Nowadays, every person has a surname. Just as a name is given, a surname is “assigned.” Most people live with their own surname all their lives, and girls live until marriage, after which they change their maiden name to the surname of their husband. There are cases where men take their wives' surnames, but such cases are less common. Have you ever wondered where your last name came from, how old it is, centuries, thousands of years old? After all, you can change your surname, but then the dynasty of kinship may end, and no one guarantees that there are still people on Earth with a surname like yours. We offer you a directory of surnames in which you can try to find yours.

There are such a huge number of surnames that we are simply not able to collect information about all surnames. The directory contains more than 40,000 Russian surnames.

Dictionary of Russian surnames

The surname dictionary can be used as a reference book; free surnames are grouped by letter. The list of surnames is quite detailed, more than 40,000. The history of the surname can go back many centuries. During its existence, a surname can undergo quite significant changes, with the loss of both individual letters and entire syllables, which can radically change the original meaning of the surname. Finding out about the origin of a surname and what it actually means, in some cases, is quite simple. Usually, it is easy to guess the meaning of a simple surname and without hints, for complex surnames this may not be possible at all.

It can be assumed that the origins of any surname lie either in a craft or in the personal characteristics of people, which later transformed into the now known surnames. No genealogy is able to trace the real state of affairs. At best, you can find mention of your last name in historical documents and in this way determine how old it is. The maximum that we have today is a family tree that can be traced back no more than 10 generations.

How to find out the meaning of a surname? Unfortunately, only the very first bearers of the surname knew the original meaning of their surname, maybe direct relatives and that’s all. Then it’s just guesswork and fortune telling on coffee grounds. Let's be realistic if you don't have reliable and detailed information about your ancestors, who they were, where they lived, then your secret surname may never be solved. Therefore, information about the places of residence of all your ancestors can be of great help in finding the origin of a surname. This is very important, because the same word underlying the surname is different nations and in different dialects, they can have completely different meanings. Moreover, even familiar words in the old days had meanings different from modern ones.

In this encyclopedia of surnames you will find both common and very rare surnames, of course there are also the most beautiful surnames. Naturally, the concept of beauty is very subjective and everyone will have their own opinion on this matter. Look at the common last names of visitors. Pay attention to the funniest surnames that real people have to live with. The most interesting thing is that they came down from time immemorial in exactly this form. It turns out that before, people didn’t see anything funny or shameful in their surnames. Only in this case could they be preserved.

Meaning of a proper name

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Surname Meaning

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Middle Name Meaning

« Never call a spade a spade if you don't know their last names».
Stanislav Jerzy Lec

What does the meaning of surnames depend on?

The importance of a person's surname is difficult to overestimate. From the moment a child crosses the threshold of school, he ceases to be just Petya, Natasha or Dima, but also becomes Zaitsev, Romanova, Belov. With this important “increase” our growing up seems to begin. Apart from close relatives, friends and acquaintances, we distinguish people primarily by their last names. The surname helps to make a first impression about a person - for example, with a high probability of being hit, it is possible to guess his nationality. Knowing what the surname means, you can learn a lot about the ancestor, the ancestor. Where he lived, what he did, whether he was tall or small, noisy or quiet. The roots of surnames lie in the personal names or nicknames of people, their professions, and the names of places that existed at the time when surnames began to be formed. On the territory of Russia, this process became widespread in the 16th century, and was completely completed only at the beginning of the 20th century.

What does your last name mean?

It is interesting that the interpretation of surnames very often comes as a complete surprise to their owners. Thus, the sonorous surnames Emeralds and Tulips, similar to an artistic pseudonym, were given not to a jeweler and a gardener, but, most likely, to students of a church school or seminary. Surnames with meanings associated with the names of animals and birds are usually among the most ancient. They were formed at a time when, along with personal names, nicknames were also in use - Crow, Bear, Pig. Many surnames come from nicknames-amulets that ward off evil spirits. Parents often called their child a fool with the hope that he would grow up smart, and malice - kind. So, the ancestors of the Fools were not fools at all, and the Zlobins were gloomy and embittered. By the way, the famous surname Nekrasov also originates from the nickname Nekras, that is, the expectation that the child will grow up beautiful and handsome. So, you shouldn’t feel complex because of “discordant” surnames, much less form a negative opinion about the owners based on them.
Of course, it is not always possible to determine with one hundred percent certainty which meaning of a surname was originally true. Some surnames were born from distorted foreign language borrowings, others from words that can no longer be found in modern dictionaries. However, interest in one’s surname makes one learn more about one’s ancestors, and therefore get in touch with the history of one’s family.

Numerology of the last name

Finally, a numerological analysis of a surname can tell about a certain general mood of the family, hereditary abilities, potential “family” opportunities for success or failure, and methods of communication with the outside world developed by generations of one “dynasty.” Each representative of the surname simultaneously strengthens it with his energy and receives support from it. It is no coincidence that people's destinies change dramatically when they change their last name.
A free online surname analysis will help you get closer to secrets that you may not have even suspected.

The meaning of surnames by nationality

Below is a list of nationalities, by going to the pages of which you can find out some details and the meaning of the surname depending on the country in which they appeared.

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 a dream book 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 research centers that deal with this for help. 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 surname 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 freely available. 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 options possible in different areas of residence and different countries, 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 I 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.

1. Ask your relatives, grandparents. Perhaps they know, but in this day and age it is unlikely.
2. 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.
3. 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.

In the life of every person, everything connected with his past and the history of his family is very important, even if we do not remember every day how many destinies and stories lie behind the shoulders of our family, but for us it is our last name is a very significant part of one’s own individuality.

The surname, like a person’s name, reflects the tribute to our ancestors that we pay, passing on the memory of our own family from generation to generation.

Until the middle of the 19th century most Russian people didn't use surnames. The origin of surnames is of great interest, because at first they were used only by feudal lords, and only later they began to be used by peasants and commoners. In addition, in addition to names, patronymics and nicknames were previously used to replace them.

With the abolition of serfdom, a very difficult task arose, the solution of which took quite a lot of time: it was necessary to give yesterday's serfs surnames that recently only belonged to the upper strata of society. This is where their story begins.

Word "surname" It has Latin origin. IN Ancient Rome it applied only to slaves. But in Europe this word has spread with the meaning of “family”, “spouses”. In Slavic countries this word was first also used as “family”.

Having learned and remembered their last name for the rest of their lives in childhood, many perceive it simply as a given and very significant for us. A very popular question is what meaning does this or that carry, how does it influence its bearer and how significant is such an influence in life.

This thematic section provides a list popular surnames, which may not be exhaustive, but can certainly help shed light on what lies within their diversity.

The key is the ability to avoid cliches and hackneyed formulations. Because at this stage there is a lot of information that can hardly be called sufficiently reliable and accurate.

After all a surname is a legacy that a person carries throughout his life and passes on to his children, giving them a connection with the history of their ancestors over several generations.

Also, the surname is what we use when an official tone is needed in communication and more accurate identification of a particular person. The wife takes it from her husband, for her it is an expression of the promise of fidelity and trust in the chosen man. The diversity of surnames is a direct reflection of the culture of a nation, the breadth of development of its representatives and society.