The most beautiful Ukrainian surnames

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Every person is unique. One has an unusual appearance, the other has a beautiful voice, the third has an interesting surname. Each distinctive feature of a person is a part of his life and a colorful feature. The family name is no exception. It can cause admiration from others, or become an occasion for ridicule.

It is by last name that you can easily determine the origin, nationality of a person. To do this, it is enough to hear the ending. In ancient times, our ancestors were given a variety of nicknames (by profession, occupation, appearance or character), which were so strong that they were transformed into generic names.

Each nation has its own special features of national culture, which is reflected in the surnames. For example, Russian generic names have endings in -ev, -ov, -in; Ukrainian - -enko, -uk, -yuk; Belarusian - -ko, -ov, -ich.

At the same time, many Slavic surnames can have the same endings, but sound differently. The article will discuss the features of Ukrainiansurnames, about the history of their formation and origin, about beautiful female Ukrainian surnames and unique generic names of men. So what is the magic and uniqueness?

The history of the origin of Ukrainian generic names

The origin of Ukrainian surnames is a long story that began several centuries ago. It should be noted that they are more ancient than Russian and even English ones. The first generic names of Ukrainians ended in –enko. This suffix is now familiar and well-known, but few people know that it is ancient and appeared in the 16th century. For example, a beautiful Ukrainian surname - Maistrenko, originated around the beginning of the 16th century, and its root means "freedom".

Now family names ending in -enko are considered typical for Ukrainians and are practically not found among other Slavic peoples. This suffix is diminutive and emphasizes the connection with the father, that is, it literally means "son", "young man", "small". For example, Yushchenko is the son of Yusik (Yuska). Later, this meaning was lost and was used only as a family component, that is, it became an addition to nicknames and professions. This is how the second large group of beautiful Ukrainian surnames arose, which were formed from nicknames and professions: Melnichenko, Zubchenko, Kurnosenko, Shynkarenko.

Male generic names

The most important indicator of the construction of male surnames is the suffix and the ending. They were formed for a long time, based on the root basis of the nickname, occupation, appearance, region of residence. Mostcommon suffixes: -nick, -shin, -ar, -points, -ko, -eyk, -ba. Currently, such beautiful Ukrainian surnames for men are common, such as:

• Pasichnik, Berdnik, Kolesnik, Linnik, Medyanik;
• Fedoryshyn, Yatsishin;
• Zhitar, Tokar, Kobzar, Potter, Rymar;
• Tolochko, Semochko, Marochko;
• Bateyko, Andruseyko, Pilipeyko, Shumeyko;
• Andreiko, Sasko, Butko, Sirko, Zabuzhko, Tsushko, Klitschko;
• Kulibaba, Chikolba, Shkraba, Dziuba, Zheliba.

Female family names

Female generic names were formed in the same way as male ones. The endings in them changed a little, but they could be inclined. But at present there are also such surnames that sound the same for both men and women, for example, Pilipenko, Goncharuk, Serdyuk. Recently, however, generic endings in -yuk have acquired a feminine form - for example, Serdyuk - Serduchka, Goncharuk - Goncharuchka. The most beautiful Ukrainian surnames for girls are considered to be names that end in -skiy (-skaya): Kaminskaya, Pototskaya, Mikhailovskaya.

Polish trace

For quite a long time, part of the modern territory of Ukraine was part of the Commonwe alth, which affected the process of formation of generic names, as a rule, they end in -sky, -sky. They are based on toponyms - the names of settlements, water geographical objects, territories. For example, Zamoisky, Potocki, Khmelnitsky, Artemovsky.

Surnames withendings -uk, -yuk, -chuk, -ak. Baptismal names became their basis: Ivanyuk, Gavrilyuk, Kostelnyuk, Zakharchuk, Kondratyuk, Popelnyuk.

Eastern Influence

Scientific linguists have established that there are about 4 thousand words of Turkic origin in the Ukrainian language. This is due to the resettlement of the Turkic peoples in Transnistria and the Black Sea region. This phenomenon was also reflected in the formation of Ukrainian generic names, for example, the common ending -ko, comes from the Adyghe -ko, which means "son", "descendant".

An interesting fact is that family names ending in -ko are still found among some peoples of the Caucasus and Tatars, and some are very similar to Ukrainian ones. For example, Zanko, Hatko, Kushko, Gerko.

Cossack trace in the history of the formation of generic names

Among the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, there was a tradition to take a variety of nicknames for themselves, behind which they hid their true origin. Many colorful and bright nicknames consisted of two parts. Over time, without suffixes, they turned into beautiful Ukrainian surnames: Zhuiboroda, Zaderykhvist, Nedyiminoga, Lupybatko. Some of them can still be found today. For example, Sorokopud, Tyagnibok, Krivonos.

Funny generic names

Some Ukrainian family names are unusual and funny. Some of them are really funny, but in the national culture they are considered beautiful Ukrainian surnames. List of such generic namescan be continued indefinitely. Here are the most common of them: Golka, Bucket, Nestrelyai, Grivul, Khudoba, Surdul, Nedaikhleb, Zhovna, Kuropyatnik, Pipko-Possessed, Fear, Mosh, Kochmarik, Gurragcha, Boshara.

Beautiful Ukrainian family names

Scientific linguists have identified a number of interesting, well-known beautiful Ukrainian surnames. This list includes such generic names as Stepanenko, Tkachenko, Leshchenko, Onishchenko, Romanyuk, Plushenko, Skripko, Vinnichenko, Goncharenko, Sobchak, Skripko, Guzenko, Tishchenko, Tymoshenko.

Instead of a conclusion, or ethnic features of Ukrainian surnames

The diversity and colorfulness of Ukrainian generic names is the result of the influence of those states and peoples who have visited the country. For a long time, Ukrainian surnames could change several times, but in the 18th century, thanks to the decree of Maria Theresa, all generic names received legal status. This law also applied to that part of the Ukrainian state that was part of Austria-Hungary.

Ukrainian family names should be distinguished from those belonging to Ukrainians. For example, Schwartz is a very common surname on the territory of Ukraine, but it is a German generic name, from which an equally famous surname, Shvartsyuk, was formed.

Thus, due to foreign influence, many national Ukrainian family names acquired a specific sound. For example, Yovban comes from Yov, which in Hungarian sounds like Yovb. The surname Penzenik, has the Polish root "penzits", whichtranslated as "scare".