Some representatives of the Russian people have such surnames that directly indicate a specific region or even a city where their family came from. The Novgorod land in this regard differs markedly from other regions of Russia, the local names have their own specifics.
Mr. Veliky Novgorod
The geographical position of the ancient Russian city influenced many aspects of its life. For a long time, this northwestern province of our state significantly surpassed other regions in terms of socio-economic development.
Mr. Veliky Novgorod - this is how the inhabitants called their republic, which existed in the XII-XV centuries. Unusual for Russia of those times, the form of government and active trade with European countries provided the population of this land not only material well-being, but also contributed to its cultural growth. So, the surnames of the noble Novgorodians appeared earlier than those of the inhabitants of other regions of our country - back in the 13th century.
In general, this process took place unevenly in Russia. The first surnames were acquired by representatives of the aristocracy, then by the clergy and merchants, and many peasants received this mandatory attribute of a citizen only at the end of the 19th century, after the abolition of serfdom.
Several factors influenced the specifics of Novgorod surnames:
place names found only in these places;
northwestern dialect of the region's inhabitants;
characteristic names and nicknames that Novgorodians gave to each other;
the profession of local artisans.
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The peculiarities of the language and culture of the ancient Novgorodians were preserved in the surnames of their distant descendants, many of whom had long gone to other cities and countries.
Toponymy
Holders of such sonorous surnames as Novgorodsky or Novgorodtsev do not necessarily come from the northwest of Russia. It's just that in any region of our country you can find settlements that are called: Novgorodskoe, New Town or New City. This is a very common place name.
But there are also surnames that clearly indicate belonging to this region. They are quite rare. So, the Dushilikha and Dushilikhins definitely lived in the village of Dushilikha, which was located on the banks of the Soroti River. There are no other settlements with the same name anywhere else.
In the same way, the village of Somra gave rise to the Somrov merchant dynasty. This toponym is found in documents from the time of Peter I: the path of the Russian troops, which set off on September 9, 1700 to siege Narva, ran through Somra.
Since the inhabitants of Russia called the Novgorodians thick-eaters because of the dish popular with local residents - barley porridge with peas (thick), it can be assumed that the Gushchins and the Gushcheedovs come from the north-western lands. Although "tasty" surnames are often found in many regions of our country.
Names, nicknames, surnames The
Novgorod dialect of the Russian language differs markedly from the speech of representatives of other regions of our country, since it was formed in the X-XII centuries. The names of the inhabitants of this land also had their own peculiarities in pronunciation, which subsequently affected the surnames from these names that occurred.
For example, if the peasant Gregory in Moscow would be called Grishka, then in Novgorod - Grikhno. Alexander in the capital would be Sashka, and in the northwest - Sakhno. And Stepan in the Novgorod lands would not have been Stepka, but Stekhno. Therefore, the surnames Stekhnov, Sakhnov or Grikhnov have uniquely Novgorod roots.
Local forms of names, unusual for Muscovites, are often found in birch bark letters. So, Daniel in the north-west of Russia was called Dansha, Gabriel - Gavsha, and Procopius - Proksha. These are the ancestors of the modern Prokshins, Gavshins and Danshins.
Many surnames of Novgorodians came from their worldly nicknames (not church names). Such were, for example, Remsha (Remshins), Vozresha (Vozreshiny), Neperysha (Neperyshiny), Bratsha (Brothers), Tversha (Tvershiny).
An interesting situation is associated with the name Spiridon, widespread in Russia. If in Moscow and other regions there was a diminutive form - Spirya, then in Novgorod the owner of this name was called Svirey. Therefore, the Spirins may turn out to be the original metropolitan residents, but the Svirins, Svirsky, Svirkins and Sviridovs are from the northwest.
The word "Bukhara", the stress in which falls on the second vowel, was used in Novgorod for stinging insects - wasps and bees. Such a worldly nickname could have been given to a sharp-tongued person, and then his descendants would have got the names of Bukharins or Bukharovs, which have nothing to do with a Central Asian city.
In the local dialect, the word "strings" means nettles or something else burning. This is how Strings and Strings appeared.
Many Novgorod family names came from the names of ancestors who had Lithuanian, German or Scandinavian roots. For example, the Pascalovs.
The original Russian surname Chaplin is also remarkable. Despite the complete coincidence with the surname of the famous comedian, they have nothing in common in meaning - they are homonyms. It's just that in the north-west of Russia, the heron bird was called in its own way - chapla, such a dialect. But the surname of Charles Chaplin comes from the French word "chapellan" (chaplain, priest), altered in the English manner.
The surname Kozheurov is also exclusively Novgorod. The fishermen who were engaged in ice fishing on Lake Ilmen were called leather aprons, as they wore leather aprons over their usual clothes.
What kind of tribe?
Many northwestern surnames reflect the belonging of a person's ancestors to a particular people. For example, the old name of the Swedes is svei. This is how the representatives of this Scandinavian tribe were called by Novgorodians, who often contacted foreigners due to the geographical location of their city. Therefore, the Sveikovs and Sveikovskys may well turn out to be distant descendants of the Swedes who moved to Russia in the Middle Ages.
Forgotten ethnonyms "Chukhonets" and "Chudin" gave rise to many surnames. These are the Chudins, Chudinovs, Chukhonins, Chukhnovs, Chukhontsevs, etc.
And the surname Korelin (not to be confused with Karelin) reflects not only the belonging of human ancestors to the inhabitants of Karelia, but also testifies to the Novgorod origin of his family. After all, the northern "okayuschiy" dialect changed the second letter in it from the traditional "a" to the "o" accepted in Novgorod and its environs. The same can be said about the family, for example, Korelsky (Karelian).
Orynganym Tanatarova