshurov in our city) and Utyumov (we have a whole village with that surname).

L. Utyumova (Revda, Sverdlovsk region).

Surnames Shanchurov , Shanshurov surnames are not found in any dictionary. Eat similar surnames - Shamshurov. They are associated with the verb sham- whisper, make noise- mumble, speak indistinctly, with a word shamshura- burry. But I believe that not a single explanation fits your surname.

According to my data, the surnames you are interested in are derived from the popular colloquial forms of personal names: Shanchurov And Shanshurov- on behalf of Alexander through options Sanya - Sancha - Sanchur - Shanchur - Shanshur. Utyumov- on behalf of Ustin through options Ustim - Ustyum - Utyum.

DEMESHKO - ON BEHALF OF DEMENTIA

I am a regular reader of your magazine. From each issue I learn something new, useful, and interesting. I wish to continue to see the magazine the same. I also appeal to Doctor of Philology A. Superanskaya with a request to tell about the origin of the Demeshko surname. We have half the village with this last name, but we are not related. We live in the Pskov region, Pustoshkinsky district, not far from the border with Belarus and Latvia. I read in the magazine "Rodina" that some Mieszko I baptized Poland into Catholics. Is Meshko a first or last name? And I have never seen the name Demeshko anywhere else in books. Once I met a man with the last name Lemeshko.

L. Demeshko (village of Sipkino, Pskov region).

Surname Demeshko formed from Orthodox name Dementy(church form Dometius), shortened form - Demesh, Demesha. Demeshko- a diminutive form of this name. It means that Demeshko- son of a man named Dementy (Demesh). Having become surnames, such names did not need to be formalized with special family suffixes.

The same goes for the last name. Lemeshko- on behalf of Clementius(modern Russian church form Clement) via option Klemesh - Lemesh - Lemeshko - Mieszko. The latter form can also be a diminutive of Bartholomew- through Varfolomeshko- Meshko, from Evmeniy- through Evmeshko or from Michael- through Mishko - Mieszko.

Every person has a surname, but has anyone ever wondered where it came from, who invented it, and for what purposes it is needed? There were times when people only had names, for example in the territory former Rus' This trend was observed until the 14th century. Studying a surname can tell a lot of interesting things about the history of the family, and in some cases even allows you to determine the ancestor. Just one word will tell about the well-being of the family’s ancestors, their belonging to a higher or lower class, and the presence of foreign roots.

Origin of the word "surname"

Many people are interested in where the surname came from, what it meant and for what purposes it was used. It turns out that this word is of foreign origin and originally had a completely different meaning than it does now. In the Roman Empire, the term did not refer to family members, but to slaves. A specific family name meant a group of slaves belonging to one Roman. Only in the 19th century did this word acquire its current meaning. Nowadays, a surname means a family name that is inherited and added to a person’s name.

When did the first surnames appear in Rus'?

To find out where the surnames came from, you need to go back to the 14th-15th centuries and delve into the history of Rus'. In those days, society was divided into classes. It was this conditional division that was reflected in future surnames; representatives of different strata acquired them in different times. Princes, feudal lords, and boyars were the first to acquire family names; a little later, this fashion came to merchants and nobles. Ordinary people They did not have surnames; they were addressed only by their first names. Only the rich and influential classes had such a privilege.

How a surname came to be can be determined by its meaning. For example, the family names of many feudal lords echo the name of their lands: Vyazemsky, Tverskaya, etc. The lands were inherited from father to son, respectively, the clan retained the surname of its founder. Many family names had roots of foreign origin, this was explained by the fact that people came from other states and settled on our lands. But this is typical only for the rich classes.

Surnames of former serfs

It turns out that even in the 19th century, having own surname was an unaffordable luxury that the poor could not boast of and Before its abolition in 1861, ordinary Russian people used names, nicknames, and patronymics. When they gained freedom and began to belong to themselves, and not to the nobles, it became necessary to come up with a surname for them. During the population census in 1897, census takers themselves came up with the names of clans for former serfs, as far as their imagination allowed. For this reason it appeared huge amount namesakes, because the same names were attributed to hundreds of people.

