Belarusian surnames began forming as early as the seexteenth-seventeenth centuries when its lands were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Similar to most European countries, this process primarily affected the local aristocracy, namely the noble class.
The majority of the population acquired official surnames during the period when Belarus was already incorporated into the Russian Empire. The main portion of Belarusian surnames originated in the seventh-eighteenth centuries, but their official registration only took place in the 1930s.
History of Belarusian surnames
Due to Belarus' historical context as a multicultural and multi-confessional society within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and later as it became part of the Russian Empire and eventually passed on to the Soviet Union, Belarusian surnames are closely related to the Polish, Lithuanian, and Russian languages.[1]
The first stable family names were adopted by the magnate families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) from the second half of the fifteenth century. These ancient ancestral names are still widely spread among Belarusians today[2]:
However, the majority of noble and peasant surnames in the 16th century had patronymic origins. In Eastern Belarus, which became part of the Russian Empire as a result of the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, surnames formed later and were characterized by Russian suffixes such as -ov/-ev, -in. At the same time, original Belarusian surnames acquired the Ukrainian suffix -ko, instead of the Russian -ov. For example, Honcharenok became Honcharenko, Kurilenok became Kurilenko.
Derivation of Belorusian surnames
Patronymics
See also: Patronymic
The largest group of Belarusian surnames is formed based on the name of the father or grandfather. There are several patronymic suffixes that are used to form such surnames.
The most common suffix is -ov/-ev, which is used not only in patronymic surnames but also in surnames derived from nicknames or common names. Surnames such as the following are identical to their Russian counterparts.
However, the surname Astapov has a Belarusian phonetic root since the Russian equivalent would be written as Ostap. Surnames with the suffix -in are less common among Belarusians than Russians, but names like Ilin, Nikitin, and others can be found. Surnames ending in -ovich/-evich originally existed as patronymics and were derived from Christian names, such as:
The stress in patronymics in the Belarusian language falls on the penultimate syllable, unlike in Russian, and this characteristic has been retained in surnames. Sometimes, the patronymic suffix was shortened if the base ended with a vowel sound, resulting in suffixes like -ich in surnames such as:
Or -inich in:
Very rarely, when the base ends with -ka, the suffix -its appears, as in:
Geographical names
Most commonly, noble surnames were derived from the names of estates, so the majority of geographical surnames have their roots in old noble families. These surnames usually have a common Slavic suffix -skiy/-tskiy. Often, these surnames were also adopted by their peasants. Common examples of such surnames are:
Common nouns
The aforementioned suffixes were also used to form surnames from the names of animals, plants, and other common nouns. The most common suffix for such surnames became -skiy. The reason for the popularity of this particular suffix lies in its noble origin. Since surnames ending in -skiy were mostly borne by nobles, people of common origin sought to adopt surnames with a similar suffix. Therefore, in Belarus, there are many surnames like:
With the suffix -ok, surnames were formed that are indistinguishable from Ukrainian surnames, but their bearers were Belarusians, such as:
And sometimes without a suffix, surnames like the following emerged[3]:
Occupations
Surnames derived from occupations were formed according to the same principle. Craftsmen often acquired such surnames. Among Belarusian surnames, one can find:
Original Belarusian suffixes -enya, -ich, -uk, -yuk
Surnames ending in -enya are unique to Belarusians (although this suffix is also found in Ukrainian surnames, it is typical for Belarusian surnames). Examples include:
- Abramnya
- Goroshchenya
- Protasenya
- Rudenya
Surnames ending in the truly Belarusian suffixes -ich or -uk/-yuk also persist, such as:
The list of Belarusian surnames also includes those with ancient words from the Belarusian language as their base, such as:
- Voitovich (voit - village elder)
- Karankevich (from the nickname Korenko)
- Skuratovich (skurat - looking like a piece of skin, possibly a nickname for an unremarkable person)
Nicknames
Nicknames often turned into surnames in the Slavic tradition. Sometimes they remained unchanged (Shkoda) or preserved a diminutive or affectionate suffix or an adjective suffix, such as:
Occasionally, nicknames had a mocking character:
- Smetnik (garbage collector)
- Rubkartoshka (potato scraper)
Pagan names
The majority of surnames ending in -ich are derived from baptismal names and have a patronymic origin. However, there are still surnames derived from pagan names and phenomena. Only twelve surnames have a different origin:
- Zhdanovich (Zhdan - a pagan name)
- Kuntsevich (Kunts - a pagan name)
- Nekrashevich (Nekrash - "ugly" - a pagan protective name)
Most common Belarusian surnames
Celebrities with Belarusian surnames
- Adam Miczkievich - Belarusian poet
- Vasil Bykov - Belarusian screenwriter
Explore more about Belarusian surnames
- Discover the origin of your surname at MyHeritage
- Belarus revision lists at Uoregon.edu
References
- ↑ В.Ольгомец. Фамилии белорусов как геоиндикаторы ономастических регионов. - Минск
- ↑ http://history-belarus.com/pages/articles/blr_family_names.php
- ↑ Белорусские фамилии https://shorturl.at/fBMY8
- ↑ https://forebears.io/belarus/surnames