Chuvash surnames and names

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

Calm, peaceful, quiet, modest - this is the designation given by linguists to the word "Chuvash", as one of the Volga nationalities calls itself. Chuvash surnames have long been mixed with native Russian and Ukrainian ones, or maybe it was other nations that borrowed some of them from the Chuvash? The historical past of this people is very interesting, as is the origin of their nominal names. It is this topic that we will pay attention to today, consider in more detail the surnames and names of the Chuvash, as well as the history of their origin.

Who are the Chuvash?

Once upon a time, presumably in the 7th-8th century, one of the hordes of the Bulgar tribes moved east, reached the region of the middle channel of the Volga and Kama, and settled here, mixing with the Finno-Ugric tribes. Later, the Volga-Bulgarian kingdom was formed here, the population of which was the Turkic-speaking tribes of the Bulgarians, Estelle and Bersula. The Chuvash consider themselves descendants of the Bulgars, Suvars and Savirs. Merging in the Volga Bulgaria of Christian, Muslim, pagan cultural traditions has found itsreflection in names. Primordially Slavic Chuvash names and surnames coexist with Muslim ones, despite the fact that their carriers are of the same nationality.

Where and how do the Chuvash live?

Almost half of all Chuvash live on the territory of the modern Chuvash Republic, which is part of the Russian Federation. Also, Chuvash surnames can be found throughout Russia. Many Chuvash live in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. The main religion of the modern descendants of the Bulgars is Orthodox Christianity, but many of them remain Muslim or worship traditional pagan beliefs. The Chuvash language is a unique branch of the Turkic language group.

Pagan names

Until the first half of the 18th century, the main religion among the Volga Bulgars was paganism, in which great importance was given to naming a newborn. Chuvash surnames, as such, did not exist in those days. This is not a peculiarity of the Turkic language, this order of naming was characteristic of most peoples around the world. Pagan names denoted the forces and phenomena of nature, the qualities that parents wanted to bestow on their child. The Chuvash pre-Christian names were by origin both native to their native language and borrowed from other language groups. Later, after the adoption of Christianity, many names adapted to Slavic, Russian, and were supplemented with surnames. Recently, the population of the Chuvash Republic hasfashion for beautiful pre-Christian national names. The most common are:

Ilem (pi - for a girl) - "beauty".
Miluk is an idealistic person.
Narspi is a beautiful girl.
Alekhan is a defender.
Tahtaman is tenacious.

Transformed Chuvash surnames

The main thing in pagan society was the name, to clarify who exactly it was, a person was added a nickname: belonging to a clan, family: whose? - Ilemov, Alekhanov, Nikiforov, etc. There was a belief among the people that a child would be stronger and he althier if he was given a name denoting the name of an animal, tree or bird. Adding the ending "-ov" formed a second name. These second names were often translated into Russian, forming new Russian surnames, identical in meaning to the Chuvash ones. Examples:

Yuman (oak) - Yumanov, Dubov; Kurak (rook) - Kurakov, Grachev; Kashkar (wolf) - Kashkarov, Volkov; Kartash (ruff) - Kartashov, Ershov. The origin of Chuvash surnames of this kind explains the fact that in the same genus there may be relatives of the Kartashovs next to the Ershovs, the Yumanovs with the Dubovs, etc.

Christianity and surnames

After the adoption of Orthodoxy during the rite of baptism, the Chuvash received a new Orthodox name and surname, which was most often formed from the name of the father and actually served as a patronymic: father - Nikita Ivanov, son Foma Nikitin, grandson Alexei Fomin. Such a name introduced confusion in the workflow,then the Russian government passed a law obliging to wear a fixed surname, which will be passed on to children on the paternal side. Then surnames began to appear, transformed with the help of an ending, from nicknames, professions and occupations, character traits and appearance. Often a person had two names - one old pagan in everyday life, and a new one, with a surname, for official documents.

Chuvash or Russian surname?

At the Chuvashs and Russians, the main part of the surnames is formed by the ending "-ov" or "-ova" for women. This word formation is accepted among the ancestors of the Chuvash - the Bulgarians. After the inclusion of the territory of the Volga Bulgars into the Russian state, there was a mutual enrichment of the cultures of different peoples. Many Russian high-ranking officials came to serve in Chuvashia, adopting the traditions of this region. In turn, the Chuvash became Christians, changed their names and Chuvash surnames to the Russian way. The list of surnames, with common formations for Russians and Chuvashs, as well as for Bulgarians, consists of 70% of surnames starting with "-ov" and "-ev". They were formed mainly from the names of the fathers or from the occupation. A significant part is also made up of surnames with the endings "-n" or "-yaykin". Chuvash names are characterized by the use of petting-diminutive declension. Hence the Mishaikins, the Vanyutkins, the Kolyunins. Abaskins, Chindyaykins, Samardeykins - also from the Chuvash regions.

The most famous Chuvash surnames: alphabetical list

It is very difficult to distinguish by the surname that the genus belongs to the Chuvash roots. historicalevents, times when the surname could be changed at will, led to the fact that now 99% of the Chuvash have Christian names and surnames. And the most common are Ivanov, Petrov, Mikhailov. The following short list includes the most common surnames, which, according to linguists, have Bulgar roots. This, far from being a complete list, is an example of how the ancient history of a people lives in their surnames.