Imperial Russian families. What are Russian surnames of noble origin
The very word "nobleman" means: "court" or "a man from the prince's court." The nobility was the highest class of society.
In Russia, the nobility was formed in the XII-XIII centuries, mainly from representatives of the military service class. Starting from the XIV century, the nobles received land plots for their service, and most often they came from their names. family surnames- Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Obolensky, Vyazemsky, Meshchersky, Ryazansky, Galitsky, Smolensky, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Belozersky, Suzdal, Smolensky, Moscow, Tver ... Other noble families came from the nicknames of their bearers: Gagarins, Humpbacked, Eyed, Lykovs. Some princely surnames were a combination of the name of the inheritance and the nickname: for example, Lobanov-Rostovsky.
At the end of the 15th century, surnames of foreign origin began to appear in the lists of the Russian nobility - they belonged to immigrants from Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Asia and Western Europe who had an aristocratic origin and moved to Russia. Here we can mention such names as the Fonvizins, Lermontovs, Yusupovs, Akhmatovs, Kara-Murza, Karamzins, Kudinovs.
The boyars often received surnames by the baptismal name or nickname of the ancestor and had possessive suffixes in their composition. Such boyar surnames include Petrovs, Smirnovs, Ignatovs, Yurievs, Medvedevs, Apukhtins, Gavrilins, Ilyins.
The royal family of the Romanovs is of the same origin. Their ancestor was the boyar of the time of Ivan Kalita Andrei Kobyla. He had three sons: Semyon Zherebets, Alexander Elka
Kobylin and Fedor Koshka. Their descendants received respectively the names Zherebtsov, Kobylin and Koshkin. One of the great-grandsons of Fyodor Koshka, Yakov Zakharovich Koshkin, became the ancestor of the noble family of the Yakovlevs, and his brother Yuri Zakharovich became known as Zakharyin-Koshkin. The son of the latter was named Roman Zakharyin-Yuriev. His son Nikita Romanovich and his daughter Anastasia, the first wife of Ivan the Terrible, had the same surname. However, the children and grandchildren of Nikita Romanovich became the Romanovs after their grandfather. This surname was borne by his son Fyodor Nikitich (Patriarch Filaret) and the founder of the last Russian royal dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich.
In the Petrine era, the nobility was replenished with representatives of non-military estates, who received their titles as a result of promotion along public service. One of them was, for example, an associate of Peter I, Alexander Menshikov, who from birth had a “low” origin, but was awarded the princely title by the tsar. In 1785, by decree of Catherine II, special privileges were established for the nobles.
Since ancient times, the surname could change a person's life, it carried the whole history of the family and gave many privileges. People spent a lot of effort and money to have a good title, and sometimes they sacrificed their lives for this. It was almost impossible for a common resident to get on the list of nobles.
Types of titles
titles in tsarist Russia there were many, each of them had its own history and carried its own capabilities. All noble families followed the family tree and very carefully selected couples for their family members. The marriage of two noble families was more of a calculated calculation than love relationship. Russian noble families kept together and did not allow members without a title into their families.
Such genera could include:
- Princes.
- Counts.
- Barons.
- Tsars.
- Dukes.
- Marquises.
Each of these genera had its own history and maintained its own family tree. It was strictly forbidden for a nobleman to create a family with a commoner. Thus, it was almost impossible for an ordinary ordinary resident of tsarist Russia to become a nobleman, except perhaps for very great achievements before the country.
Princes Rurikovich
Princes is one of the highest titles of nobility. Members of such a family always had a lot of land, finance and slaves. It was a great honor for a family member to be at court and help the ruler. Having shown himself, a member of the princely family could become a trusted special ruler. The famous noble families of Russia in most cases had a princely title. But the titles could be divided according to the methods of obtaining them.
One of the most famous princely families of Russia were the Rurikovichs. List noble families starts with her. Rurikovichs are immigrants from Ukraine and descendants of Igor's great Rus'. The roots of many European rulers come from This is a strong dynasty that brought many famous rulers to the world, for a long time in power throughout Europe. But a number historical events, which took place in those days, divided the family into many branches. Russian noble families such as Pototsky, Przemyslsky, Chernigov, Ryazan, Galician, Smolensky, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Belozersky, Suzdal, Smolensky, Moscow, Tver, Starodubsky belong specifically to the Rurik family.
Other princely titles
In addition to the descendants of the Rurik family, the noble families of Russia can be such as the Otyaevs. This clan received its title thanks to the good warrior Khvostov, who had the nickname Otyai in the army, and has been going on since the year 1543.
The Ofrosmovs are an example of a strong will and a great desire to achieve a goal. The founder of the clan was a strong and courageous warrior.
