(no subject)

[yers.livejournal.com]

Top 10 Russian surnames, and what they mean:

1 Смирнов — Smirnov, “of the meek one”*
2 Иванов — Ivanov, “of Ivan (John)”
3 Кузнецов — Kuznetsov, “of the blacksmith”
4 Попов — Popov, “of the priest”
5 Соколов — Sokolov, “of Falcon”*
6 Лебедев — Lebedev, “of Swan”*
7 Козлов — Kozlov, “of Goat”*
8 Новиков — Novikov, “of the newcomer”
9 Морозов — Morozov, “of Frost”*
10 Петров — Petrov, “of Pyotr (Peter)”

*presumably from a nickname

A longer list: 50 most common Russian surnames

Comments

*wow*

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Thanks a ton! I might have to change the name of one of my characters in the current novel, though. "of Gnat" is not very... heroic. :)

Re: *wow*

[yers.livejournal.com]

Not at all. It's technically "mosquito", I kind of made it more "Saxon" to reflect the speech of Russian villagers... but the name is quite euphonious and neutral. In Russian (and other languages too, I guess), you often go without noticing the meaning of a surname completely if that meaning doesn't stick out too much.

Re: *wow*

[steppinrazor.livejournal.com]

I dunno, "of the Gnat" has a kind of delightful irony to it XD

[shogun-kub.livejournal.com]

5 Соколов — Sokolov, “of Falcon”*
6 Лебедев — Lebedev, “of Swan”*

There were such _names_, but they're very ancient.

[steppinrazor.livejournal.com]

Do you happen to know what Shvyryev means? And also if there's another "nickname" for Mikhail aside from Misha? :F

Just curious x] Thanks :)

[yers.livejournal.com]

Something associated with throwing or hurling... one of those surnames that sound very abstract, but perhaps meant something more definite in their day. And no, I can't think of another diminutive of Mikhail, except some elaborating on Misha, like Mishenka or Mishutka.

[shogun-kub.livejournal.com]

>And also if there's another "nickname" for Mikhail aside from Misha?
I don't think so. It's my name ;) and I don't know another common nickname... As for me, I am called "Мишган" or "Михон", but it's very, very informal.

Re: *wow*

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

... hm, true. I just really liked the sound. :) (And my character is related to some serious heroes ... with the same name) *cough*.

May I ask whether you know what Rybakin means?

Re: *wow*

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

... well, the guy in question is a mage/interrogator of the Russian interior ministry in around 2070 - and bonkers. Shizophrenic. But he's the hero - because the "evil guys" are just plain much much worse.

Hm. Timo Komarov, the mosquito-boy. Oy... *sniggers*

[siberian-cat.livejournal.com]

Миха. :)

[raventhourne.livejournal.com]

There is a lawyers firm that has the name Sokolov here in the US. So, the name is used somewhere at least.

[kusin.livejournal.com]

Mikha

Re: *wow*

[yegor.livejournal.com]

"of the fisher".
But "Rybakov" os more frequent.

Re: *wow*

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And a last one - is there a Russian name associated with "wind", "sky" or "the sun"? In choosing characters' names, I go completely by sound, but I use a lot of eagle/wind/sun/light-associations with that guy.

Any help? Thanks a lot! :)

[yegor.livejournal.com]

"Sokolov" as name? Like, Sokolov S. Doe? Awesome.

[yegor.livejournal.com]

Mishanya
Mishgan (hehe)
Michael :)

Re: *wow*

[yegor.livejournal.com]

Wind - Ветров
Sun - Солнцев
Eagle - Орлов
Light - Светлов
Sky - hmmm, hard to say. There is a surname like Небов, but i doubt it's from "Небо" as "sky"

Re: *wow*

[yegor.livejournal.com]

Ah, and again - all those are surnames, not names.

Re: *wow*

[msk01.livejournal.com]

Ветров? Небесный? Солнцев?

Re: *wow*

[yegor.livejournal.com]

Небесноватый :)

Re: *wow*

[yegor.livejournal.com]

Timo? What's that?

[megilla.livejournal.com]

usually - Mishka

[tisoi.livejournal.com]

I've heard of Sokoloff here.

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

Whoa that's really interesting... Ivanov basically is the same as Johnson then...

[mozgglaz.livejournal.com]

Kuznetsov → Smith