Sokolov: the origin of the surname. History and meaning

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Now it is hard to imagine that a person does not have a last name. For some peoples, patronymics may not be registered in official documents. Today we will talk about the origin of the name Sokolov. Studying the history of your family will always be beneficial - you can get information about your ancestors and learn interesting facts from the history of a particular region where your family lived.

History of the term "surname"

The word itself comes from Latin and translates as "family". It is very symbolic, since in the modern world it is the surname that represents a specific genus, allows you to make a family tree.

Earlier, a community was called a surname, where the masters and their slaves were under the same name, so to speak. So it was indicated that the enslaved belonged to certain people.

But now everything is different, and the surname is passed down from generation to generation. If there is a desire, then you can find the very first person, the progenitor who laid the foundation for this family. Honoring ancestors has always been important.

Sokol or Sokolov?

In the modern world, you can find both options. Do they belong to the same genus? This is worth finding out by looking into the genealogical tree of a particular family. The origin of the name Sokol is usually associated with the same name.

In ancient Russia, it was customary to give the child the first baptismal name and the second non-church name, often associated with the animal world. For example, Wolf, Bear, Falcon, Oak and the like. This is a reference to the pagan past, and people believed that the child was thus endowed with the qualities of a name. Parents hoped that this would save the child from the evil eye and spoilage, and help in life. For example, a falcon is clear, a bear is strong. This is one of the variants of the origin of the name Sokolov. Moreover, this phenomenon was observed until the end of the XVII century. Exactly until the church forbade giving a second pagan name.

An interesting fact is that often children were given bird names, not animals. Perhaps this is due to the fact that there was a kind of worship of birds. And this is not surprising. Birds played a big role in the economy of each family, they predicted the weather. Do not forget that such a bird as a falcon often participated in hunting, and this was widespread among the nobility.

What is the origin of the name Sokolov? Option two

However, this surname could appear not only because of the animal name. In the XVII-XIX centuries, many people still did not have surnames at all. If a young man got to study inseminary, he could get a surname depending on the place of birth or residence. That is, if the village where the student came from was called Sokolovo, then, accordingly, he received the surname Sokolov. Also, the surname was assigned according to the names of church holidays, icons, saints, animals, plants.

Third surname origin

We already know that families were originally given names depending on the name that the person bore. But there are also cases when higher authorities could change the surname. But not just like that, but depending on the qualities that a person has shown.

An example is the case when an exam was held in the Tver province, in which a young man with the surname Bukharev answered questions simply phenomenally. The one who received the answers was incredibly struck by the mindset of the young seminarian and said that now he would not be Bukharev, but Orlov or Sokolov. Here there is a reference again to the qualities possessed by these birds of prey. This is a rather interesting case when the surname changed so unusually. This happened quite rarely, but it could well have happened.

The origin of the name Sokolov, as we see, can also be associated with several options. In order to find out exactly this, you need to make a family tree. Family documents and even the archives of local libraries will help you with this. It is possible that your ancestor could be written about in the press of that time.

The origin, meaning and history of the Sokolov surname are, of course, interesting, but remember,that it is one of the most common generic names. At the beginning of the 20th century, researchers in St. Petersburg counted the number of repetitions for various surnames, and Sokolov was in seventh place.

The origin of the surname Sokolov is also very important for posterity, it allows you to get to know the culture of ancient Russia and get to know your family better.