The Pogozhevs are from Lithuania. Oratory and the ability to conduct military negotiations helped the founder of the family to receive a princely title.
The list of noble families also includes Pozharsky, Field, Pronchishchev, Protopopov, Tolstoy, Uvarov.
Count's titles
But the surnames noble origin It's not just princes. The count dynasties also had a high title and powers at court. This title was also considered very high and gave many powers.
To receive the title of count was a great achievement for any member of the royal society. Such a title first of all made it possible to have power and be closer to the ruling dynasty. The noble families of Russia for the most part consist of counts. The easiest way to achieve this title was when conducting successful military operations.
One of these surnames is Sheremetev. This is a county family that still exists in our time. Army General received this title for his achievements in the conduct of military operations and service royal family.
Ivan Golovkin is the ancestor of another surname of noble origin. According to many sources, this is a count who appeared in Russia after the wedding of his only daughter. One of the few count families that ended with a single representative of the dynasty.
The noble surname Minich had many branches, and the main reason for this was the large number of women in this family. At the marriage of a woman, Milich took double surname and mixed titles.
Courtiers received many count titles during the reign of Ekaterina Petrovna. She was a very generous queen and awarded titles to many of her military leaders. Thanks to her, such names as Efimovsky, Gendrikov, Chernyshev, Razumovsky, Ushakov and many others appeared in the list of nobles.
Barons at court
Famous noble families also had many holders of the titles of baron. Among them are ancestral families and granted barons. This, like all other titles, could be obtained with good service. And of course, the simplest and most effective way was to conduct military operations for the homeland.
This title was very popular in the Middle Ages. The family title could be received by wealthy families who sponsored royal family. This title appeared in the fifteenth century in Germany and, like everything new, gained great popularity. The royal family practically sold it to all wealthy families who had the opportunity to help and sponsor all royal undertakings.
In order to bring wealthy families closer to him, he introduced a new title - baron. One of the first owners of this title was the banker de Smith. Thanks to banking and trade, this family earned its finances and was elevated by Peter to the rank of barons.
Russian noble families with the title of baron also replenished with the surname Fridriks. Like de Smith, Yuri Fridriks was a good banker who lived and worked at the royal court for a long time. Born into a titled family, Yuri also received a title under Tsarist Russia.
In addition to them, there were a number of surnames with the title of baron, information about which was stored in military documents. These are warriors who have earned their titles by actively participating in hostilities. Thus, the noble families of Russia were replenished with such members as: Baron Plotto, Baron von Rummel, Baron von Malama, Baron Ustinov and the family of the brothers of the barons Schmidt. Most of them were from European countries and came to Russia on business.
royal families
But not only titled families are included in the list of noble families. Russian noble families headed the royal families for many years.
One of the most ancient royal families Russia were the Godunovs. This is the royal family, which has been in power for many years. The first of this family was Tsarina Godunova, who formally ruled the country for only a few days. She renounced the throne, and decided to spend her life in a monastery.
The next, no less famous surname of the royal Russian family is the Shuiskys. This dynasty spent a little time in power, but entered the list of noble families in Russia.
The Great Queen of Skavron, better known as Catherine the First, also became the founder of the royal family dynasty. Do not forget about such a royal dynasty as Biron.
Dukes at Court
The noble families of Russia also have the title of dukes. Getting the title of duke was not so easy. Basically, these clans included very rich and ancient families of tsarist Russia.
The owners of the title duke in Russia were the Chertozhansky family. The clan existed for many centuries and was engaged in agriculture. It was a very wealthy family that owned a lot of land.
The Duke of Nesvizh is the founder of the town of the same name Nesvizh. There are many versions of the origin of this family. The Duke was a great connoisseur of art. His castles were the most remarkable and beautiful buildings of that time. Owning large lands, the duke had the opportunity to help tsarist Russia.
Menshikov is another of the famous ducal families in Russia. Menshikov was not just a duke, he was a famous military leader, army general and governor of St. Petersburg. He received his title for the achievement and service to the royal crown.
Marquis title
The title of marquis in Tsarist Russia was mainly received by wealthy families with foreign origins. It was an opportunity to attract foreign capital into the country. One of the most famous families was Traversi. This is an ancient French family, whose representatives were at the royal court.
Among the Italian marquises was the Paulluchi family. Having received the title of marquis, the family remained in Russia. Another Italian family received the title of marquis at the royal court of Russia - Albizzi. This is one of the richest Tuscan families. They earned all their income from entrepreneurial activity for the manufacture of fabrics.
