Origin of the surname Polyansky: history, versions, meaning

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

The bearers of the surname Polyansky are the heirs of the family name, which is a monument of Slavic culture, history and language. Slavic surnames are very difficult to separate by nationality. For many centuries, peoples have strived for unity. They studied according to the same books in Russia, and in Ukraine, and in Serbia. The Kyiv monk Berynda Pamvo, who created a unique lexicon, believed that he wrote in Russian, although his own language was actually Ukrainian. Vladimir Dal included in his famous dictionary the words of all East Slavic languages, without dividing them into Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian.

Recently, people have become more interested in the issue of the origin of generic names, the history of their formation. The article will reveal the secrets of the origin and meaning of the name Polyansky.

Toponymic origin of the generic name

Family names, which originated from the geographical name of the object, are among the most ancient. Some of them originated in the 15th century. Such family names first appeared among the nobles. For example, Vyazemsky, Volkonsky, Meshchersky. The presence of a surname in those distant times was a matter of prestige and status, this will also be explained by the fact that there was a need to secure the right to own land, an estate, a city, a village. The nobles took the names of the places they owned as the basis of the surname.

Most likely, the origin of the surname Polyansky is connected with the name of the Polyansky district, from which the ancestors of the family were born. Many settlements with the name Polyana are known, for example, villages in the Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Perhaps the ancestor of this surname was a resident of one of these villages.

It is also quite likely that the origin of the name Polyansky is connected with the village of Polyany, located near the town of Lenchica in Poland.

Since the surnames formed from the toponym contained an indication not only of the genus, but also of the relation to a certain geographical object, they, first of all, were adjectives with different endings:

• Family names in -tsky, -sky, -aninov, -yaninov mostly belonged to noble and noble families.
• Surnames ending in -ichev, -itov, -tsev, -inov, -akov, -yakov, -nik, -х, -ih, -in belonged to other unprivileged estates.

The ending -sky says that the origin of the surname Palyansky is connected with the ancientnobility.

Origin from nickname

There is a version that the origin of the surname Polyansky is connected with the nickname Pole. In ancient times in Russia, all subjects of the Commonwe alth were called this name, regardless of their true nationality. That is, “Poles” were nicknamed the inhabitants of the territory of modern Lithuania, Poland, parts of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the western regions of Russia.

Also, it could be called a person who lives in the field, or a child born in the field.

According to another version, the origin of the name Polyansky is from the Greek family, that is, from the Greek name Polievkt, which translates as “long-awaited”, “desired”, or the name Polien - “somewhat laudatory”, it is quite possible that the surname was formed on behalf of Polyvius - "life".

Jewish version

According to the Jewish hypothesis, the origin of the generic name Polyansky is associated with the name of the village of Polyany in the Uman region. Most likely, the ancestor of this kind came from these places.

Jews in the Russian Empire began to be given surnames starting from the 18th century, after the partition of Poland and the annexation of the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus to Russia. Together with the lands, the state acquired a huge number of Jewish people, most of them did not have surnames, only first names and patronymics.

Catherine the Great ordered a census to know the exact number of her subjects and organize a draftto Army. At this time, they began to assign generic names to everyone, as a rule, either by place of residence, or by occupation, or by the name of one of the parents.

Instead of a conclusion

The meaning of the surname Polyansky is associated with a toponymic object. That is, the generic name is formed from the name of the city, village or town in which its first carriers lived. As a rule, the surname was assigned not when a person lived in this region, but when he moved to a new place. A nickname was assigned to him, which answered the question “Where is he from?” Initially, the answer was: “From Polania”, and subsequently interpreted into “Polyansky”. Thus, "toponymic" generic names were formed.