Batushansky (russian: Батушанский, ro, Batuşanschi, pt, Batusanschi, yi, באטושאנסקי) is a
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
that originates from
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
(present day
Moldova) and literally means "of Batushany". There are multiple spelling variations, such as ''Batushanski'', ''Batusanski'', ''Botushansky'', ''Botoshansky'', ''Batouchansky'', ''Batusanschi'', etc.
Origin
Although there is no place named ''Batushany'', a number of populated places with similar names exist, including
Botoşani in
Romania's region of
Moldavia and the village of
Butuceni
Butuceni (Moldovan Cyrillic: Бутучень, uk, Бутучани, ''Butuchany'', russian: Бутучаны, previously ''Ботушаны'', ''Botushany'', pl, Botuszany) is a village in the Rîbnița District of Transnistria, Moldova. ...
in the self-proclaimed
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
in the
Republic of Moldova. Historically, and occasionally to this day, both of these places are called ''Botushany'' in Russian (''Ботушаны'', pronounced identical to ''Batushany''). The remaining towns with similar names either had not had a significant Jewish population or contain a "ch" ("ч") sound in their name rather than "sh" ("ш") and do not have a corresponding
Russian exonym with "sh".
Both Botoşani and Butuceni are possible origins of the surname.
[Beider, Alexander (1993),]
A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire
. Avotaynu. Most Jews in Botoşani did not use surnames until the late 19th — early 20th century, and thus were likely to be referred to by place of origin upon relocation. On the other hand, Botoşani was beyond
Russian Empire's borders, while Butuceni (and all of Transnistria) became part of Russia's
Pale of Settlement since Russo-Turkish war of 1792. After Bessarabia was won from the
Turks in 1806-1812 war, Russian authorities encouraged settlement of this area by ethnic minorities, and for a few decades in mid-19th century, permitted Jews to own or rent land there, offered tax breaks and postponed
military draft. As a result, tens of thousands of Jews migrated from nearby areas within the Pale of Settlement, frequently receiving surnames based on their place of origin.
Slavic ending "-sky" (or "-ski", "-ский" in Russian) suggests that the surname originated during the period of Russian rule.
Due to mass Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe, this surname and its variations occur in many parts in the world, including United States, Israel, France,
Portugal and
Brazil (
Pernambuco and
São Paulo). A few people with this surname may still live in
Moldova,
Ukraine and Russia.
Notes
{{Reflist
Surnames of Jewish origin
Slavic-language surnames
Jewish toponymic surnames