The meaning and privileges of the title
For the courtiers, having a title gave many opportunities and wealth. Upon receiving the title, it often carried lavish gifts from the crown. Often such gifts were land and wealth. The royal family gave such gifts for special achievements.
For wealthy families who earned their wealth on the generous Russian land, it was very important to have a good title, for this they financed royal undertakings, which bought their family a high title and good attitude. In addition, only titled families could be close to the royal family and participate in the government of the country.
The study of the history of the origin of the surname Grafskaya opens up the forgotten pages of the life and culture of our ancestors and can tell a lot of interesting things about the distant past.
The surname Grafskaya belongs to ancient type Slavic family names formed from personal nicknames.
The tradition of giving a person an individual nickname in addition to the name received at baptism existed in Rus' since ancient times and persisted until the 17th century. This is explained by the fact that out of the thousands of baptismal names recorded in the calendar of calendars and calendars, a little more than two hundred church names were used in practice. And the supply of nicknames that made it easy to distinguish a person from other carriers of the same name was inexhaustible.
A bunch of Slavic surnames It was formed from nicknames formed from common names denoting certain places. In the future, these nicknames were documented and became a real family name, the surname of descendants. In Russian, such surnames usually had the ending -skiy, for example, Lugovskiy, Polevskiy, Rudnitskiy. Surnames with this suffix usually appeared in the territories where residents of different regions moved. So Grafsky could be nicknamed a man who came from locality Grafovo, Grafovka or with a similar name. So, for example, the villages of Grafovo used to exist in the Izhevsk, Kharkov and Smolensk provinces.
The nickname Grafsky could also have an urban origin, by the name of the street where he lived. So, for example, in Moscow there is Grafsky Lane, which is named after title of nobility Count Sheremetev, on whose land it was laid.
In addition, many peasants received their surnames by the title or title of their master, for example, Boyarsky, Knyazhinsky. One of these names, formed with the help of the suffix -sky, is the naming Grafsky.
It is also likely that the nickname Count appeared in the son of a person who for some reason had the personal nickname Count, or in an illegitimate son of a serf - a peasant son.
The artificial origin of the surname Grafskaya is also not ruled out. IN late XVII century in the church environment, the practice has developed to give the clergy new, as a rule, more euphonious surnames. Many artificial seminary surnames were formed according to the model with the ending -skiy, which was considered "noble" - such surnames corresponded in their form to the surnames of Russian aristocrats. Explaining the origin of the surnames they received, the seminarians joked: “Through the churches, the flowers, the stones, the cattle, and as if his Eminence will rise.” Often, peasant children who did not have surnames were given a seminary surname according to the name by which they were nicknamed, that is, “from the count's peasants” - Grafsky.
Obviously, the surname Grafskaya has an interesting centuries-old history and should be classified among the oldest generic names, indicating the diversity of ways in which Russian surnames appeared.
Sources: Superanskaya A.V., Suslova A.V. Modern Russian surnames. 1981. Unbegaun B.-O. Russian surnames. M., 1995. Nikonov V.A. Family geography. M., 1988. Dal V.I. Dictionary living Great Russian language. M., 1998 Geography of Russia: encyclopedic Dictionary. M., 1998.
List of noble families included in the General Armorial of the Russian Empire
Appendix to the article The general armorial of the noble families of the Russian Empire The general armorial of the noble families of the Russian Empire is the set of coats of arms of the Russian noble families, established by decree of Emperor Paul I of January 20, 1797. Includes over ... ... Wikipedia
Title page of the Alphabetical list of noble families of the Mogilev province for 1909 List of noblemen of the Mogilev city ... Wikipedia
- ... Wikipedia
Title page of the Alphabetical list of noble families of the Minsk province for 1903. List of noble families ... Wikipedia
General Armorial of the noble families of the All-Russian Empire ... Wikipedia
List of princely families of the Russian Empire. The list includes: the names of the so-called "natural" Russian princes descended from the former ruling dynasties of Rus' (Rurikovich) and Lithuania (Gediminovichi) and some others; surnames, ... ... Wikipedia
More than 300 count families (including extinct ones) of the Russian Empire include: dignity elevated to the count of the Russian Empire (at least 120 by the beginning of the 20th century), elevated to the count Kingdom of the Polish dignity ... ... Wikipedia
), supplemented according to the List of princely families on the website of the Heraldry of the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, which require additional verification.
- The Mangyt dynasty, the rulers of the Emirate of Bukhara in 1756-1920, who had the title of emirs since 1785 (amir ul-muminin); vassals of Russia since 1868.
- The Kungrat dynasty, the rulers of the Khiva Khanate in 1804-1920, who bore the title of Khans of Khorezm; vassals of Russia since 1873.
