Monday, March 28, 2016

Explaining Ukrainian Surnames Part Three

1740 Map showing Ukraine in Yellow.


This post is the third part of my summary of Greg Gressa's article "The Origins and Meaning of Ukrainian Surnames."   I found this article on the Ukrainian Genealogy site at least 15 years ago and it has disappeared.  Greg Gressa compiled this information from texts by Jeff Picknicki of the University of Manitoba, and works by John-Paul Himka, Frances A. Swyripa of the University of Alberta and others.  He included a short biography of sources of information about the history and meaning of Ukrainian names.  I would be happy to share this list with interested people.  Please email me at pauline.noznick@gmail.com or leave a comment at the end of this post and I will get back to you.

Structural Classifications of Ukrainian Surnames.
Ukrainian surnames can be classified according to their grammatical structure and morphological features as adjectives and nouns.


Adjectival Surnames
Most Ukrainian surnames that behave like adjectives have the following suffixes:
 –sk,-ck,-zk , as well as the endings yj /ij, (masculine ending) or a/ia, (feminine ending).

In the Ukrainian language, adjectives must agree with nouns in number, gender and case.  Adjectival surnames will have a masculine, feminine and plural form.  In the United States, the “j” was dropped from many surnames that ended with yj, and many times the feminine ending was no longer used.

Adjectival surnames are formed from the name of a place where an ancestor lived or originated.
Ukrainian root word
suffix
Adjectival ending
Masculine form
Feminine form
Plural form
English Meaning
More
sk
yj
Morskyj
Morska
Morski
Lived near the sea/shore
Brod
sk
yj
Brodskyj
Brodska
Brodski
From the city of Brody
Halych
sk
yj
Halytskyj
Halytska
Halytski
From the city of Halych


Adjectival Surnames which formed from first names.
Ukrainian first name
Suffix
Adjectival ending
Masculine form
Feminine form
Plural form
English meaning
Pavlov
Sk
Yj
Pavlovskyj
Pavlovska
Pavlovski
Children of Pavlov (Paul)
Fedir
Sk
Yj
Fedorivskyj
Fedorivska
Fedorivski
Children of Fedir (various forms of Theodore)
Tomko
Sk
yj
Tomkivskyj
Tomkivska
Tomkivski
Children of Tomko





Nominal Surnames

Nominal surnames behave like nouns. This type of surname makes up one of the largest groups in the Ukrainian language.  Most are based on nicknames.  The origins of many of these names are obscure and how they came to be is anyone’s guess. The actual reasons behind the formation of the surname probably will never be known.

Surnames from names of birds:
Soroka                                                      magpie
Vorona                                                      crow
Derkach                                                    crake
European Crake
European Magpie

Surnames from names of animals:
Baran                                                            ram
Buhaj                                                            bull
Vovk                                                             wolf
Medvid                                                          bear
Kovbe                                                           type of fish
Kotyk, koshka                                                cat

Surnames from plants and trees
Kulbaba                                                dandelion
Bereza                                                  birch
Kalyna                                                  cranberry

Surnames from names of foods
Maslo                                                        butter
Maslianka                                                  buttermilk
Smetana                                                   cream
Kapusta                                                    cabbage


Surnames suffixes that indicate progeny, regional origin or regional characteristics.

The following suffixes are added to first names to indicate progeny
-chuk            -chak            -uk             iuk            -ak-            -ych            -evych            -ovych            -ets                -iv               -yn            -enko                       
 Nominal Surnames with suffixes that indicate Progeny
First name
Suffix
English meaning
Surname
Sava
chuk
Progeny of Sava
Savchuk
Maksym
chak
Progeny of Maksym
Maksymchak
Taras
uk
progeny of Taras
Tarasuk
Pavlo
iuk
progeny of pavlo
Pavliuk
Harasym
ak
progeny of Harasym
Harasymak
Roman
ych
Progeny of Roman
Romanych
Danylo
ovych
Progeny of Danylo
Danylovych
Mykhailo
evych
Progeny of Mykhailo
Mikhailevych
Prokip
ets
Progeny of Prokip
Prokipets
Fedir
iv
Progeny of Fedir
Fedoriv
Pavlo
yn
Progeny of Pavlo
Pavlyn
Vasyl
enko
Progeny of Vasyl
Vasylenko

Historical Regions of Ukraine

The following surnames indicate the place name where an ancestor may have originated.
Place name
Suffix
Meaning in English
Surname
Podillia
chuk
From the region of Podillia
Podolianchuk
Polissia
chuk
From the region of Polissia
Polishchuk


Although this is a French map, the Ukrainian Oblasts are clearly labeled.

Suffixes that indicate regional characteristics
Western Ukraine: Surnames with the following suffixes are most common to
Western Ukraine, especially in the oblasts of Volyn, Roven,Ternopil’, L’viv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Mykolayiv.
–chuk, -chak, -uk, -iuk, -skyj, ckyj, zkyj.

Central and Eastern Ukraine: Surnames ending with –enko are most common in central and Eastern Ukraine, especially in the oblasts of Kiev, Cherkassy, Poltava, and Kherson.   Greg Gressa states that “Surnames with the –enko suffix are said to be the most typically Ukrainian.  They are common only among surnames of Ukrainian origin and are not found in any other Slavic group.” 

Surname suffixes that are common Ukrainian and other Slavic groups.
Surnames ending in the following suffixes are also found among Russian and Polish surnames, but are spelled differently.
-chuk, -chak, -ych, -ovych and –evych. 

Surnames that are combinations or root words
These surnames combine two root words.
Adjective + noun                             Bilodub             white oak
Noun +verb                                    palyvoda           person who could burn even water
Pronoun + verb                               samokhval         person who praises 
                                                                              himself
Numeral + noun                              sorokolat           forty years


Ukrainian Surnames of Foreign Origin                 
Some Ukrainian surnames have foreign origins, but these are small in number. There are  several ways  that Ukrainian surnames show foreign origins.  One way was when a foreigner settled in a Ukrainian area, he/she might be named for his/her foreign origins. Some examples include; Besarab/Besaraba, from Bessarabia, Moskalyk, from Russia or Shvedyk, a Swede.
Sometimes he/she would have a name that came from his/her native language.  Lahenza and Bonk are from Polish, Shpot, German; Halibey and Murza are of Tatar origin and Lupul and Dzera are Romanian.
In the case foreign origins of Ukrainian surnames, there is a family story that some of my ancestors were Czech.  The family name was Rychlyj, and in my genealogy research, I have come across this name many times, especially in immigration records.  The few times I saw this name attached to a Ruthenian(Ukrainian) immigrant, it was to a member of my family.  All the other immigrants were either Bohemian or Moravian, which are regions in the Czech Republic today,