(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. :)

[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 :)

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

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

[mytza.livejournal.com]

Hehe, thanks!!
I have two more names that I wonder about their origin - Kozyrev and Tolkach...
And what about Yeltsyn and Putin? :)

[maksa.livejournal.com]

Top ten surnames in Moscow:

1. Ивано´в (sometimes Ива´нов)
2. Кузнецо´в
3. Смирно´в
4. Попо´в
5. Но´виков
6. Петро´в
7. Васи´льев
8. Соколо´в
9. Во´лков (Volkov, “of wolf”)
10. Козло´в