For example, where did the surname Ivanov come from? It's very simple, the fact is that its founder's name was Ivan. Very often in such cases, the suffix “ov” or “ev” was added to the name, so the result was Alexandrov, Sidorov, Fedorov, Grigoriev, Mikhailov, Alekseev, Pavlov, Artemyev, Sergeev, etc., the list can be continued indefinitely. Where did the surname Kuznetsov come from? Here the answer is even simpler - depending on the type of occupation, there were a lot of them: Konyukhov, Plotnikov, Slesarenko, Sapozhnikov, Tkachenko, etc. Some peasants took the animal names they liked: Sobolev, Medvedev, Gusev, Lebedev, Volkov, Zhuravlev, Sinitsyn. Thus, to end of the 19th century centuries, the majority of the population had their own surnames.

The most common surnames

Many people are interested not only in the question of where surnames came from, but also which of them are the most common. There is an opinion that Sidorov is also the most common. Perhaps this was the case before, but today this is outdated information. Although Ivanov is among the top three, he is not in first, but in an honorable second place. Kuznetsov takes third place, but Smirnov holds the lead. The mentioned Petrov is in 11th place, but Sidorov is in 66th place.

What can prefixes, suffixes and endings tell us?

As already mentioned, the suffixes “ov” and “ev” were added to names; if they are removed, the person will receive the name of his founding ancestor. Much depends on the stress; if it falls on the last syllable, then the surname belongs to a peasant, and on the second - to an eminent nobleman. The clergy changed the name of the clan, for example, Ivanov became Ioannov.

When asked where surnames with the suffix “sky” came from, for a long time there was no clear answer. Today, researchers agree that such names belonged to nobles of Polish blood, as well as ministers of churches dedicated to the Epiphany: Znamensky, Epiphany, Holy Cross. They are associated with such holidays as the Exaltation of the Cross, Epiphany, dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.

The suffixes “in” and “yn” mainly belong to Russian Jews: Ivashkin, Fokin, Fomin. A Jew could be disparagingly said Ivashka, and Foka and Foma are purely Diminutive suffixes “uk”, “chuk”, “enk”, “onk”, “yuk” belong Slavic surnames. They are mainly found in Ukraine: Kovalchuk, Kravchuk, Litovchenko, Osipenko, Sobachenko, Gerashchenko, etc.

Random names

Not all surnames can tell about an ancient, glorious family. The fact is that most of them were simply invented by people, so such names do not even contain information about the name, occupation or place of residence of the founder. Sometimes they meet very funny cases, telling where the surnames came from. In the Soviet Union, there was active formalization, so anyone with a dissonant name could easily change it. Many people from villages (mostly young boys and girls) received their last names along with their passports. So, a policeman asked one guy: “Whose are you?” - “Papanin”, that’s how it was written down in the document. And there are a lot of such stories. Be that as it may, now every person has a surname, which can tell a lot of interesting things about the whole family.

In our usual modern meaning- this is a component of the naming of each person, which he receives from his parents. It gives information about his belonging to a certain genus. However, the meaning of the surname is not limited to this. This, as well as its origin, structure, and history will be discussed in this article. Let's start with the meaning of the last name in the dictionary.

Dictionary interpretation

What is a surname? The definition of this word in the dictionary is as follows:

The naming of a person, which is inherited and added to the personal name to indicate belonging to a family. (It’s interesting that in the city of Taganrog, Rostov region, there lives a person with very rare surname, which begins with the letter “s” - this is the surname Yunpuu.)
The same as a genus - in the sense of a set of generations that descend from a single ancestor. (You know that our neighbors Obolensky belong to one of the ancient noble families?)
IN outdated meaning- family, family. (The Oleinikov couple with many children walked decorously along the path at the head of their entire glorious family.)

