Slavic name suffixes: Difference between revisions

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A Slavic name suffix is a common way of forming patronymics, family names, and pet names in the Slavic languages. Many, if not most, Slavic last names are formed by adding possessive and other suffixes to given names 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, Kovalyov, and Kovalev. All mean "descendant of a blacksmith".

The given name Petr, Petro, Pyotr or Petar (equivalent to Peter) can become Petrov, Petriv, Petriw, Petrenko, Petrovsky, Petrović, Petrić, Petrič, Petrich, etc. All mean "descendant of Peter". This is similar to the use of "-son" or "-sen" in Germanic languages.

In East Slavic languages (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 [son]".

Similarly, many suffixes can be attached to express affection or informality (in linguistics, called a diminutive). For example, calling a boy named Ivan "Ivanko", "Ivo", "Ivica" 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". Unlike in English, nicknames can be derived from the middle of names, such as "Sasha" from "Aleksander."

Suffix		Region	Notes
Cyrillic	Roman	Region	Notes
-оў/-ов/-ев/-ёв/-ів (-ова/-ева/-ёва)^[1]	-oŭ/-ov/-ev/-yov/-iv (-ova/-eva/-yova)	Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia (rare)	This has been adopted by many non-Slavic peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus who are or have been under Russian rule, such as the Tatars, Chechens, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens, etc. Note that -ev (Russian unstressed and non-Russian) and -yov (Russian stressed) are the soft form of -ov, found after palatalized consonants or sibilants. The suffix -off comes from the French transliteration of -ov, based on the Muscovite pronunciation.
	-ová	Czech Republic and Slovakia	Not a possessive suffix (unlike -ova would be in these languages), but rather it makes a feminine adjective out of a surname. Example: Krejčí 'tailor' (male form), Krejčová 'tailored' (female form)
-цкий (-цкая) -ский (-ская) -ський (-ська) -ски (-ска)	-cki (-cka) -sky (-ska) -ski (-ska) (Polish and Macedonian) -skiy (-skaya) -ský (-ská)	Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia
-овић/-евић -ић -ович/-овіч/-евич (-овна/-евна) -ич/-ыч (-инична/-ычна)	-ović/-ević -ić -ovič /-evič (-ovna/-evna) -ič -icz -owicz/-ewicz -ich (American Spelling) -owitz/-ovitz (German spelling)	Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia (only -ić endings), North Macedonia (rare), occasionally Bulgaria (-ич, -на endings) Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic (-ič, -na), Poland (-icz),^[2] Ukraine, Belarus, Russia (-ич, -ыч, -на)^[2]	Example: Petrović means Petr's son. In Russia, where patronyms are used, a person may have two -(ov)ich names in a row; first the patronym, then the family name (e.g. Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich).
-ин (-ина)^[1]	-in (-ina)	Russia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Ukraine (rare)
-ко -ка	-ko -ka	Ukraine (to a lesser extent in Belarus, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia)	Comes from the physically smaller of a noun; possibly coming from the younger son or daughter of a family. (i.e. Proto-Balto-Slavic āˀbōl > OCS. аблъко, Rus. я́блоко, Srb-Cro. jȁbuka, Pol. jabłko.)
-енко	-enko	Ukraine,^[3] Belarus, (to a lesser extent in Russia)	Of Ukrainian origin.
	-ak (-akova) -ek (-ekova) -ik (-ikova)	Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, also in Russia
-чук -юк -чик -чак	-ik -yk -ak -uk -čak -ček -čik -čuk -czyk -czak -chyk -chuk -czuk	Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland^[2] Ukraine,^[2] Belarus, Russia
-ец -єць	-ac -ec	Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia (only -ac), Czech Republic and Slovakia (-ec), Belarus and Russia (-ец) and Ukraine (-єць)

References

^ ^a ^b "What is your name?". www.shokhirev.com. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Slavic-Rusyn Notes". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19.
^ Slavutych, Yar. "Ukrainian Names in -enko". University of Alberta. Retrieved May 7, 2022.

[:1-1] "What is your name?". www.shokhirev.com. Retrieved 2020-05-29.

[:0-2] "Slavic-Rusyn Notes". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19.

