Origin of the surname Count. What are Russian surnames of noble origin The meaning and privileges of the title

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.

), supplemented according to the List of princely families on the website of the Heraldry of the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, which require additional verification.

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:

1. Princes.
2. Counts.
3. Barons.
4. Tsars.
5. Dukes.
6. 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.

To the nobility of the Russian Empire

Golovin, Myasoedov, Abaturov,
Kareev, Kislovsky, Kozhin,
Osorgin, Pestrikov, Rezanov,
Selivanov, Sipyagin, Sushkov,
Linguistic and many other noble
dedicated to my ancestors.

A complete list of noble families of the Russian Empire (titled and pillar nobility)

One has to see many unfounded claims of various people to the nobility (despite the fact that it has not existed in Russia for 100 years), or to descent from one or another noble family, as well as to titles of nobility (some of which never belonged to that or another family). That is why the idea of ​​this list arose, since the author could not find anywhere similar, which would be sufficiently complete and entirely logical.

This list only includes genera. hereditary nobles, and to begin with, only titled clans (including clans that received their title from foreign sovereigns and foreign titled nobles, provided that their title was officially recognized in Russia) or ancient(“pillar”, until 1685) families of the Russian Empire, that is, noble families, which were, respectively, in the V-th and in the VI-th part of the genealogical books by provinces, see p. Differences among the nobility). Thus, this list probably covers only about 15% of noble families (but for the rest, information is much more accessible, because the families that arose in the 18th and 19th centuries are recent, the fact of their entry into the hereditary nobility is always well documented and all their 2-6 generations are easily tracked by the noble genealogical books of the respective provinces).

Thus, Not includes:

• personal nobles (who did not create a clan),


• hereditary nobles of the first four parts of the genealogical books (who received the nobility by award after 1685, or for long service in the army or in the civil service, as well as non-titled foreigners),


• untitled nobles of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland, who, strictly speaking, were not part of the Russian Empire, but were more or less relatively autonomous states in a personal union with Russia (having the same monarch),


• untitled nobles of the Caucasus and other territories annexed after Peter I.

Of course, different genera bearing the same surname are listed separately (at least until their connection is precisely established), i.e. arr. we see several genera of the Bartenevs, several genera of the Golovins, several genera of the Levashovs, several genera of the Neklyudovs, etc. Also titled and non-titled branches of the clan (or the same clan that changed the title - for example, the count's family, becoming princely) stand separately, even if we are not talking about the real extinction of the clan. Separately, two different branches of the family are also placed if they used different coats of arms.

Naturally, only titles officially recognized by the supreme power of Russia before 1917 are included. Thus, awards of titles made by pretenders to the throne and self-proclaimed "emperors" after 1917, NOT INCLUDED, because they are private acts of individuals who are not ruling monarchs (who are the only ones who can assign any titles of nobility).

Note.

1. About the date of occurrence(fourth column of the table): we are talking, depending on the cases, about the date of awarding the estate, or the date of the first mention of the surname somewhere, or the date of awarding the title (in the case of titled families), or the date of official recognition in Russia of a foreign title kind.

2. Surnames in Russia, in their modern sense, began to appear only in the 16th century. For example, Ivan the Terrible (from the Moscow branch of the Rurikovich) simply did not have a surname. Accordingly, in the column "surname" (the second column of the table) is sometimes not the surname itself, but the name by which this or that family was known as the ruling one in any inheritance (for example, the princes of Rostov, the princes of Chernigov and other Rurikoviches ).

3. Parentheses are used when there were several spellings (for example, counts of Rzhevussky or Rzhevovsky), the same applies to the noble predicates “von” (Germany) or “de”: many genera of German or French descent were written this way, then this way, either gradually abandoned the use of the predicate (in such cases it is in brackets), or, conversely, they constantly used it (then it is without a bracket). In at least two cases (counts Devier and Fonvizina), the original predicate was included in the actual Russian surname.

4. A question mark stands when some information seems doubtful or unfounded to a number of researchers.

NB! If you see your last name on this list, this does not mean at all that you belong to this noble family. For a number of reasons, from the fact that many serfs were recorded upon release under the surname of the former owners to the fact that the same surname could be worn by a noble family (received nobility for long service or for any merit) and completely unrelated with her simple namesakes. The same with titles - individual branches of a particular family sometimes received a title from the monarch and started a new, titled branch, while the rest of the branches remained "just" nobles. Thus, there were, for example, the princes of Putyatin, the counts of Putyatin, the nobles of Putyatin (and the Putyatin, who did not have nobility at all), and there are a lot of such examples. Consequently, without careful and serious genealogical searches based on documents, you do not have to “automatically” attribute yourself to one or another well-known noble family, even if your last name is Golitsyn or Obolensky.

Against, if you did NOT see your last name on this list, this does not mean at all that you do not belong to any noble family - as mentioned above, the vast majority (more than 4/5) of non-titled Russian noble families arose after 1685 and therefore is not included in this list.

Please report any inaccuracies, errors or omissions to [email protected]!

Compiled by: Leo Golovin.

Abbreviations

B: boyar family, i.e. one in which there was at least one boyar

BC: genus included in the Velvet Book (1687)

G: the family has a coat of arms, but not included in the published parts of the Armorial

Ged: Gediminovichi

DD: a family from the ancient nobility (before 1685), but was not included in the Velvet Book

R: Rurikovichi

W: extinct family (for simplicity, this letter also stands for a family that, for example, ceased to be a count and became a prince, or even if a new part was added to the surname, for example, Prince Beloselsky became Prince Beloselsky-Belozersky under Paul I, so that save the extinct Belozersky family)

All titled lineages belong to one or more of the following 22 categories :

princes:UK: former specific princes (the so-called "natural princes" who received the title as real rulers, and not as a result of the award of an honorary princely title by the king or emperor), PC: granted princes, IR: foreign princes recognized in Russia, or Russians who received a princely title from foreign states, or natural princes of other countries who were allowed to use their title in Russia, RK: Russian-princely families, KRI: princes of the Roman Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation), recognized in Russia, KP: Polish princely surnames, CT: "Tatar princes", i.e. descended from the Tatar Murzas, GC: Georgian (Caucasian) princely families ranked as Russian nobility after the entry of Georgia, Imeretia, Guria, Kartaliniya, Kakheti, Mingrelia, Abkhazia into the Russian Empire, recognized by decree of December 6, 1850 (unlike the few Russian-princely families of Georgian origin).

Counts: PG: granted graphs, WG: Russian-count families, IG: foreign counts recognized in Russia, or Russians who received the title of count from foreign states, GRI: Counts of the Roman Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation), recognized in Russia, GP: Polish county surnames, GF: Finnish county surnames.

Barons: PB: bestowed barons, RB: Russian-baronial families, IS: foreign barons recognized in Russia, or Russians who received a baronial title from foreign states, BB: Baltic baronial families, included in the noble matricula before the accession of the Baltic region to Russia, BRI: barons of the Roman Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation), recognized in Russia, BP: Polish baronial families, bf: Finnish baronial surnames.

IT : dukes, marquises, baronets, etc., that is, families granted titles that do not exist in Russia and / or officially received permission to use foreign titles that do not exist in Russia Russian laws(which recognized only three titles - princes, counts and barons).

THE LIST WILL BE ABOUT 5000 CHILDREN, WHILE ONLY ABOUT 3700 HAVE BEEN INCLUDED, AND THE LIST IS COMPLETELY NOT FINISHED!