Synonyms and origin

To better understand the question of what a surname is, let’s look at its synonyms and understand its origin. Synonyms for the word are: clan, clan, family, social unit. Among hyperonyms (close in meaning, but bearing more general character words) can be distinguished: name, name, naming, group.

The word takes its origin from the Latin familia, meaning household members and servants. There it was formed from the word famulus meaning “servant, servant.” Scientists have not been able to trace the origin of the word “surname” more deeply. From Latin it passed into Polish in the meaning of “family, clan” and into German in the meaning of “family”. It is believed that it migrated into the Russian language from one of the two indicated languages.

Set expressions

Continuing to study the question of what a surname is, it should be noted that in the Russian language there are a number stable combinations with this and the adjective “family” derived from it, which include:

Maiden name (Bers is maiden name Sofia Andreevna - wife of Count Leo Tolstoy).
Horse surname - catchphrase and psychic phenomenon. Originates in story of the same name A.P. Chekhov. It is used when some name or surname is literally on the tip of the tongue, but cannot come to mind. Sometimes this phenomenon is called “presque vu” - from the French presque vu, which means “almost seen” (Chekhov’s story “The Horse's Name,” written as an anecdote, was published in the Petersburg Gazette in 1885 with the subtitle “Sketch”).
A family coat of arms is a type of emblem that is a pictorial identification sign of a family or clan (In the pre-industrial period, family coats of arms acted as a “friend or foe” warning system).
- memorabilia having great value for the family and passed on from generation to generation (As heirlooms These people are not so much jewelry as impeccable upbringing, good education and high morality).
Pater familias is a term used in jurisprudence to designate a patriarchal Roman family, where the father of the family was, as they say, king and god. He had power not only over property, but also over the lives of household members (If in the Roman Pater Familias a husband caught his wife cheating, he had to divorce her, otherwise he could be accused of pimping).

Structure and appearance

For better understanding the meaning of the surname, let's consider the structure of this concept. First of all, the surname consists of a root stem that has or had in the past a certain lexical meaning. It can also include prefixes, suffixes, and endings.

Often the basis of a surname originates from a personal name or nickname, which carries some lexical meaning. Prefixes and endings in surnames, as a rule, indicate the word “son” or “daughter” - when translated into the original language. Or they are an indication of ownership, belonging to a place, or form adjectival forms.

Using Russian surnames as an example, it looks like this. They mainly came from patronymics: Sergei - Sergeev son - Sergeev; Volchok (nickname) - Volchkov's son - Volchkov. Somewhat rarer is the variant of origin from the name of the area: Zavolzhsky - from beyond the Volga, Belotserkovsky - from Belaya Tserkov. And also the surnames come from their occupation: Bondarenko - from a cooper, Tokarev - from a turner, Pisarev - from a clerk.

Division into male and female

At the end of our consideration of the meaning of the word “surname”, it is worth noting that in Russian (as well as in several other Slavic languages), as well as in Latvian and Lithuanian, there is a difference between feminine and male surnames according to form. For example, in Russian: Abrikosov - Abrikosova, Naumov - Naumova, Kholodov - Kholodova.

This is due morphological features language. And also surnames can have different shapes unmarried and married women. An example is famous singer Kristina Orbakaite. Her father's surname is Orbakas, and his wife's surname is Orbakiene. Icelanders do not have surnames at all; patronymics used instead for men end in -sson (son), and for women in -dottir (daughter).

Yes, now there are a huge number of paid resources - which offer this service, but do not despair http://www.ufolog.ru/ - on nm there are free fortune-telling and dream books and you will also find out the name where it came from and where its roots are - absolutely free and without registration.

Do you want to know where it came from? your last name, and how did your family originate?

It is best to contact for help scientific centers who are doing this. Services dealing with onomastics will give you documents in which the history of the origin of your surname and your family will be written down. This work is paid, but the results are worth it.