[:2-3] Slavutych, Yar. "Ukrainian Names in -enko". University of Alberta. Retrieved May 7, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|none}}
+A '''Slavic name suffix''' is a common way of forming [[patronymic]]s, [[Surname|family names]], and pet names in the [[Slavic languages]]. Many, if not most, Slavic last names are formed by adding [[Possessive suffix|possessive]] and other [[suffix]]es to [[given names]] 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 (surname)|kovač]]'', ''[[Koval (surname)|koval]]'' or ''[[Kowal (surname)|kowal]]'', which means blacksmith.  It is the root of the names [[Kovačević]], [[Kovačić (surname)|Kovačić]], [[Kowalski]], [[Kowalchuk]], [[Kowalczyk]], [[Kovachev]], [[Kovalenko]], [[Kovalyov]], and [[Kovalev]].  All mean "descendant of a blacksmith".
-A '''Slavic name suffix''' is a common way of forming [[Patronymic|patronymics]], [[Surname|family names]], and pet names in the [[Slavic languages]] (also called the Slavonic languages). Many, if not most, Slavic last names are formed by adding [[Possessive suffix|possessive]] and other [[Suffix|suffixes]] to [[given names]] 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.
-An example using an occupation is ''[[Kovač (surname)|kovač]]'', ''[[Koval (surname)|koval]]'' or ''[[Kowal (surname)|kowal]]'', which means blacksmith.  It is the root of the names [[Kovačević]], [[Kovačić (surname)|Kovačić]], [[Kowalski]], [[Kowalchuk]], [[Kowalczyk]], [[Kovalenko]], [[Kovalyov]], and [[Kovalev]].  All mean "descendant of a blacksmith".
+The given name [[Petr]], [[Petro]], [[Pyotr]] or [[Petar]] (equivalent to Peter) can become [[Petrov (surname)|Petrov]], Petriv, Petriw, [[Petrenko]], [[Petrovsky]], [[Petrović]], [[Petrić]], [[Petrič (surname)|Petrič]], [[Petrich (surname)|Petrich]], etc.  All mean "descendant of Peter".  This is similar to the use of "-son" or "-sen" in [[Germanic languages]].
+In [[East Slavic languages]] (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 (name)|Vladimir]]. [[Vladimirovich]] literally means "Vladimir's [son]".
-The given name Petr or Petro (equivalent to Peter) can become [[Petrov (surname)|Petrov]], Petriv, Petriw, [[Petrovsky (disambiguation)|Petrovsky]], Petrovich, and [[Petric (disambiguation)|Petric]].  All mean "descendant of Peter".  This is similar to the use of "-son" or "-sen" in [[Germanic languages]].
+Similarly, many suffixes can be attached to express affection or informality (in linguistics, called a [[diminutive]]).  For example, calling a boy named Ivan "[[Ivanko]]", "[[Ivo]]", "[[Ivica]]" 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". Unlike in English, nicknames can be derived from the middle of names, such as "[[Sasha (name)|Sasha]]" from "Alek'''sa'''nder."
-In [[East Slavic languages]] Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian, and  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 son".
-Similarly, many suffixes can be attached to express affection or informality (in linguistics, called a [[diminutive]]).  For example, calling a boy named Ivan "Ivanko" 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".
 {| class="wikitable"
 ! colspan="2" |Suffix
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 !Roman
 |-
-| {{Nowrap|-ов}}/{{Nowrap|-ев}}/{{Nowrap|-ёв}}/-ів ({{Nowrap|-ова}}/{{Nowrap|-ева}}/{{Nowrap|-ёва}})<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=What is your name?|url=http://www.shokhirev.com/nikolai/lang/names/names.html|website=www.shokhirev.com|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>
+| {{Nowrap|-оў}}/{{Nowrap|-ов}}/{{Nowrap|-ев}}/{{Nowrap|-ёв}}/-ів ({{Nowrap|-ова}}/{{Nowrap|-ева}}/{{Nowrap|-ёва}})<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=What is your name?|url=http://www.shokhirev.com/nikolai/lang/names/names.html|website=www.shokhirev.com|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>
