What letters have the most surnames. Russian surnames for women and men

Speaking about the most common surname in our country, many will think that the surname Ivanov is in the lead. However, there will be some bewilderment here, since the most common surname in Russia is absolutely not this one.

Most popular in the world

1. Nguyen
2. Garcia
3. Gonzalez
4. Hernandez
5. Smirnov
6. Miller

So, we see that Lee is the first to be listed in the most popular surnames in the world. On our entire planet, there are over 100,000,000 people who have this. Moreover, most of them live in China, however, there are many Vietnamese with such a surname. We all know very well one of these people - a reformer in Chinese martial arts and actor Bruce Lee.

The next most common surnames in the world are Zhang and Wang. The first of them is recognized as the oldest on Earth - for the first time the name Zhang was mentioned over 4000 years ago. And twenty years ago, she was especially popular, until the name Lee bypassed her. In our time on Earth, there are approximately 100,000,000 people with this surname. Those who bear the surname Wang are somewhat smaller - approximately 93,000,000 people. In ancient times and the Middle Ages, the prefix Wang meant the title of a Chinese, Korean, or Mongol ruler.

Russian popular surnames

On the territory of our homeland, you can often meet a person with the surname Smirnov, which is located in ninth place in the world list of surnames. The surname rating of our compatriots is as follows:

1. Smirnov
2. Ivanov
3. Popov
4. Kuznetsov
5. Sokolov
6. Lebedev
7. Novikov
8. Kozlov
9. Morozov
10. Petrov

And now you will definitely be able to easily give anyone an answer to the question of which Russian surname is the most common, and you will not mislead anyone. The statistics are there. Approximately 70,000 Smirnovs live in the capital of our Motherland alone. And where did such a surname come from? Yes, everything is simple - if in a large peasant family a quiet and calm child appeared, then he was given the worldly name Smirny. So gradually from this worldly name, which was always remembered better than church name, the surname Smirnov appeared. Today there are approximately 2,500,000 Smirnovs in our country.

Next most popular surnames in Russia it is Ivanov and Popov. The surname Ivanov was originally a patronymic from the name Ivan. The stress when pronouncing the surname used to be placed on the letter "A", but today the stress is placed on the last syllable. Popovs - not all come from families of clergy. Previously, the name Pop (Popko) was common in the world, and this surname appeared from here. Also, such a surname began to be given to employees of priests.

The Kuznetsovs went from the name of the lesson. The blacksmith used to be revered and famous person in the countryside, so the surname Kuznetsov is found everywhere. By the way, the most popular surname in America, Smith, means "blacksmith". There are about 4,000,000 Smiths around the world.

From this article you will learn:

We are already accustomed to the fact that each person has a surname that distinguishes him from the rest, shows his belonging to a particular family and is inherited. However, this was not always the case. The official assignment of a surname to each person took place less than a century ago, which, in the framework of history, is very small segment time. History of each a separate surname unique in its own way. Sometimes dozens of people with the same last name live in the same area. Sometimes it happens that we smile when we hear some unusual surname. We will talk about such rare family names today.

There are a lot of rare surnames that really cut the ear. It's just that there are relatively few carriers of such surnames. It is impossible to cover them all in the article, but we will try to at least classify them, divide them into groups.

1. One-letter surnames: despite the simplicity of their composition, they are quite rare and unusual for hearing. People registered in Moscow by last name O ,YU and E .
2. Surnames with one syllable: they are also not common. Only a few families with surnames live on the territory of Russia An , Yong , That and Before .
3. Surnames-toponyms: these are surnames that are consonant with the names of cities or rivers. For example, not many people have surnames such as:

• Moscow ;
• America ;
• Astrakhan ;
• Kamchatka and others.

1. Legendary surnames: these are the names of literary and historical heroes, whose carriers are also very few. These include names such as:

• Crusoe ;
• Grozny ;
• Pozharsky ;
• Chatsky ;
• Karenin and others.

1. Two-root surnames: this includes surnames obtained by fusion of two words at once. Some naming sounds quite harmonious and quite common, but you rarely see such surnames as:

• Good afternoon ;
• eibogin ;
• backstreet ;
• Zacheshymaniu ;
• Nepeyvoda ;
• Gunpowder ;
• Hvataymukha ;
• Shchiborsch ;
• Ubeikon and others.

