The Rurikovichs are a grand-ducal, and later a royal family, originating from the legendary Rurik. Their descendants can be identified by their characteristic surnames.
The fate of the descendants of Rurik
If you believe the chronicle sources, then the common ancestors of all Rurikovichs are Rurik himself and his wife Efanda Urmanskaya. Their son Igor, grandson Svyatoslav Igorevich and great-grandson Vladimir Svyatoslavich are well known.
After the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, most of Kievan Rus was divided between his three eldest sons. Izyaslav received Kiev, Novgorod and lands to the west of the Dnieper, Svyatoslav - Chernigov and Murom, Vsevolod - Pereyaslavl and Rostov-Suzdal land. Accordingly, these lands were inherited by their descendants. Subsequently, the descendants of Vsevolod and his son Vladimir Monomakh were able to expand their possessions at the expense of Volyn, Smolensk and Galich, and the descendants of Izyaslav settled on the Turov-Pinsk land. One of the younger Yaroslavichs, Vyacheslav Yaroslavich, began to reign in Smolensk, and Igor Yaroslavich - in Volyn. Their descendants gradually began to be named according to the destinies they owned.
Where did the different branches of the Rurik people come from?
So, the Polotsk line is led from Prince Izyaslav Vladimirovich, the son of the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavich and the Polotsk princess Rogneda. This branch included the princes of Vitebsk, Drutsk, Izyaslav, Minsk and Polotsk.
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The Przemysl branch is descended from Rostislav Vladimirovich, the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise. True, already in 1199, with the death of Vladimir Yaroslavich, the son of Yaroslav Osmomysl, this dynasty faded away, and the Volyn prince Roman the Great came to the Galician throne. The Galician princes include: Babichevs, Volyn, Drutsk, Drutsk-Sokolinski, Zaslavski, Lutsk, Ostrog, Putyatin.
The Turovo-Pinsk branch went from Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich. Several Lithuanian-Russian princely families are associated with it, most of which died out in the XVI-XVII centuries. These are Dolsky, Kapustins (Cabbage), Golovny-Ostrozhetsky, Kozeks, Ruzhinsky, Zvyagolsky, Velitsky. More substantiated is the origin of the Izyaslavich princes of the Turov princes Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky, Pinsk, Slutsky, Stepansky, Gorodetsky, Nesvitsky.
As a result of the struggle between the descendants of Yaroslav the Wise, Chernigov repeatedly passed from hand to hand. In the end, he still went to the Svyatoslavichs - the sons and grandsons of Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich. The Chernigov branch, in addition to the Chernigov ones, included the princes Kozelsky, Gorchakovs, Eletsky, Masalsky, Litvinov-Masalsky, Seleznev-Eletsky, Oginsky.
The Yuryevichs belonged to the Vladimir-Suzdal branch - the descendants of Yuri Dolgoruky, the son of Vladimir Monomakh and the great-grandson of Yaroslav the Wise. The dynasties of the princes of Rostov, Belozersky, Yaroslavl, Suzdal, Tver, Starodub and, finally, Moscow dynasties later branched off from them. The Rostov branch includes the princes Bakhteyarov-Rostov, Shaved-Rostov, Buinosov-Rostov, Bychkov-Rostov. The princes of Andomsky, Beloselsky-Belozersky, Ukhtomsky, Sheleshpansky belong to Belozerskaya. Descendants of the Suzdal branch - Nizhny Novgorod, Nogtev-Suzdal, Skopin-Shuisky, Shuisky. The Moscow branch is the princes Borovsk, Vereisk, Volotsk, Galician, Mozhaisk, Uglitsk and Shemyakins. The Tver branch includes the princes of Dorogobuzhsky, Kashinsky, Mikulinsky, Telyatevsky, Kholmsky and Chernyatinsky. The Starodub branch is the princes Gagarins, Pozharsky,Romodanovskys, Tulupovs and Khilkovs.
The Ryazan branch originates from Prince Yaroslav Svyatoslavich, who in 1127 was expelled from Chernigov by his nephew Vsevolod Olgovich, but at the same time retained Murom, Ryazan and Pronsk. So he became the ancestor of a dynasty whose representatives bore the names of Ryazan, Murom and Pronsk.
From Rostislav Smolensky, one of the sons of Mstislav the Great, grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, came the representatives of the Smolensk branch - the princes Vyazemsky, Dashkov, Kozlovsky, Kropotkin, Porkhovsky. Around 1260, one of the Smolensk princes, Fyodor Cherny, received his inheritance through his wife, the Yaroslavl principality. This is how the Yaroslavl branch stood out, to which the princes Belsky, Davydov-Zasekin, Deev, Zasekin, Kurbsky, Lvov, Prozorovsky, Romanovsky, Troekurov, Shakhovsky, Shchetinins belonged.
The Zvenigorod branch includes the princes Baryatinsky, Zvenigorodsky, Nozdrovaty, Ryumin-Zvenigorodsky, Tokmakov. Novosilskaya branch - princes Belevsky, Vorotynsky, Odoevsky. Tarusa - Volkonsky, Koninsky, Spazsky, Mezetsky. The Obolensk branch includes the princes Dolgorukovs, Kashins, Obolensky, Repnins, Shcherbatovs.
What noble surnames supposedly go back to the Rurikovichs?
In addition to the princely, some of the noble surnames that have lost the princely title are also supposedly derived from the Rurikovichs.
So, from the princes of Chernigov, the Satins and Bunakovs may have descended; from the Smolenskys - the Vsevolozhskys, Danilovs, Dmitrievs-Mamonovs, Eropkins, Zabolotskys, Mussorgskys, Rezanovs, Rzhevskys, Scriabins, Tatishchevs; from the Galitskys - Berezina, Ivina, Lyapunov; from the Belozerskys - Kurtsovs, Funikovs; from Rostov - Bychkovs; from Ryazansky - Lykovs, Zhulebins, Bulgakovs, Denisievs, Izmailovs, Zamyatins, Velyaminovs.
