List of the most popular Russian surnames. Russian surnames: the most unexpected facts

We are used to the fact that every person has a surname. And are there any exceptions? Are there many surnames in the world? When and where did the very first one appear? Which of them are the most popular around the world and in individual countries? If you are interested in the answers to these questions, read about everything in order in the article.

Inheritance from ancestors varies

Nowadays it is impossible to imagine a person without a surname. Nevertheless, such people exist. For example, in Iceland people use only their personal name and patronymic (patronymic). And at the beginning of the 20th century. this country even passed a law prohibiting native Icelanders from having a surname. Since then, only foreigners or those with foreign roots have it. In addition, residents of underdeveloped countries in Africa and Asia do not have surnames; they use nicknames to distinguish them. In the rest of the world, people have long been accustomed to using generic names and cannot imagine their life without them. Over time, the most common and popular surnames. And some, on the contrary, have become rare and outlandish.

Comes from ancient times

The origin of this specific generic name dates back to the times Ancient Rome. Latin word familia means "family" or "clan". In Rus', such self-names appeared in the 14th century. and gradually replaced personal nicknames. In any country, the first surnames were given to noble persons, and then the tradition passed to other classes, gradually reaching the lowest.

Reflecting the characteristics of a particular language and culture, there are many different surnames in the world. It is difficult to calculate how many there are in the world, but we can highlight the most popular surnames. If you look at this rating, you get the impression: the shorter, the more popular. The top four lines are occupied by Asian family names, because often popular surnames were formed from hieroglyphs.

The first five of the very best

First place - Lee (Lee, Li, Ly). According to unofficial statistics, more than 100 million people in the world wear it. Most of them live in China, Vietnam and Korea, but among them there are many Europeans and Americans who inherited this family name from some ancestor.

In second place in the ranking of “Most Popular Surnames” is Chang (Chang, Zhang). This Chinese surname appeared more than 4 thousand years ago, and during this time it has become one of the most common in Asia and around the world. She has Zhang and Chen options.

Third place - Wang (or Wong, written in Latin as Wang). Like many popular surnames, it originated in China. There is nothing surprising here if we remember that about one and a half billion of the population of our planet are Chinese by nationality. And since there are only 450 Chinese surnames, it becomes clear why some of them are repeated so often.

Fourth place is the Vietnamese surname Nguyen. It is so common that in Vietnam itself, 40% of citizens wear it. This is difficult to imagine in a European country.

Second top five

Fifth place - Garcia. Many people have heard this one. It is extremely popular in Spain itself, as well as in the countries of South America, Cuba and the Philippines.

Sixth place - Gonzales (or Gonzales). Another very common surname in the Spanish-speaking world.

Seventh place - Hernandez. Formed in the 15th century, this family name is now worn by residents of Spain, Chile, Mexico, the USA and some other countries.

The last three popular surnames in the global top ten come from English, Russian and German.

Eighth place - Smith. It is the most common surname in England, Australia and the USA. Translated into Russian it means “blacksmith”.

Many popular ones are associated with the names of professions. For example: Potter (“potter”), Miller (“miller”), Baker (“baker”), Cook (“cook”), Ward (“guard”), Butler (“butler”), etc. The names of paints no less often became the source from which such popular English surnames as Brown (“brown”), White (“white”), Green (“green”), Gray (“gray”), Black (“black”), etc. .d.

Ninth place - Smirnov. There are several versions of the origin of this surname. According to one of them, it comes from the word “meek,” and according to another, from the Old Russian greeting: “With a new world!” Just like the English, popular surnames in Russia are often derived from the names of their first professions: Kuznetsov, Melnikov, Goncharov, Popov, Stolyarov.

Tenth place in the world ranking - Muller. This is also a “professional” generic name: translated from German it means “miller”. This surname is common in all countries that speak this language: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg.

Studying surnames is a fascinating activity and also one of the ways to immerse yourself in the language and culture of a particular country.

The most common surnames and their history of origin:

Kuznetsov Surname from the father's name according to his occupation. Since the blacksmith was the most necessary and for everyone famous person in the village, naming on this basis was ubiquitous. Therefore, the surname Kuznetsov is one of the most common in Russia;
Thousands of Kuznetsovs lived in Moscow (second in number only to the Ivanovs, of whom there are thousands. In some areas, the surname Kuznetsov took first place in frequency (for example, in the volosts of Kerensky and Chembarsky districts of the Penza province, out of thousands of Russians included in the calculations, the Kuznetsov person) In the country as a whole, the spread of the surname Kuznetsov is somewhat limited by the use of Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian dialect word Koval has the same meaning as “blacksmith,” so surnames with this stem spread from the west and southwest. Other nations also have very common surnames with a stem meaning “blacksmith”, for example the most common English surname Smith, German Schmidt. (N) Kovalev is one of the most common Russians; surnames, although the words "koval" in Russian literary language No. In southern Russia and Ukraine, a blacksmith is called a farrier. “If you’re not a farrier, don’t dirty your hands” (that is, don’t get dirty) advises folk wisdom; don't take on a job you don't know. (F) Kovalenya. One of the suffixes forming Belarusian surnames is -enya. Kowalski Polish or Ukrainian surname. Kovalikhin and Kuznechikhin, metronymic surnames, are derived from the name of a woman, the wife of a blacksmith. Kovalkov, Kovankov are verified Ukrainian or Belarusian surnames.