1. Surnames consonant with ordinary words: these are words that did not receive a normal suffix during the official fixation with the help of suffixes typical for surnames -ov and -in:

- consonant with nouns:

• Water ;
• Stove ;
• Freezing ;
• Pot ;
• Chizh ;
• Magpie and many others;

- consonant with verbs:

• Tron ;
• Razdobudko ;
• bite ;
• peck ;
• negrey and others;

- consonant with adverbs:

• On the side ;
• Sometimes ;
• Generously ;
• Nothing ;
• Come on and others.

This list is endless. We do not set ourselves the task of covering the entire volume of rare Russian surnames: we have only outlined the main trends in their existence. And after all, each of the surnames has its own unique, unique story that can tell about the life of our distant ancestors.

Where could such rare and unusual surnames unaccustomed to our hearing? Initially, a person was given a nickname that distinguished him from the rest of the mass of the people. If a nickname took root in a person, it gradually became a name attached to a certain clan, family, even if unofficially. So the nickname turned into a surname. Since nicknames are most often rude or derisive in nature, all modern rare, unusual surnames come from them. Their origin can be very different, but people who are engaged in anthroponymy (the history of surnames, first names, patronymics and nicknames of a person) identify several main trends in the origin of such names.

1. Surnames were given appearance person:

• bryla (that was the name of people with plump, drooping lips);
• Lobar (man of large build);
• pimple (the so-called pimply man);
• Uraz (crippled person);
• Mug (ugly person);
• Makura (blind person);
• Fursik (small person).

1. The surname could reflect occupation person, his profession:

• Obabok (as our ancestors called people who hunted mushrooms);
• Vozovik (a person selling goods from a cart);
• Lazebnik (barber);
• Argun (Vladimir carpenter);
• clamp (one who deals with horses).

1. Character features also often displayed in unusual surnames:

• Butt (so in some areas they called a stupid and stubborn person);
• Ogibenya (a nickname for a flattering and deceitful person);
• kichiga (empty man);
• Buzun (fighter);
• Palga (nickname for a clumsy person).

4. Surnames could also be given by place of residence:

• Zaporozhets ;
• Vyatich ;
• Moskvich ;
• Volyn ;
• Uralets and others.

1. Since for many centuries Russian culture was formed under the influence of Orthodoxy, many rare surnames have ecclesiastical origin:

• Prayer ;
• clerk ;
• Bell ;
• chanter ;
• god spirit and others.

Thus, each surname has its own little story. How nice it would be if every person who has unique last name, revealed its secret and preserved its history for their descendants. However, in the history of all rare surnames, common points can be distinguished.

XIII-XIV centuries

At this time, people in the villages began to be distinguished not only by their first names, but also by their surnames. Noble boyars received dashing and sonorous surnames, but the peasantry did not know how to speak beautifully, therefore their surnames were the most dissonant. Some of them did not subsequently receive suffixal design and retained their initial form:

• Fritter ;
• Fool ;
• Dubodel ;
• Bogomaz ;
• Tit ;
• stub and others.

70s of the XIX century

In 1874 Alexander II held military reform, according to which universal conscription was introduced, which entailed legal registration surnames for all males. It was not uncommon for a recruit to find it difficult to answer the question of what his last name was. In this case, the surname was given right there, most often in appearance. Since there was no time to fantasize, the surnames often turned out to be funny and even rude. Some of them have come down to us:

• Toothless ;
• One-armed ;
• deaf ;
• Crooked ;
• redhead ;
• Forehead and other surnames.

90s of the XIX century

In 1897, the first All-Russian population census was conducted, which legally fixed the surnames not only for men, but also for women and children. The surname finally became officially assigned to a certain family. Somewhere scribes gave the surnames the desired form with the help of typical suffixes, and somewhere they left them in the form of nicknames, which have become rare today:

• Censer ;
• Turnip ;
• Breeze ;
• Milk ;
• Extreme and others.

