Bright personalities - the bearers of this surname are the brilliant hockey coach Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov and the People's Artist of the USSR Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov. The first of them led the USSR national team eight times to the title of world champion, three times to the title of Olympic champion.
Led by a coach, the CSKA club became the champion of the USSR a dozen times. Vyacheslav Tikhonov, in turn, thanks to the role of Isaev - Stirlitz was perhaps the most popular actor in the Soviet Union. As a tribute to the memory of these wonderful people, we will conduct our study of where the name Tikhonov came from.
Greek etymology
It is believed that historically the name Tikhon comes from the goddess Tyche. Most people are more familiar with its Roman equivalent, Fortuna. The goddess Tyche was originally worshiped by farmers. They deified the favorable combination of circumstances for the agricultural harvest.
Note that, worshiping Tyche, the ancient Greeks honored her as a deitychance, lot, transience. The history of the Tikhonov surname, therefore, should, in our opinion, contain a reference to the essence of this ancient dialectic of luck. The cult of the goddess Tyche assumed active and constant support by its adherents of all the best in life, for everything - both good and bad - is transient.
It was assumed that a person who has a blessing, but does not care about its maintenance, becomes unworthy of such a gift and will certainly lose it. Vigilance should be exercised so as not to miss good luck, as well as sensitivity to opposing influences.
Canonical name
It is noteworthy that the Greek adjective "happy" (eutychon) comes from the name of the aforementioned Hellenic deity. The Christian Church canonized this name. Many great and worthy pastors of Orthodoxy bore the name Tikhon.
The 18th century Orthodox saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, who was elected bishop and headed the Voronezh episcopal see, is widely known. His service is respected. The bishop lived in a meager and modest environment, monthly donating his salary (400 rubles) to charity. Perhaps because of his sincere asceticism, by the will of God, Tikhon of Zadonsk was marked with a gift. He could read minds, had insight. The saint predicted to Emperor Alexander I a war with Napoleon and a victory over him. The light of his life found such a response in the hearts of the flock that many families began to call their sons Tikhons. Exploring the origin of the name Tikhon, it is simply impossible not to mention this shepherd.
However, that was the name of anotherspiritualized personality. A key figure in the recent history of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Tikhon was famous for the feat of his difficult service - the ideological opposition to the ideology of aggressive atheism that reigns in society. It was a difficult and thorny path. It is not surprising that subsequently the grateful flock ardently supported the idea of his canonization. It is noteworthy that the latter took place during the years of stagnation of the USSR.
Let's conclude: the origin of the name Tikhonov, thus, can be traced as a derivative of the corresponding canonical name. However, we will consider further how this happened.
Mentioning the last name in documents
The first Tikhonovs appeared among the nobility and clergy. The earliest known documents about them date back to the 15th century. They, in particular, mention the Novgorod clerk Zayats Tikhonov (1556), the townsman from Yeniseisk Oleshka Tikhonov (1658), the Ryazan landowner Miron Tikhonov (1697).
From Tikhonov to Tikhonov
If from the 15th century in Russia the nobility was given surnames, then after the abolition of serfdom, the process of their assignment covered the rest of the population. In 1888, the Senate issued a special decree ordering citizens: "To be called by a certain surname is not only the right, but also the duty of any full-fledged person, and the designation of the surname on some documents is required by the law itself." At that time, the peasants freed from serfdom had the largest share among the population of Russia. It is impossible to describe the origin of the name Tikhonov without thismassive endowment of the population with them. If earlier the status of peasants was completely and solely determined by the landowner, now they themselves could move to other classes and make property transactions. In addition, the peasant used the allotment - rented land owned by the master.
The greater degree of freedom of the peasant assumed a clearer documentary examination of the newly minted "rural inhabitants". The mechanism for assigning surnames to peasant families was extremely simple. In particular, the origin of the name Tikhonov at this historical stage is obvious: it was given to the wife and children of the head of the family with the corresponding name. In this case, the ancestor is called Tikhon Tikhonov.
Modern spread of the surname
This surname is quite common in Russia. In the ranking of the most frequently encountered, she takes 106th place. In particular, there are more than 1,500 Tikhonov subscribers in the Moscow telephone directory.
Obviously, this is not the final number of representatives of the surname in the 11-million metropolis. After all, the telephone is registered with only one member of the family.
Conclusion
The origin of the name Tikhonov, in addition to the Orthodox Church, has another version, Russian and purely linguistic. According to her, Tikhonov could become a person who has a calm, non-conflict disposition, getting along with others. That is, one who, without boasting and observing tact, behaves quietly in a team. However, the versionpoint of view of etymologists, is not the main one.
Like many others, this surname became most widespread after the abolition of serfdom. We also note that in our century it is difficult to find a certain Tikhonov in a large city even using an up-to-date database. It is advisable to additionally know the identification code or date of birth.
