The meaning and origin of the surname Levitsky

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Where did the surname Levitsky come from in Russian? On this occasion, linguists offer several versions. One of them speaks of the Jewish version, the other of the Slavic. Within these versions there are also discrepancies. Details about the origin and meaning of the surname Levitsky are in the article.

Jewish population

One of the versions speaks of the Jewish origin of the surname Levitsky. In different countries, the Jewish population received generic names at different times. But the beginning of this process mainly dates back to the end of the 18th century, and it continued into the 19th century.

By that time, in Austria-Hungary and the German states, as well as in the Russian Empire, laws were passed that obliged the Jews to take generic names. In these countries, there was a special procedure for this and special commissions were created responsible for the census and "bestowing" the names of this category of residents.

In Russia, this movement began at the end of the 18th century, after parts of the B altic states, Ukraine and Belarus were annexed to it, which followed the partition of Poland. Along with this, on ourterritory turned out to be a large number of Jews who historically did not have surnames. They only had first and last names. For example, Isaac, son of Jacob.

Studying the origin of the surname Levitsky, let's proceed to a direct consideration of its formation among the Jews.

On behalf of

During population censuses, they were included in the revision tales, giving them surnames either by place of residence or by profession. Also popular was the assignment of a generic name by the name of one of the parents or ancestor. One such name is Levi or Levi. The suffix "tsky" was added to it. From this name came such surnames as:

• Levinov;
• Levinson;
• Levin;
• Levenchuk;
• Levinsky;
• Levenhoek;
• Levinovich;
• Levinman;
• Levitan;
• Levenshtam;
• Levinchik;
• Levitanus.

Levi was the son of Jacob, who was the founder of the Jewish priests - the Levites.

Jewish clergy

This generic name is more than three thousand years old. From this tribe descended Moses and his brother Aron. The bearers of this name have kept it most carefully for thousands of years, remembering their belonging to the clergy-cohens.

This title-surname could take different forms, such as Levit, Levi, Levita (Aramaic version), and even with the addition of the article ha, which was written in Russian as Halevi or Halevi. Often such a surnamecan be found among immigrants from Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Riga, Odessa, Kyiv, Poltava region.

Since the status of a Levite priest among the Jews is transmitted through the male line, that is, the son of a Levite is also a Levite, the peoples surrounding the Jews began to perceive this term as a family nickname. Thus, when surnames began to be assigned to the Jews, many of the priests received the generic name Levi. The surname Levitsky originates from him.

Priest name

A number of researchers support the version of the origin of the surname Levitsky from the Hebrew word "Levitic". But at the same time, they believe that this is the so-called priestly surname. Until the 18th century among Russian clergy, generic names, as a rule, were formed in accordance with the place of their service.

But practice has shown that in this way it is difficult to distinguish them from others as specific people. This does not achieve the main purpose of assigning surnames. Due to the fact that many of the locals received the same generic name, it was difficult to determine which of them was a clergyman.

For this reason, a new type of surnames arose, referred to as "priestly". They were formed from the name of the temple and ended in "sky" and "tsky". Then they began to be produced from all sorts of "charitable" and beautiful words, but invariably with the indicated suffixes. One of these words was "Levite", that is, a priest.

In conclusion, considering the question of how the surname Levitsky happened and what the surname Levitsky means, one more version should be said.

At the place of residence

Researchers also do not exclude the emergence of the studied surname from the nickname of the ancestor, which was given to him either in accordance with the place of birth or at the place of residence. In this case, its ancestor was a native of Levice. This is a city located in southwestern Slovakia, in the Nitra region.

It was first mentioned in 1156 in connection with the consecration of the church here by the Esztergom Archbishop. On this site in 1318 a fortress was built under the name of Lewicki Grad. According to legend, it was built by the Hungarian magnate Matus Csak. According to linguists, a resident of this settlement could have received the surname Levitsky, for example, when a population census was conducted.

It should be noted that one of the well-known carriers of the considered generic name is the Russian painter Dmitry Grigoryevich, who was of Ukrainian origin. He lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. and was a master of chamber and formal portraits.