1930s

The 1930s saw an important era in common history surnames. In Russia, everyone was offered to change their dissonant surnames. Entire queues of people with the most unusual surnames stretched to the registration departments. The Izvestia newspaper managed to record this historical moment: thanks to her, we have a list of those surnames that disappeared forever in the 30s of the last century:

• Poltorbatko ;
• Around-Fist ;
• Balda ;
• Poodle ;
• doggie ;
• Corn ;
• Barefoot ;
• whiny ;
• fly agaric ;
• Tail and many, many others.

This is such a difficult path for many rare surnames. Some of them managed to survive, others irretrievably gone into the past and exist for us only on paper. Rare surnames not always funny and ridiculous. Among them there are many euphonious and beautiful - such that their carriers are rightfully proud of.

We are used to the fact that every person has a surname. And are there exceptions? Are there many surnames in the world? When and where did the very first appear? Which of them are the most popular all over the world and in individual countries? If you are interested in the answers to these questions, read about everything in order in the article.

Inheritance from ancestors is different

Now it is impossible to imagine a person without a surname. However, there are such people. For example, in Iceland people manage only with a personal name and patronymic (patronymic). And at the beginning of the XX century. in this country, even a law was issued prohibiting native Icelanders from having a surname. Since then, only foreigners or those with foreign roots have it. In addition, residents of the underdeveloped states of Africa and Asia do not have surnames; nicknames are used there to distinguish them. In the rest of the world, people have long been accustomed to using generic names and cannot imagine their life without them. Over time, the most common and popular surnames stood out. And some, on the contrary, have become rare and outlandish.

Comes from antiquity

The origin of this specific generic name dates back to ancient rome. The Latin word familia means "family" or "genus". In Russia, such self-names appeared in the XIV century. and gradually replaced personal nicknames. In any country, noble persons received the first surnames, and then the tradition passed to other classes, gradually reaching the lowest.

Reflecting the characteristics of a particular language and culture, there are many different surnames in the world. It is difficult to calculate how many of them there are in the world, but the most popular surnames can be distinguished. If you look at this rating, you get the impression: the shorter, the more popular. The top four lines are occupied by Asian generic names, because often popular surnames were formed from hieroglyphs.

Top five most

First place - Lee (Lee, Li, Ly). According to unofficial statistics, more than 100 million people in the world wear it. Most of them live in China, Vietnam and Korea, but there are many Europeans and Americans among them who inherited this generic name from some ancestor.

In second place in the ranking of "The most popular surnames" - Chang (Chang, Zhang). This Chinese surname appeared more than 4 thousand years ago, and during this time has become one of the most common in Asia and around the world. She has variants of Zhang and Chen.

Third place - Wang (or Wong, written in Latin Wang). Like many popular surnames, it originated in China. There is nothing surprising here, if we remember that about one and a half billion of the population of our planet are Chinese by nationality. And since Chinese surnames there are only 450, it becomes clear why some of them are so often repeated.

Fourth place - the Vietnamese surname Nguyen (Nguyen). It is so common that in Vietnam itself 40% of citizens wear it. This is hard to imagine in a European country.

The second top five

Fifth place - Garcia. This one is heard by many. It is extremely popular in Spain itself, as well as in countries South America, in Cuba and the Philippines.

Sixth place - Gonzalez (or Gonzalez). Another very common surname in the Hispanic world.

Seventh place - Hernandez. Formed in the 15th century, this generic name is now worn by residents of Spain, Chile, Mexico, the USA and some other countries.

The last three popular surnames in the global top ten come from English, Russian and German.

Eighth place - Smith. This is the most common surname in England, Australia and the USA. Translated into Russian, it means "blacksmith".

Many popular ones are associated with the names of professions. For example: Potter ("potter"), Miller ("miller"), Baker ("baker"), Cook ("cook"), Ward ("guard"), Butler ("butler"), etc. The names of paints were no less often the source from which such popular English surnames like Brown ("brown"), White ("white"), Green ("green"), Gray ("gray"), Black ("black"), etc.