I have come across a lot of similar sites on the network - services on the topic where did the surname come from However, the site Ufolog.ru turned out to be the most interesting and content for me. He even settled in my bookmarks and I visit him periodically. Here's a link to it. Tyts

Find the mail site for answers in Google or Yandex, where you write your last name and they will answer you in a few minutes. You can also find out the origin of the surname on the website surname analysis, where you take a test and find out the origin of your surname.

How to find out your ancestry or how my last name came about
You have two options.

The first is to do etymology yourself. The second is to seek help from a specialist - an etymologist, he will dig up your entire family tree. This is not at all easy, and the main thing is not to run into scammers who just make up a bunch of lies for you just for the sake of money.
Try to first get acquainted with what you should start with. You can get information here. On this site you will read a lot of interesting things and you can chat on the forum with interesting people. You will have the opportunity to receive a family diploma and much more.
There is another search option, take a look here. Perhaps you will like this site more?

To find out where did the surname come from, you can use free online services, you can use paid online services. But paid services provide information that is in free access. So I don’t recommend using paid services, since paid services are a scam.

I looked up the origin of my last name on the Internet, and it really surprised me. I like my version better. But I believe that the truth has many faces, and there are many possible options in different areas of residence and different states, I mean Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

In order to find out for sure the origin of the surname, it is necessary to look up archival documents in which this can be attested. But most likely there will be no such documents. Following simple logic, by the sound of the surname, you can try to determine where it came from, for example, Ivanov is the son of Ivan, Petrov is the son of Peter, Zadorozhny is the one who lives across the road. That is, surnames were invented based on some characteristics, and at first there were just names, but since there are few names and there are many people, everyone must be distinguished and addressed to each person personally. A working free online service that I came across is a site called ufologist, here is the link

All online servers are built on some kind of data taken from sources and many of them do not (to put it mildly) display reliable information; most likely these are the arguments of some people who, based on their own experience and read literature, draw some conclusions. For example, I was somehow interested in whether my relatives had anything to do with Lermontov’s duel, after which he died, and at the same time was interested in the origin of the Martynov family (my roots are from the Oryol province, where the family estate of Count Martynov was located) and I’ll say this: I’ve read a lot of such fairy tales about all this, that I no longer understand where is the truth and where is fiction... You are unlikely to be able to find out the exact data, only the reasoning of other people!

There are several options to find out the origin of your last name.

Ask your relatives, grandparents. Perhaps they know, but in this day and age it is unlikely.
Contact free online services. Perhaps they will help, but of very poor quality, and this information can only be used for entertainment or general development.
Contact specialists who will conduct a thorough and serious research of your name. It is expensive, but of high quality (although it all depends on the specialist; many, in pursuit of money, are only looking for a way to deceive).

To find out the origin of your surname, you need to order a very expensive and lengthy study from those specialists who do this professionally.
A free online service where you can find out where a surname comes from is complete nonsense.
Therefore, for a person who wants to find out the origin of his last name, there is only one option - contact specialists and prepare a decent amount of money.

Section 1. SURNAME AS A SPECIAL TYPE OF NAMING OF A PERSON:

§ 4. From history words surname (you are now on this page)

Section 2. HISTORY OF FAMILIES OF THE SMOLENSK REGION IN THE ETHNOSOCIAL ASPECT:

§ 3. Surnames of the Smolensk nobility:

3.3. Smolensk noble families in the historical and cultural area:
Section 3. SURNAME OF MODERN SMOLENSCHIA:

§ 1. Surnames formed from rare forms of baptismal names:

§ 2. Surnames formed from non-baptismal names:

§ 7. Structural features read Smolensk surnames
Section 4. SURNAMES WITH DIALECT BASES:
– Read letters A–B
– Read letters G–L
– Read letters G–L
– Read letters G–L
APPLICATION:

1. EMPHASIS IN SURNAMES

2. DECLINATION OF SURNAMES

LITERATURE
LIST OF DICTIONARIES AND ABBREVIATIONS
LIST OF SOURCES AND ABBREVIATIONS
INDEX OF SURNAME read

Smolensk Avraamievsky Monastery for Men in 1912
Author of the photo: S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky

The word surname (lat. familia) appeared in Russia in the Peter the Great era and immediately acquired a certain activity, since Peter I encouraged the use of foreign words. However, borrowed through the Polish language from Latin surname came to Rus' not with our usual modern meaning of “hereditary family naming of a person”, but with the meaning of “clan, family” (Vasmer M. Etymological dictionary Russian language. M., 1973. T. IV). The system of anthroponymic terms, in particular the term surname, Along with the formation of the anthroponymic norm, a long and the hard way development.

History of the word surname Researched by S.I. using dictionaries. Zinin (On the term surname // Questions of onomastics. Proceedings of Samarkand University named after A. Navoi. Samarkand, 1971. Ser. 1. Issue 214), but his observations are fragmentary and not confirmed by analysis factual material sources.

So the word surname“family, clan” began to take root in the era of Peter I: “On the 19th day, His Majesty went to Schlutenburg... to meet his last name queens and princesses" (Camping journals of Peter I. 1708. Hereinafter our italics - I.K.); “And whoever is childless is free to give his immovable property to one surnames his own, whoever he wants” (Edicts of Peter I, 1714); “Decree... to the undergrowth of all last name senior officials...” (“Reports in the Senate. 1713”) (Based on materials from the Card Index of the Russian Language Dictionary of the 11th–17th centuries, Institute of the Russian Language named after V.V. Vinogradov RAS).

Used the word quite often surname V specified value Feofan Prokopovich: “He is looking for this, and asks you for blood, and your tribe, and your means, all the high surname..." (Sermon on Peter I); “...to daughters, grandchildren, nieces and all surnames..." (Word at the funeral of Peter I); “...it was a monarchy, and a monarchy in a single surnames inherited..." (A word of praise on the birthday of Pyotr Petrovich. Prokopovich F. Works. M.-L., 1961). As we can see, F. Prokopovich used the new word surname with a narrower meaning - “ royal family, genus".

Surname is fixed in the language - it was attested by almost all lexicons of the 18th century: familie, familia, gens, clan, tribe, generation; surname, one’s own, family, strangers (Weisman E. German-Latin and Russian lexicon together with the first beginnings of the Russian language for the common benefit. St. Petersburg, 1731); surname– “home, family” (Nordstet I. Russian with German and French translations dictionary. St. Petersburg, 1780–1782. Part 1–2). In Russian Cellarius surname is given without interpretation in the section “Adding foreign words accepted in the Russian language,” which emphasizes the novelty of the lexeme and its unsettled stylistic status (Russian Cellarius, or Etymological Russian Lexicon. M., 1771).

Surname also appears in the first explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Academy, but its explanation is rather vague, since the word has not yet been fully mastered by the language: surname(lat. familia) - “house, family, wife and children, all kinship, generation” (Dictionary of the Russian Academy, arranged in alphabetical order. St. Petersburg, 1806–1822. Vol. I–VI).

By the way, the materials of the Card Index of the Russian Language Dictionary of the 11th–17th centuries, which contains quotations from sources of the 18th and even 19th centuries, confirm the expansion of the semantics of the word surname in the process of its consolidation in the language. It could also be used to mean “wife”: “ Surnames I ask your Excellency to convey my regards" (1727, from private correspondence Anna Ioannovna); in the meaning of “generation, series of generations”: “Sometimes a whole surname There is a family of musicians, at least the Ivlevs, a family of artists who are particularly inclined towards something” (Notes of Semyon Poroshin for 1764–66). The very first fixations of the modern main anthroponymic meaning of the word surname- “hereditary family name of a person” - are attested in written monuments only in the second half of the 18th century: “And those who remained here... are still serving, which is attributed to you for your information, and about cash surnames our list is attached" (Commission on the Council Code. 1767) By the end of the century surname in its modern meaning, it appears in many sample documents, in list forms: rank, first name, patronymic, last name(General Secretary, or New and Complete Letter Book. M., 1793).

