A Slavic name suffix is a common way of forming
patronymics
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
,
family names
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, ...
, and pet names in the
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
. Many, if not most, Slavic last names are formed by adding
possessive
A possessive or ktetic form (abbreviated or ; from la, possessivus; grc, κτητικός, translit=ktētikós) is a word or grammatical construction used to indicate a relationship of possession in a broad sense. This can include strict owne ...
and other
suffixes
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the Stem (linguistics), stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the Grammatical conjugation ...
to
given names
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
and other words. Most Slavic surnames have suffixes which are found in varying degrees over the different nations. Some surnames are not formed in this way, including names of non-Slavic origin. They are also seen in North America, Argentina, and Australia.
An example using an occupation is ''
kovač'', ''
koval'' or ''
kowal
Kowal may refer to:
*Kowal (surname)
Kowal is a Polish surname meaning "wikt:smith, smith". It may refer to:
* Andrzej Kowal (born 1971), Polish volleyball coach
* Aneta Kowal (born 1991), American model
* Austin Kowal (born 1985), American artis ...
'', which means blacksmith. It is the root of the names
Kovačević Kovačević ( South Slavic, Cyrillic: Ковачевић), Kovačevič ( Slovene and Slovak; feminine (Slovak): Kovačevičová) or Kovačovič ( Slovak; feminine: Kovačovičová), is a Slavic surname meaning "lackmith's son". The surname is d ...
,
Kovačić,
Kowalski
Kowalski (; feminine: Kowalska, plural: Kowalscy) is the second most common surname in Poland (140,471 people in 2009). ''Kowalski'' surname is derived from the word ''kowal'', meaning " lackmith".
" Jan Kowalski" is a name that is used as a p ...
,
Kowalchuk Kovalchuk ( Ukrainian and Russian: Ковальчук), Kavalchuk ( be, Кавальчук), Kowalczuk ( Polish), Covalciuc (Moldovan/Romanian), also transliterated as Kowalchuk (in the North American diaspora), is a common East Slavic surname (o ...
,
Kowalczyk
Kowalczyk is the fifth most common surname in Poland (98,739 people in 2009).Ministry of Interior (Poland). Statystyka najpopularniejszych nazwisk występujących w Polsce in 2009'' (The most popular surnames in Poland in 2009). The name comes ...
,
Kovachev Kovachev ( bg, Ковачев; also transliteration, transliterated ''Kovačev'') is a Bulgarian surname originating from the word ''Kovach'', meaning blacksmith. Notable people with the surname include:
*Andrey Kovatchev
*Bogomil Petrov Kovachev
*B ...
,
Kovalenko Kovalenko ( uk, Коваленко) is a very common Ukrainian surname.
It is used commonly to describe a son of a blacksmith and is the equivalent of ''Smithson'' in the English-speaking world, derived from the root ''koval'' ( uk, коваль; m ...
,
Kovalyov, and
Kovalev Kovalyov (russian: Ковалёв), often written as Kovalev, or its feminine variant Kovalyova, Kovaleva (), is a common Russian surname, an equivalent of the English surname Smithson (derived from the Ukrainian word koval' (), which means "black ...
. All mean "descendant of a blacksmith".
The given name
Petr
Petr is a Czech given name for males and a Czech surname. Petr is the Czech form of ''Peter''. For information on Petr as a first name, see Peter (given name).
Given name
* Petr Aven (born 1955), Russian billionaire banker, economist and politic ...
,
Petro or
Petar Petar ( sr, Петар, bg, Петър) is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros (given name), Petros cognate to Peter (given name), Peter.
Derivative forms include Pero (given name) ...
(equivalent to Peter) can become
Petrov, Petriv, Petriw,
Petrenko Petrenko ( ua, Петренко) is a patronymic surname of Slavic origin derived from the first name ''Petro'' (the Ukrainian equivalent of Peter) and effectively means ''of Peter''/''Peter's''. Notable people with the surname include:
Arts and m ...
,
Petrovsky
Petrovsky (masculine) and its feminine form Petrovskaya are Russian-language surnames. People with the surname include:
People
*Adolf Petrovsky (1887–1937), Soviet diplomat
* Boris Petrovsky (1908–2004), Soviet surgeon and politician
*Grigor ...