2. Smirnov Smirnov is one of the most common Russian surnames. In Moscow alone there are seventy thousand Smirnovs. Why? In a large family peasant family quiet, non-shouting children were a great relief for parents. This quality, rare for small children, was imprinted in the worldly name Smirna; it often became the main name of a person for the rest of his life ( church name those around them were forgotten) From the Smirnykhs came the Smirnovs. (F) The most common Russian surname in a vast strip covering the entire Northern Volga region, most often in the Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo regions and adjacent areas of neighboring regions, to the east this zone extends to Kirov region. As you move away from this zone, the frequency decreases. In Moscow, the surname Smirnov took fifth place in a thousand people) By origin, it is a patronymic from a Russian non-church male name Smirnaya, i.e. “meek, quiet, obedient” Early examples of patronymics in the Vladimir tithe of the city “Ivan Smirnovo, son of Samarin” “Stepan meek, son of Kuchuk” The common noun changed its vowel and place of stress, and the surname retained its archaic form (similar to: Tolstoy Tolstoy (N ) Surnames Smirnin, Smirenkin from the ancient Slavic names Smirena, Smirenka. Smirensky, Smirnitsky seminary names from the same root.

3. Ivanov Patronymic from the common form Ivan from the canonical male personal name John. Ivanov is the most common surname of Russians, since the name remained the most common among Russians for several centuries (from century to century: among the peasantry it covered from up to all men. In Moscow there are thousands of Ivanovs (of which Ivan Ivanovich) It is characteristic that in this territory the surname Ivanov is usually not very common, inferior to many others, but it is widespread and therefore takes first place in large centers and throughout the country. Its relative rarity in certain areas is due to the fact that the name was used in many different forms. patronymics from which became surnames. There are significantly more than a hundred of these forms, and surnames from patronymics formed from these forms are correspondingly numerous (N) The most common male name in Rus', Ivan, “Ivanov is like filthy mushrooms,” people joked) gave rise to dozens of derivative forms. I confidently include the surname Ivin in this list, since most Ivins are not from the name of the tree, but from Iva, a shortened form of the name Ivan. Ivsha is also one of the forms of this name. Itsko, Ishko are diminutive forms of the name Ivan. Itsko is more characteristic Belarusian language and Smolensk dialects, Ishko Ukrainian language and South Russian dialects. Ishunya, Ishuta are ancient diminutive forms of the name Ivan. (F) V c. the surname was used with an emphasis on a. Nowadays it is more often used with the stress on the last syllable. It is characteristic that some bearers of the surname insist on a form with an emphasis on a, which seems to them more noble than the usual one with an emphasis on the last syllable.

4. Popov Not all Popovs and Popkovs are descendants of priests. As a personal name, Pop (Popko) was very common among worldly people. Religious parents willingly named their children Popili Popko. Example: landowner Popko (near Senka Pop, peasant Popko Efimov, peasant Sometimes the surname Popov was given to a worker, farm laborer. (F) One of the most common surnames in Russia, especially in the north of the country. Counting surnames in the Arkhangelsk province showed an unprecedentedly high frequency of Popovs in a thousand people. In Moscow, a thousand Popovs originally meant: patronymic "son of a priest" from the nickname Pop; from the documents of the century. peasant Senka Pop, Don Cossack Mikhailo Pop, etc. As an assumption of the spread of this surname in the north of Russia, we can assume the election of the clergy in these areas: until the century, priests were not appointed there, but were elected by the residents themselves from among themselves (N)

5. Sokolov The names of animals and birds are one of the main sources of nicknames and surnames derived from them. "Bird" surnames occupy positions in the first hundred Russian surnames. Sokolov is the most common among the “birds” and is in seventh position in the frequency list of all Russian surnames. (U) Sokolov. Patronymic from the Russian non-church male name Sokol. One of the ten most common Russian surnames. According to B. Unbegun's calculations, in St. Petersburg it ranked seventh in frequency, and of all surnames formed from non-canonical names, it was second only to Smirnov. The unusually high frequency of Russian surnames based on the names of birds was noted by the prominent foreign Slavist V.R. Kiparsky, proving in his articles that this is dictated by the cult of birds among the Russians. My calculations confirmed that Russian surnames are indeed associated with birds more often than with animals or, for example, fish. But this phenomenon cannot be explained by the cult of birds, since the majority of surnames are of later origin centuries. only a minority are older) and we can talk about the origin not of surnames, but of the names from which they are derived. However, in this case, the main reason is not the cult of the bird, but the enormous economic and everyday role of birds in the life of Russians: widespread industrial hunting, poultry farming in every family, grandiose falconry and much more (for more details, see Nikonov V.A. Name and society. M. (N) Sokolikha, the wife of Sokol. Surnames in -sky may be of Ukrainian Polish origin. Possibly from the geographical names Sokol, Sokolovo. Similarly, Sokolinaya Mountain. Similarly, Russian Sokoltsov.
Next in the ranking are:

6. Lebedev
7. Kozlov
8. Novikov
9. Morozov
10. Petrov
11. Volkov
12. Soloviev
13. Vasiliev
14. Zaitsev
15. Pavlov
16. Semenov
17. Golubev
18. Vinogradov
19. Bogdanov
20. Vorobiev
21. Fedorov
22. Mikhailov
23. Belyaev
24. Tarasov
25. Belov
26. Komarov
27. Orlov
28. Kiselev
29. Makarov
30. Andreev
31. Kovalev
32. Ilyin
33. Gusev
34. Titov
35. Kuzmin
36. Kudryavtsev
37. Baranov
38. Kulikov
39. Alekseev
40. Stepanov
41. Yakovlev
42. Sorokin
43. Sergeev
44. Romanov
45. Zakharov
46. ​​Borisov
47. Korolev
48. Gerasimov
49. Ponomarev
50. Grigoriev
51. Lazarev
52. Medvedev (from Layola: let’s remember the president of the Russian Federation)
53. Ershov
54. Nikitin
55. Sobolev
56. Ryabov
57. Polyakov
58. Tsvetkov
59. Danilov
60. Zhukov
61. Frolov
62. Zhuravlev
63. Nikolaev
64. Krylov
65. Maximov
66. Sidorov
67. Osipov
68. Belousov
69. Fedotov
70. Dorofeev
71. Egorov
72. Matveev
73. Bobrov
74. Dmitriev
75. Kalinin
76. Anisimov
77. Petukhov
78. Antonov
79. Timofeev
80. Nikiforov
81. Veselov
82. Filippov
83. Markov
84. Bolshakov
85. Sukhanov
86. Mironov
87. Shiryaev
88. Alexandrov
89. Konovalov
90. Shestakov
91. Kazakov
92. Efimov
93. Denisov
94. Gromov
95. Fomin
96. Davydov
97. Melnikov
98. Shcherbakov
99. Blinov
100. Kolesnikov

About 7 billion people live on our planet. There are many names and

surnames that were formed over centuries by our ancestors. Have you ever wondered what the most common surnames are? In this article we will present a selection of the most popular ones around the world and in Russia.

Common Russian surnames

Surely you would be interested to know what is the most common Russian surname? Unfortunately, it is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. Let's just say - there are quite a lot of them. The list below is based on the book “Russian Surnames” by B.G. Unbegun, published in 1972. Before compiling this list, the author of the book studied the St. Petersburg address book of 1910 and analyzed all the names of that time that appeared in it. So, here are the 100 most common Russian surnames.

Please note that names are listed in alphabetical order and not by importance. If you looked at the list, you probably noticed surnames of German origin in it - Schulz, Schmitd, Miller. By their presence one can judge ethnic composition of that time.

World surnames
Now let's look at the most common surnames in the world. The first place is occupied by the surname Lee (about 100 million people around the world have it, and the most famous of them is Bruce Lee). Second place is the surname Zhang, which is also shared by about 100 million people. Third place - Van. It is used as a prefix to the Belgian and (for example, Jean Claude Van Damme). Fourth place on the list of “Most Common Surnames” belongs to the surname Nguyen (about 36 million people). Fifth place - Garcia (about 10 million people wear it).

It is most common in South America, the Philippines and Spain. Sixth place - Gonzalez (10 million people). The birthplace of this surname is Spain. Seventh place belongs to the surname Hernandez (8 million people), which has Spanish-Portuguese roots. Eighth place - Smith (4 million people). The ninth place is occupied by the Russian surname Smirnov. Closes the top ten of the “Most Common Surnames” rating - German surname Muller.

The list of popular genus names is endless, because as many people there are as many opinions. Each person will point out beautiful surnames that he personally likes. But, according to the majority, the most popular are aristocratic designations of family names. Let's figure out which surnames are more common and respected, and where they even came from.

List of the most beautiful Russian surnames in the world

The word "surname" is translated from Latin language as "family". This means that this indicates that a person belongs to the clan from which he came. The emergence of family nicknames was often associated with the profession that the family practiced from generation to generation or with the name of the area in which the family lived, or the name of the family indicated character traits, specific appearance, and a nickname. It’s not for nothing that there is a saying “not in the eye, but in the eye” - people have always applied labels very accurately.

