A Slavic name suffix is a common way of forming patronymics, family names, 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 ...

. 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 ow ...

and other suffixes 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 f ...

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'', which means blacksmith. It is the root of the names Kovačević, Kovačić, Kowalski, Kowalchuk, Kowalczyk, Kovachev,

Kovalenko Kovalenko ( uk, Коваленко) is a very common Ukrainian surnames, 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'' ( ...

, 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, Petro or Petar (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 mu ...

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 *Grigory ...

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 surna ...

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 philos ...

, Petrič, Petrich, 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, ...

. 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 Siber ...

(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. 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-form ...

). 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 * Ivan ...

", "

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".

References

{{Reflist Name suffixes Slavic culture Slavic-language names

See also

References