-| {{Nowrap|-ov}}/{{Nowrap|-ev}}/{{Nowrap|-yov}}/-iv ({{Nowrap|-ova}}/{{Nowrap|-eva}}/{{Nowrap|-yova}})
+| {{Nowrap|-oŭ}}/{{Nowrap|-ov}}/{{Nowrap|-ev}}/{{Nowrap|-yov}}/-iv ({{Nowrap|-ova}}/{{Nowrap|-eva}}/{{Nowrap|-yova}})
-|[[Russia]], [[Ukraine]], [[Bulgaria]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Serbia]] (especially in [[Vojvodina]]), [[Croatia]] (rare)
+|[[Russia]], [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Bulgaria]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Serbia]] (especially in [[Vojvodina]]), [[Croatia]] (rare)
-|This has been adopted by many non-Slavic peoples of Central Asia who are or have been under Russian rule, such as the [[Tatars]], [[Chechens]], [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]], [[Uzbeks]], [[Kazakhs]], etc. Note that ''-ev'' (Russian unstressed and non-Russian) and ''-yov'' (Russian stressed) are the soft form of ''-ov'', found after [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized consonants]] or [[Sibilant|sibilants]]. The suffix ''-off'' comes from the French transliteration of ''-ov'', based on the [[Moscovian dialect|Muscovite]] pronunciation.
+|This has been adopted by many non-Slavic peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus who are or have been under Russian rule, such as the [[Tatars]], [[Chechens]], [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]], [[Uzbeks]], [[Kazakhs]], [[Tajik people|Tajiks]], [[Azerbaijani people|Azerbaijanis]], [[Turkmen people|Turkmens]], etc. Note that ''-ev'' (Russian unstressed and non-Russian) and ''-yov'' (Russian stressed) are the soft form of ''-ov'', found after [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized consonants]] or [[sibilant]]s. The suffix ''-off'' comes from the French transliteration of ''-ov'', based on the [[Moscovian dialect|Muscovite]] pronunciation.
 |-
 |
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 |-
 | {{Plainlist|
-* {{Nowrap|-ский}}
+* {{Nowrap|-цкий}} ({{Nowrap|-цкая}})
-* {{Nowrap|-ський}}
+* {{Nowrap|-ский}} ({{Nowrap|-ская}})
-* {{Nowrap|-ски}}
+* {{Nowrap|-ський}} ({{Nowrap|-ська}})
+* {{Nowrap|-ски}} ({{Nowrap|-ска}})
 }}
 |{{Plain list|
+* {{Nowrap|-cki}} ({{Nowrap|-cka}})
 * {{Nowrap|-sky}} ({{Nowrap|-ska}})
-* {{Nowrap|-ski}} ({{Nowrap|-ska}})
+* {{Nowrap|-ski}} ({{Nowrap|-ska}}) (Polish and Macedonian)
 * {{Nowrap|-skiy}} ({{Nowrap|-skaya}})
 * {{Nowrap|-ský}} ({{Nowrap|-ská}})
 }}
-|[[Poland]], Ukraine, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia
+|[[Poland]], Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia
 |
 |-
@@ Line 53: / Line 55: @@
 * {{Nowrap|-ovič }}/{{Nowrap|-evič }} ({{Nowrap|-ovna}}/{{Nowrap|-evna}})
 * {{Nowrap|-ič }}
+* {{Nowrap|-icz}}
 * {{Nowrap|-owicz}}/{{Nowrap|-ewicz}}
-* {{Nowrap|-owitz}} (German spelling)
+* {{Nowrap|-ich}} (American Spelling)
+* {{Nowrap|-owitz}}/{{Nowrap|-ovitz}} (German spelling)
 }}
-|[[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Montenegro]], Croatia, Serbia (only -ić endings), North Macedonia (rare), occasionally Bulgaria (-ич, -на endings) [[Slovenia]], Slovakia, Czech Republic (-ič, -na), Poland (-icz),<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Slavic-Rusyn Notes|url=http://userweb.ccomm.com/sfpayer/DB/Slavic-Rusyn%20Items.htm|last=|first=|date=|website=|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219071633/http://userweb.ccomm.com/sfpayer/DB/Slavic-Rusyn%20Items.htm|archive-date=February 2012|access-date=}}</ref> Ukraine, Belarus, Russia (ич, -ыч, на)<ref name=":0" />