Most active word surname“hereditary family naming of a person” was common in the western regions of the Russian state, especially where Polish influence was strong. So, for example, in the novel unknown author XVIII century "Veselukha Tower", describing the life of Smolensk in 1783–84, word surname usually.

In lexicographic works for the first time the modern meaning of the word surname, which has become terminological in anthroponymics, is attested only in the Dictionary of the Church Slavonic and Russian Languages of 1847, and even then it is represented only by the third: surname– 1) clan, tribe, generation, 2) family, 3) name, nickname (T. IV). Also, this meaning is not presented as the main one in V.I.’s Dictionary. Dahl, who notes it in the structure of the word along with the meanings of “family”, “clan”, “generation”, “wife” (Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language. M., 1956. Vol. I–IV). Surname in the meaning of “wife” is currently an outdated and colloquial word, but is found in speech rural residents quite active. In our opinion, it has acquired a certain expression: surname– “wife” is used either as an indicator respectful attitude, or as a mocking name. By the way, also V.I. Dahl noted at the word surname the meaning of “haberdashery politeness of the name of spouse, wife” (Dal. T. IV).

The dictionary entry contains the main modern meaning of the word surname appeared only in the 30s of the 20th century: surname– 1) hereditary family name, added to the personal name and passed from father (or mother) to children, and also (before the revolution, now optional) from husband to wife (Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language. Edited by D.N. Ushakov. M., 1936–1940. T. I–IV). The modern explanatory dictionary presents following values: surname– 1) “the hereditary family name of a person, added to the personal name, passed from the father (or mother) to the children”; 2) “a number of generations bearing one hereditary name and having one ancestor; clan, family"; 3) “family, family members (colloquial)”; 4) "in ancient Rome: a family economic and legal unit, which, in addition to blood relatives, also included slaves” (Dictionary of the Russian Language. M., 1981–1984. Vol. I–IV). As we can see, the word is still polysemantic, but the main one, of course, is the meaning, which has become anthroponymic and determines the hereditary official naming of a person. Its early meanings, borrowed back in the Peter the Great era, also remain in the language.

Before the appearance surnames There were other words in the Russian language that helped to distinguish a person in society and at the same time emphasize his belonging to a particular family: “The man is her Artemey Eremeev son nickname Makarov" (Piece record. 1666); "In the name of Kozma nickname Minin" (“Pskov 3rd Chronicle, list of the 17th century”) (Based on materials from the Card Index of the Russian Language Dictionary of the 11th–17th centuries). A. Balov wrote back in the 19th century that “ surname there is nothing more than nickname a whole family, passed on from the ancestor to his descendants" (Balov A. Great Russian surnames and their origin // Living antiquity. St. Petersburg, 1896. Issue. 2). However, the word nickname was polysemantic during the formation of the anthroponymic norm and by the end of the 18th century was fixed in the language with the meaning “an additional unofficial name for a person, often of an expressive nature”: “In the same days, Ustyuzhan Ivan Zakharyev son Roznitsyn, Mixer nickname, came from Tuglim in a tray, bringing the same old goods” (1633. Customs books of the Moscow State of the 12th century. M.-L., 1951. T. 1); "Elder Olena nickname Goat's Head" (Gautier Yu.V. Monuments of the defense of Smolensk 1609–1611, 1609, M., 1912).

In the 17th century, the term used to mean “family naming” nickname, having with the word nickname general producing verb nickname“to name, to name, to give a name”: “You would have ordered those monks to ask what rank they were in the world, and who had the name and nickname, and which monastery they were tonsured...” (Additions to the Historical Acts. 1683 St. Petersburg, 1846–1862. T. X); “I asked him his name and nicknames"(Investigation cases about Fyodor Shoklovit and his accomplices. St. Petersburg, 1884. T. 1.); “A certain widowed noblewoman named Vasilisa, nickname Volokhov, with his son Daniil Volokhov" (Life of St. Dmitry Tsarevich. List of the 17th–18th centuries. St. Petersburg, 1879).

Word nickname in the indicated meaning is attested in the Dictionary of the Russian Academy: nickname– “naming; the name that the whole family had from time immemorial, or who took it again: Theophanes nickname Prokopovich." However, the term nickname in the meaning of “hereditary family naming” was not fixed in the language, perhaps due to its family ties with the word nickname, which, as we noted, came to be used only to denote an additional, unofficial name for a person: nickname- "Name, given to a person as a joke, in mockery, etc. (usually containing an indication of some noticeable trait of character, appearance, activity, etc.)” (Dictionary of the Russian Language. Vol. III). Word nickname in the 30s of the 20th century, in all meanings it became obsolete and regional.

And yet, the Dictionary of Russian Onomastic Terminology records: “ Nickname- a type of anthroponym. The name that the whole clan had from time immemorial and everyone who was part of it” (M., 1988). Token nickname was quite active along with the word surname in a variety of official materials from the 18th–19th centuries. Yes, in letters late XVIII centuries are uniformly used in sample forms: rank, first name, patronymic, last name; rank, first name, patronymic, nickname(General Secretary, or New and Complete Letter Book. M., 1793). In the materials of the Smolensk provincial gymnasium one can find statements and lists throughout the 19th century. (especially active in the first half) having graphs in the formulas: rank, first name, patronymic, last name, position, religion etc., and also rank, name, patronymic, nickname, position, religion etc. ( State Archives Smolensk region).

In the 18th century, in the meaning of “hereditary family naming”, the word is also found (albeit infrequently and mainly in book texts) name:“Palitsyn, Abraham... wrote a chronicle about the reign of Tsar John Vasilyevich, naming Grozny" (Novikov N.I. Experience historical dictionary O Russian writers. St. Petersburg, 1772). The verb was also bookish namedь "name". As we have already noted, in the first explanatory Dictionary Russian Academy lexeme naming given as a synonym for the word nickname and with a meaning similar to the modern interpretation of the term surname. A kind of “confusion” in the use of lexemes nickname, nickname, appellation And surname in the modern sense most likely continued even before mid-19th century, as evidenced by the materials of the Dictionary of Church Slavonic and Russian Languages of 1847, where interpretations of all four words are presented through references to each other (Vol. III). In addition, in some works of an onomastic nature in the same 19th century, compound terms were used, representing a kind of contamination of lexemes: family nickname, family nickname, family nickname(Karnovich E.P. Family nicknames and titles in Russia and the merger of foreigners with Russians. St. Petersburg, 1886; A. Balov. Op. cit.). Naming as a little-used word, mainly of a dictionary nature, it has completely left the language and is currently not noted in lexicographical sources. A complete victory in the meaning of “hereditary family naming of a person” was won by surname, which has become an anthroponymic term of widespread use, which has entered into active vocabulary any native speaker.

Nevertheless, we point out that in the Ukrainian language, for example, the word surname in anthroponymic meaning it is used very rarely - the main term is nickname, it is this word that has been fixed to designate the official hereditary naming of a person (Zhovtobryukh M.V. About the term vocation” // Journal “Movoznavstvo”. Kiev, 1969. No. 4). IN Belarusian language the term is also used nickname(We find individual observations on its history in the dissertation research of the famous Belarusian anthroponymist M.V. Biryly. Belarusian anthroponymy. Minsk, 1969). It is interesting that in the Polish language, which was the transmitter language for borrowing the lexeme surname, in the modern anthroponymic meaning the word is mainly known nazwisko. Among the Slavs, only the Bulgarians have a compound term family name

As we can see, the Russian language has mastered borrowing and created on its basis an anthroponymic term to designate the main component of the structural formula for naming a person.