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,