Most of the surnames have their own history, the roots of which go back to ancient times. Therefore, by your last name you can find out who your ancestors were and what they did. Knowing the history and origin of a kind is an example of true respect for the memory of ancestors.
Instructions
Step 1
At present, historians are actively involved in the search for family roots. This, of course, does not mean that they trace everything, but they describe the most interesting, common or, on the contrary, rare names. Look at specialized publications and websites, maybe you will find your last name.
Step 2
Try to search for origins using analogy and semantic analysis. Look through dictionaries and reference books, understand what your surname means and where it came from, often the name of the father's profession became the name of the father's profession: "the son of a blacksmith - blacksmiths", etc.
Step 3
Most of the princely families, and then the boyar ones, were formed from the name of the lands they owned. For example, Shuisky, Meshchersky, Vyazemsky. But all the surname of this type is princely, perhaps it is just an indication of the area where the person came from, many Jewish surnames are formed on the basis of this principle.
Step 4
Very often the surname of non-Russian origin was later Russified, for example, Sarkisyan could become Sarkisov.
Step 5
There are also seminary surnames. Many priests, as well as their children, received a surname from the name of the church where they served (Troitsky, Sergievsky), and someone received a surname from the name of icons (Znamensky, Vyshensky)
Step 6
There are surnames from names from the Old Testament (Sodom, Israel) and the New Testament (Nazareth, Bethlehem). Surnames could also be formed from the epithets given to some saints (Theological, Magdalene). Some seminarians were given surnames that somehow reflected certain traits of the seminarian himself (Smelov, Veselov, Tikhomirov, Dobronravov).
Step 7
The most numerous share of seminary surnames are so-called geographical surnames. They did not come from the name of the diocesan cities, but smaller cities and villages, since the training took place in the seminary of their diocese. When seminarians came from a neighboring province, the surname was derived from the name of the diocesan city. For example, the surname Ufimtsev, until the middle of the 19th century in the Ufa diocese there was no episcopal see, so they left to study in neighboring provinces. Also examples of geographical seminary names will be Krasnopolsky, Novgorodsky, Belinsky, etc.