+|[[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Montenegro]], Croatia, Serbia (only -ić endings), North Macedonia (rare), occasionally Bulgaria (-ич, -на endings) [[Slovenia]], Slovakia, Czech Republic (-ič, -na), Poland (-icz),<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Slavic-Rusyn Notes|url=http://userweb.ccomm.com/sfpayer/DB/Slavic-Rusyn%20Items.htm|last=|first=|date=|website=|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219071633/http://userweb.ccomm.com/sfpayer/DB/Slavic-Rusyn%20Items.htm|archive-date=2012-02-19|access-date=}}</ref> Ukraine, Belarus, Russia (-ич, -ыч, -на)<ref name=":0" />
+|Example: Petrović means Petr's son. In Russia, where patronyms are used, a person may have two ''-(ov)ich'' names in a row; first the patronym, then the family name (e.g. [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Dmitri Dmitriyev'''ich''' Shostakov'''ich''']]).
-|Example: Petrović means Petr's son.
-In Russia, where patronyms are used, a person may have two ''-(ov)ich'' names in a row; first the patronym, then the family name (see
-[[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]]).
 |-
 |{{Nowrap|-ин}} ({{Nowrap|-ина}})<ref name=":1" />
 |{{Nowrap|-in}} ({{Nowrap|-ina}})
-|Russia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Ukraine (rare)
+|Russia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Ukraine (rare)
 |
 |-
 | -ко
+-ка
 | -ko
+-ka
-|Ukraine, also (to a somewhat lesser extent) in Belarus, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia
+|Ukraine (to a lesser extent in Belarus, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia)
-|Comes from the diminutive of a noun, possibly coming from the younger son or daughter of a family. (i.e. Proto-Balto-Slavic ''āˀbōl > OCS. аблъ'''ко''', Rus. я́бло'''ко''', Srb-Cro. jȁbu'''ka''', Pol. jabł'''ko'''.)''
+|Comes from the physically smaller of a noun; possibly coming from the younger son or daughter of a family. (i.e. Proto-Balto-Slavic ''āˀbōl > OCS. аблъ'''ко''', Rus. я́бло'''ко''', Srb-Cro. jȁbu'''ka''', Pol. jabł'''ko'''.)''
 |-
 | -енко
 | -enko
+|Ukraine,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Ukrainian Names in -enko|url=https://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/download/394/393|last=Slavutych|first=Yar|website=University of Alberta|access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref> Belarus, (to a lesser extent in Russia)
-|Ukraine,<ref name=":0" /> Belarus, Poland, Russia
 |Of Ukrainian origin.
 |-
@@ Line 86: / Line 89: @@
 |
 |-
-|{{Plainlist|* -чук
+| -чук
-* -юк
+-юк
-* -чик
+-чик
-* -чак}}
+-чак
-|{{Plainlist|* -uk
+|{{Plainlist|* -ik
-* -yuk
+* -yk
-* -iuk
+* -ak
-* -ak}}
+* -uk
+* -čak
-|Ukraine,<ref name=":0" /> Belarus, Russia
+* -ček
-|
+* -čik
-|-
+* -čuk
-|{{Plainlist|* -чак
-* -чук
+* -czyk
-* -чик}}
+* -czak
+* -chyk
-|{{Plainlist|* -chak
 * -chuk
-* -czyk}}
+* -czuk}}
-|Ukraine, Belarus, Poland<ref name=":0" />
+|Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland<ref name=":0" /> Ukraine,<ref name=":0" /> Belarus, Russia
 |
 |-
@@ Line 110: / Line 113: @@
 |{{Plainlist|* -ac
 * -ec}}
-|Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia (only ''-ac''), Czech Republic and Slovakia (only ''-ec''), Belarus and Russia (-ец) and Ukraine (-єць)
+|Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia (only ''-ac''), Czech Republic and Slovakia (''-ec''), Belarus and Russia (-ец) and Ukraine (-єць)
 |
 |}
 == See also ==
@@ Line 121: / Line 123: @@
 * [[Belarusian name]]
 * [[Bosniaks#Surnames and given names|Bosnian name]]
-*[[Bulgarian name|Bulgarian names]]
+*[[Bulgarian name]]s
 * [[Croatian name]]
-*[[Czech name|Czech names]]
+*[[Czech name]]s
-*[[Polish name|Polish names]]
+*[[Polish name]]s
 *[[Eastern Slavic naming customs|Russian names]]
 * [[Serbian names]]