,
Petrović Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Петровић, ;) is a South Slavic language patronymic surname literally meaning ''Peter's son'', equivalent to the English last name of Peterson. In Eastern Slavic naming customs its counterpart is "Petrovich".
The surn ...
,
Petrić Petrić is a South Slavic surname, a patronymic of Petar. Notable people with the name include:
* Bojan Petrić, Bosnian football player
* Branka Petrić, Serbian actress
* Denis Petrić, Serbian football player
* Frane Petrić, Croatian philosoph ...
,
Petrič,
Petrich
Petrich ( bg, Петрич ) is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Sandanski–Petrich Valley at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. According to the 2021 census, the town has 26,778 ...
, etc. All mean "descendant of Peter". This is similar to the use of "-son" or "-sen" in
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, Engli ...
.
In
East Slavic languages
The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of the Slavic languages, distinct from the West and South Slavic languages. East Slavic languages are currently spoken natively throughout Eastern Europe, and eastwards to Sibe ...
(Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian) the same system of name suffixes can be used to express several meanings. One of the most common is the patronymic. Instead of a secondary "middle" given name, people identify themselves with their given and family name and patronymic, a name based on their father's given name. If a man gives his full name as Boris ''Vladimirovich'' Kuznetsov, then his father's name must have been
Vladimir
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
.
Vladimirovich literally means "Vladimir's
on.
Similarly, many suffixes can be attached to express affection or informality (in linguistics, called a
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
). For example, calling a boy named Ivan "
Ivanko
Ivanko is a Slavic given name and a surname, a diminutive from the given name Ivan, a Slavic variant of the name "John". It may be a transliteration from Иванко or Иванько.
Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Ivank ...
", "
Ivo
Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...
", "
Ivica
Ivica is a Slavic masculine given name, a diminutive form of Ivan. The direct English equivalent of the name is Johnny, while the equivalent of its augmentative Ivan is John.
It is one of the frequent male given names in Croatia, and is also pres ...
" etc, or Yuri "Yurko", expresses that he is familiar to you. This is the same as referring to Robert as "Rob," "Bob" and "Bobby"; or William as "Bill", "Will" and "Willy".
See also
*
Ashkenazi Jewish surnames
Jewish surnames are family names used by Jews and those of Jewish origin. Jewish surnames are thought to be of comparatively recent origin; the first known Jewish family names date to the Middle Ages, in the 10th and 11th centuries CE.
Jews h ...
*
Belarusian name
A modern Belarusian name of a person consists of three parts: given name, patronymic, and family name (surname), according to the Eastern Slavic naming customs, similar to Russian names and Ukrainian names.
Belarusian given names
As with most cu ...
*
Bosnian name
*
Bulgarian names
The Bulgarians, Bulgarian name system has considerable similarities with most other European name systems, and with those of other Slavic peoples such as the Eastern Slavic naming customs, Russian name system, although it has certain unique featu ...
*
Croatian name
Croatian names follow complex and unique lettering, structuring, composition, and naming customs that have considerable similarities with most other European name systems and with those of other Slavic peoples in particular.
Upon the Croatian po ...
*
Czech names
*
Polish names
Polish names have two main elements: the given name, and the surname. The usage of personal names in Poland is generally governed by civil law, church law, personal taste and family custom.
The law requires a given name to indicate the person ...
*
Russian names
*
Serbian names
This article features the naming culture of personal names of ethnic Serbs and the Serbian language. Serbian names are rendered in the "Western name order" with the surname placed after the given name. "Eastern name order" may be used when multi ...
*
Slovak name
Slovak names consist of a given name and a family name (surname). Slovakia uses the Western name order with the given name first and the surname last, although there is a historical tradition to reverse this order, especially in official context ( ...
*
Ukrainian name
Ukrainian names are given names that originated in Ukraine. In addition to the given names, Ukrainians also have patronymic and family names (surnames; see: ''Ukrainian surnames'').
Ukrainian given names
Diminutive and hypocoristic forms native ...
*
Slavic names
Given names originating from the Slavic languages are most common in Slavic countries.
The main types of Slavic names:
* Two-basic names, often ending in mir/měr (''Ostromir/měr'', ''Tihomir/měr'', '' Němir/měr''), *voldъ (''Vsevolod'', ...
References
{{Reflist
Name suffixes
Slavic culture
Slavic-language names