In Russia, at first there was only a first name and patronymic, and the first surnames appeared only in the 14th century. Naturally, noble people received them: princes, boyars, nobles. Peasants received official family names only at the end of the 19th century, when they abolished serfdom. The first names of dynasties came from the names of places of residence, birth or possessions: Tver, Arkhangelsk, Zvenigorod, Moskvin.

1. Sobolev
2. Morozov
3. Gromov
4. Almazov
5. Derzhavin
6. Bogatyrev
7. Mayorov
8. Admirals
9. Lyubimov
10. Vorontsov

List of the most beautiful surnames for girls:

1. Voskresenskaya
2. Lebedeva
3. Alexandrova
4. Serebryanskaya
5. Korolkova
6. Vinogradova
7. Talnikova
8. Generous
9. Zolotareva
10. Tsvetaeva

A selection of the most beautiful foreign surnames

Foreigners believe that a beautiful surname helps the family, brings good luck and happiness. But, it’s true, a person with a family nickname is teased by his peers from childhood, and subsequently he grows up insecure with a whole baggage of complexes. So it turns out that family name brought bad luck. For people with a beautiful family heritage, everything turns out differently. From childhood they know that they can do anything in this world, so they walk with their heads held high.

Each country has its own beautiful surnames, which are unusual to the Russian ear. But the origin of family designations is the same all over the world. Some took the name of their city, while others took the nickname of the founder of the clan, the occupation of the family, and their status. Among foreign names You can also often find the names of plants, birds, and animals. If a Russian person chooses foreign name, then, as a rule, he does not delve into its meaning, but makes a choice according to its euphony.

For example, Spaniards have beautiful surnames - not uncommon. The most common are:

• Rodriguez
• Fernandez
• Gonzalez
• Perez
• Martinez
• Sanchez

Russian girls often choose generic names of Spanish origin:

• Alvarez
• Torres
• Romero
• Flores
• Castillo
• Garcia
• Pascual

French surnames

All variants of French surnames are endowed with special beauty and charm. This language is very different from its other European counterparts. If it is always pronounced correctly, then French ones are pronounced differently. For example, the popular Le Pen can sound like “Le Pen”, “Le Pen”, “De Le Pen”. The first French family names were granted to the highest circle of nobility in the 11th century. It was only in the 16th century that a royal decree ordered that every French citizen be given a hereditary nickname.

Since then French surnames from generation to generation they are included in the church metrics. The most beautiful family nicknames in France come from proper names, from the occupation of the family, or from the geographical names in which the family was born. Widespread French male family names:

• Robert
• Richard
• Bernard
• Duran
• Lefebvre

Female generic names are not much different from male ones. French history ordered that no differences or other endings, as in the Russian language, exist between surnames, therefore beautiful generic names for women also bear their own name, for example:

• Leroy
• Bonn
• Francois

German

Generic names in Germany arose in the same way as in other countries: first they were received by the nobility, then by feudal lords and small landowners, and then by the lower strata of the population. The entire process of forming hereditary nicknames took about 8 centuries, and the first surnames appeared based on proper names. Vivid examples are German male generic nicknames:

1. Werner
2. Hermann
3. Jacobi
4. Peters

Beautiful family designations in Germany arose from the names of rivers, mountains and other words related to nature: Bern, Vogelweid. But the most popular generic names come from the occupations of their ancestors. For example, Müller means “miller”, and Schmidt means “blacksmith”. Rare ones sound beautiful: Wagner, Zimmerman. Women in Germany, as a rule, leave their mother's surname, and the most beautiful are considered to be:

1. Lehmann
2. Mayer
3. Peters
4. Fisher
5. Weiss

American

Beautiful American family names compare favorably with other foreign ones - they are very consonant, and the owners wear them with pride. If surnames are not inherited, then any citizen of the United States can change their family name to a more harmonious one. So, the 10 most beautiful names of American men:

1. Robinson
2. Harris
3. Evans
4. Gilmore
5. Florence
6. Stone
7. Lambert
8. Newman

As for American women, as throughout the world, they take their father’s family name at birth, and their husband’s name when they marry. Even if a girl wants to keep her family name, after marriage she will have a double surname, for example, Maria Goldman Mrs. Roberts (by her husband). Beautiful generic names for American women:

1. Bellows
2. Houston
3. Taylor
4. Davis
5. Foster

Video: the most common surnames in the world

The most common surnames in the world seem beautiful, because their bearers are popular people, and therefore happy. For example, owners family name There are about one hundred million people on the planet. In second place in terms of polarity is the surname Wang (about 93 million people). In third place is the family name Garcia, common in South America (about 10 million people).