Ninth place - Smirnov. There are several versions of the origin of this surname. According to one of them, it comes from the word "quiet", and according to the other - from the old Russian greeting: "With the new world!". Just like the British, popular surnames in Russia are often formed from the names of the first professions: Kuznetsov, Melnikov, Goncharov, Popov, Stolyarov.

Tenth place in the world ranking - Muller. This is also a “professional” generic name: in German it means “miller”. This surname is common in all countries speaking this language: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg.

The study of surnames is an exciting activity and also one of the ways to immerse yourself in the language and culture of a particular country.

Here is a list of the 100 most popular Russian surnames. It should be noted that for this rating, data collected several decades ago were used. But it's even better, because. there is no point in trusting the results of the modern population census at all.

First, the top 10 popularity leaders. These 10 surnames, according to researchers, in 1970-1980 were about 50% rural population Russia, and about 30% of the urban population of our country.

1. Ivanov. This surname is the undisputed leader of our rating. It is not difficult to guess that its origin is directly related to the most popular Russian name Ivan, so the first place on our list is beyond doubt. A folk joke is known, confirming the wide distribution of this name: “In Russia, Ivanov is like filthy mushrooms.”

2. Kuznetsov. The origin of the surname is connected with the most common and most respected peasant profession. The blacksmith was in every village, enjoyed respect and, as a rule, had a large family, the male part of which was provided with a profession and, as a result, a livelihood. This can also explain the widespread use of this surname. The Kuznetsovs could well have taken first place in our ranking, if not for the influence of the linguistic cultures of neighboring fraternal states in the west and southwest of Russia. In the dialects of the southern and western regions In Russia, instead of a blacksmith, there is the word forger, which was the reason for the transformation of Kuznetsov into Kovalev.

3. Smirnov. There is no unambiguous opinion about the origin of the surname Smirnov. The most different versions, from nomadic wanderers-enlighteners, bringing culture to the people, introducing backward village peasants “with the new world”, to being tied to Old Slavonic name Smirnaya, characterizing a quiet and complaisant person. However, the most prosaic (and most probable) version is based on the naming of people “humble before God” by this surname. Recent statistical studies claim that in our time the surname Smirnov has bypassed the Ivanovs and Kuznetsovs in popularity and is the most common Russian surname.

4. Vasiliev. It is not difficult to guess that this surname is based on the very popular name Vasily in Russia. AT recent times The popularity of the name Vasily continues to decline steadily, but the surname Vasilyev is firmly entrenched in the top 10.

5. Novikov. The prevalence of this surname is explained by the fact that in the old days every newcomer, stranger, newcomer was called Novik. This definition quickly became a permanent nickname and passed to descendants in the form of a surname.

6. Yakovlev. Another surname derived from the popular male name. The name Jacob is the secular counterpart of the church name Jacob. Since most of the surnames have just such a origin, based on the name of the head of the family, we can judge from them the distribution of certain names in Russia.

7. Popov. Initially, the nickname "Popov" meant: "son of a priest" or "son of a priest." In addition, the same word was used to refer to a priestly worker, a laborer. In addition to this, in Russia there was a proper name "Pop", which could also form the basis of this surname.

8. Fedorov. The basis of the surname Fedorov was the church name Fedor, very common in Russia in the 16-17 centuries. The difficult-to-use letter F has not taken root in all areas of our vast country, therefore the name Hodor and the surname Khodorov have the same roots.

9. Kozlov. Before the introduction of Christianity in Russia, our ancestors were pagans and naming a child with a name representing the name of an animal or plant was a very common tradition. Since ancient times, the goat was considered a symbol vitality and fertility. The Scandinavians considered the goat the sacred animal of Thor. The goat was a favorite character of ancient Slavic pagan tales, especially positive character. However, with the advent of Christianity, the goat became a symbol of the devil, the damned, the sinner. At the same time, the expression "scapegoat" was born and a general negative attitude towards this proud animal began to form.

10. Morozov. Oddly enough, but Frost is also a very common secular (non-church) name in Russia. Usually given to a child born during the harsh winter months. The image of Frost is the image of a hero, a blacksmith, who binds rivers and has unlimited power for several months a year. Parents wanted, naming the child with the name Frost, they wanted to convey to him precisely these qualities.

…as well as: