Ukrainian boy names are old. Rules for reading Ukrainian names

Ukrainian names have much in common with Russians and Belarusians. This is not surprising, because our peoples have common roots and one story. The intertwining of destinies has led to the fact that now in Ukraine they are asked to write down children in the Russian-language form of the name, while in mother tongue it may sound very different. What is the peculiarity of Ukrainian names?

Let's look into the past

Now in Ukraine, the fashion is returning to call children Old Slavonic names. So in kindergartens and schools you can meet girls Bogdana, Miroslava, Bozhedana, Velena, Bozena. The boys are named Dobromir, Izyaslav, Lubomir. But this is only modern tendencies, although they were observed for almost the entire centuries-old history of the fraternal people.

When Christianity was adopted in Russia, they began to baptize everyone in the church and give the names of the holy great martyrs. This tradition continues to this day. But we still continue to name children exactly as it is written in the certificate? And why is this happening?

It turns out that this phenomenon is more than a thousand years old. Ever since the first Christian years, people who were accustomed to this continued to call their children. And what the church demands from them simply remained on paper. So the names could actually be different. Bogdan was baptized as a child under the banner of St. Zenobius, and Ivan as Istislav.

Examples of names of Christian origin

But the language of the people is great and powerful, so some Ukrainian names were nevertheless borrowed from the Christian faith. Over time, they were changed and adapted to the gentle sound of the colorful language. By the way, there are also native Russian analogues. For example, Elena in Ukraine sounds like Olena, Emilian - Omelyan, Glykeria - Licker (Russian Lukerya).

AT Old Russian there were no names that would begin with the first letter of the alphabet A. This rule was later transferred to Ukraine, with the exception of the name Andrey (Andriy, although in some villages you can hear Gandriy) and Anton. But Alexander and Alexey, more familiar to us, had the first O and turned into Oleksandr and Oleksiy. By the way, dear Anna in Ukraine sounds like Ganna.

Another one phonetic feature ancient language- the absence of the letter F. Almost all words with F are borrowed from other countries. That is why the Christian versions of Thekla, Philip and Theodosius turned into Tesla, Pilip and Todos.

Ukrainian male names

It is simply impossible to name all the names suitable for boys and which will be considered primordially Ukrainian. There are a great number of them, and all of them have Old Slavonic roots. We propose to consider the most common Ukrainian male names and their meaning.

Women's names

Many female names are derived from male ones. List of Ukrainian given names in female form:

The meaning of Ukrainian names can be understood from the very name. Originally Ukrainian words were used to display their meaning on the character of the child. Therefore, if you read Miloslav, then you mean that this sweet creature will certainly become famous.

How to read Ukrainian names correctly

In the Ukrainian language, almost all letters are similar to Russian. Except for a few. They are especially difficult for people from other countries, because the language requires them to be pronounced smoothly and softly.

So, the letter g is in two versions. The first ordinary is read gutturally, softly, and the second with a tail is more firmly. Besides:

e is read like Russian e;
her:
i - and;
and - similarly s;
ї - like "yi"
yo - like Russian ё.

Features of modern names

Modern Ukrainian names have already lost their uniqueness. Of course, the parents of the western regions and some central regions still preserve ancient traditions, but the rest, and especially big cities prefer to use Russified forms. By the way, data about a person is written in two languages - national and Russian.

Russian name- Ukrainian name? Passport problem

In Soviet times, the names of residents of the Union republics were recorded in passports in two languages - Russian and national language republics. At the same time (in the case of Ukraine and Belarus), the name and patronymic were not transcribed, as is customary throughout the civilized world, but were replaced by the corresponding analogues: Pyotr Nikolaevich - Petro Mikolayovich, Nadezhda Vladimirovna - Nadia Volodimirivna. The nationality of a person had no influence: the Ukrainian Petro in the Russian-language documents still appeared as Peter, and the Russian Nadezhda in the Ukrainian-language documents as Nadia.

In modern Ukrainian legislation, this practice is theoretically abolished: according to the Constitution, a citizen has the right to a transcribed record of a name and surname in accordance with his national traditions. However, in reality, in order to achieve the desired spelling of the name, people have to overcome many bureaucratic obstacles. The same thing happens with the entry of the name on the birth certificate. For a long time, parents who wanted to name their daughter Anna encountered stubborn resistance from the registry office workers, who claimed that there was no such name in the Ukrainian language, but there was Hanna (which is blatant illiteracy: the variant Anna has existed in the Ukrainian language for many centuries). AT recent times resistance subsided - not in last turn because legally savvy parents began to challenge these actions in higher instances.

How to pronounce Ukrainian names

The Ukrainian alphabet is very close to Russian, but there are several differences between them:

e reads like Russian uh;
є - like Russian e:
і - like Russian and;
and- as an average between Russian s and and;
ї - as " yi"
yo- like Russian yo after consonants: Stas yo- Stas yo(but not Stasio).
yo- like Russian yo at the beginning of a word or after hard consonants.

Unlike the Russian yo, which is always stressed, Ukrainian yo/yo may be unfortunate.

Letter " G" denotes a voiced guttural or back lingual fricative (as in Russian literary pronunciation Bo's words G)

letters s,b,yo,uh not in the Ukrainian alphabet. Together separating solid mark an apostrophe is used ( ’ ).

Unstressed vowels in Ukrainian are pronounced as clearly as they are under stress (unlike in Russian, where unstressed o usually turns into a, and e into i: k a row, t and l and background).

O in a closed syllable in Ukrainian often turns into і , hence the paired variants of names arise: Anton and Antin, Tikhon and Tikhin. But both options are inclined the same way: Anton,Anton,Anton,Tikhon,Tikhon, Tikhon.

Ukrainian male names ending in - about, are inclined according to the second declension: Danilo-Danila, Danila, Danil, Petro-Petra,Peter, Peter.

On the modern territory Ukraine is inhabited by many peoples: Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Bulgarians, Georgians. This diversity of nations is due historical development of this state. Ukrainian female names have an ancient and original history.

Brief information about the history of the appearance of Ukrainian names

In ancient times, the lands of Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Chernihiv and other central regions of Ukraine were inhabited by tribes of pagan Slavs. With the advent of the state Kievan Rus there is a legend about the arrival of the Vikings, who were the first rulers of Russia: Rurik, Igor, Olga, Oleg - all these names are of Scandinavian origin.

After the Christianization of Russia by Prince Vladimir, the original Slavic and Scandinavian pagan names began to be gradually replaced by Greek ones. However, fortunately, the people did not abandon their culture. Newborns began to be given two names: one - Slavic (pagan), and the other - Greek (Christian). It was the stability of tradition that made it possible to preserve the original flavor of Slavic names.

With the further division of Russia into the Kievan and Moscow principalities, with the expansion of the territory of the state and the settlement of the Slavs from Moscow to the coast Sea of Azov, Russian and Ukrainian female names that historically have common origin, began to differ.

The difference between Russian and Ukrainian names

When the center of Kievan Rus shifted to Muscovy, Christianity became a truly native religion for the people of Russia, estates appeared in society (peasants, boyars, princes), cultural interaction of the state with other countries of Europe and Asia began to develop. As a result of the strengthening of Christianity as state religion newborns were given two names: one was chosen according to the calendar (this name was often advised by the priest), and the second was Slavic, used in the home circle.

With the increase in literacy in society, Slavic names began to gradually fall out of use and were replaced by Christian names, especially those mentioned in sacred texts. Old Russian, and then Russian society, especially its most prosperous stratum, increasingly adopted European culture.

At the same time, on the territory modern Ukraine among the common people, ancient traditions were preserved and maintained. If in Ancient Russia Slavic names were used mainly in the family, and officially a person was represented by the name given to him at baptism, then in Ukraine the situation was the other way around. The main name was considered Slavic. Perhaps this is the reason why Ukrainian female names have retained their national flavor.

Phonetic features of Ukrainian names

Foreign names, once in the Old Russian environment, changed their pronunciation. For example, Greek name Anna in the Ukrainian language acquired the form of Hann, the name Xenia - Oksana, and the name Theodore - Todor.

This happened because in the Old Russian language, which was spoken 1000 years ago by the Slavs of Kievan and Moscow Rus (it was one language), the sound f- it was not at all, for the Slavs it was difficult to pronounce, and it was replaced with a more convenient sound t-. This is how the name Todor appeared.

And the sound a- in the language of the Eastern Slavs never stood at the beginning of a word (absolutely all concepts that in Russian or Ukrainian begin with a-, have foreign origin: watermelon, arba, aria, aquamarine). This is how Ukrainian forms appeared: Oleksandr, Oleksiy, Olesya, Oksana. From parallel Russians, for example Aksinya, formed from the Greek Xenia.

It must be said that the replacement of the initial a- on the about- was characteristic of the entire folk environment of Russia in general (and not just the territory of modern Ukraine). Thus, the Russian merchant from Tver, Afanasy Nikitin, in his book Journey Beyond the Three Seas (XV century) calls himself Othonasius.

Ancient monosyllabic female names

Old Ukrainian female names can consist of one root (Vera, Volya, Zhdana). Some of these ancient names are common, and some are obsolete. The monosyllabic female names of Ukrainians include, for example, those presented below.

Ancient disyllabic female names

Currently, Ukrainian female names consisting of two roots are a little more common. Vladislav - from the words "glory" and "power" - strength, courage. Zlatomir - from the concepts of "peace" and "gold" - gold. The meaning that the original Ukrainian female names have (list below) is sometimes easy to determine on your own by the root of the word. Next, consider concrete examples. Two-syllable Ukrainian female names are beautiful, melodic, colorful. They reflect the music and poetry of the people. An example of them are the following: Bozhemila, Boleslav, Brotherlyub, Dobrogora, Druzhelyuba, Zlatomir, Lyubava ("beloved"), Lyubomila, Lubomir, Lyuboslav, Mechislav, Miroslava, Wise, Radmira, Svetlana, Svetoyara.

As can be seen from this list, rare Ukrainian female names most often contain syllables - glory, -love, -sweet, -peace. It can be assumed that this principle of word formation contains the primordial values of the Slavs: to be loved, feminine (“sweet”), kind (“peace”) and brave (“glory”).

Modern Ukrainian names

In modern Ukraine, the same names are mostly found that are used in Russia and Belarus. They are of Slavic, Greek, Roman, Jewish and Scandinavian origin. However, unlike Russian society, in Ukraine there is a gradual increase in interest in ancient names, which indicates an increase in the spirit of patriotism in society and attention to their own cultural traditions. This is especially true for western regions countries where newborn girls are increasingly given Old Slavic names, which are presented above.

However, despite the fact that every year the number of newborn girls who are given Slavic names is increasing, in the whole country the general fashion from Eastern Europe still influences the choice of names.

Popular female Ukrainian names: Alina, Alice, Anna / Ganna, Bogdana, Victoria, Veronika, Darina, Diana, Elizabeth, Katerina / Ekaterina, Christina, Lyudmila, Nadezhda, Natalia, Maria, Oksana, Olesya, Sofia, Tatyana, Uliana, Julia .

Conclusion

Female names common on the territory of modern Ukraine are diverse both in meaning and in history of origin. However, out of all East Slavic peoples Ukrainians (especially from the western regions of the country), as it seems, more than others have preserved ancient Slavic names in their onomasticon. Once upon a time they were used by all Slavs, but with the adoption of Christianity they were gradually replaced by Greek and European ones.

Ukrainian names are very common, not to mention family names. When Kievan Rus converted to Christianity, they began to emerge beautiful words which later became Ukrainian. Christian church calendar states that it is the basis of all data. So what is the magic of the Ukrainian language?

Ukrainian names and surnames

The origin of Ukrainian surnames is a long story that goes back several centuries. There is one very curious fact: Ukrainian data came into use much earlier than Russian or English. The first surnames were with the suffix -enko-, which is now already known and even familiar. But few people know that this is one of the most ancient suffixes, which dates back to the 16th century.

Each word was given to people for a reason, it meant something. So, for example, the common surname Maistrenko has the translation “freedom”, i.e. someone in the family was not a serf, but had the right to be a master. An ethnic Ukrainian may belong to a group that has long history, due to the presence of some specific signs of the formation of a surname.

Men's

Ukrainian surnames for men depend on endings and suffixes - this is the most main indicator construction. They were formed for a long time, based on the nicknames of people, their professions, appearance and region of residence, so they could receive them based on the specifics of their activities. Common alphabetical suffixes that play a major role in the formation of data are:

-eyk-;
-ko-;
-points-;
-nickname-;
-ar (ar) -;
-shin-;
-ba-.

Women's

Ukrainian surnames for women are formed in the same way as for men. Here the endings change a little, they have a declination, but only thanks to this it can be understood that we have a woman in front of us. Also, forms for girls do not exist for everyone. There is also data that does not change, i.e. suitable for both sexes at once. The examples of suffixes are the same as given above. But it is best to disassemble in a visual version.

Pilipenko. It applies equally to both men and women.
Serdyukov - as mentioned in this case clearly it is a man. Serdyukov - the declension with the addition of the letter "a" can no longer be thought that this is the male sex. For a woman, this consonance is much more suitable.

Funny Ukrainian surnames

The dictionary of Ukrainian surnames is replete with unusual, funny data, which are even strange to consider as names. No, it's not about ridicule. It's just that they are really very funny, funny, few people will have the courage to give their child a similar name. Although, for Ukraine, such names are considered the best of all:

Ladle;
Golka;
Do not shoot;
Nedaikhleb;
Thinness;
chicken coop;
Fear;
Pipko the Possessed;
Cattle;
Kochmarik;
Grivul;
Gurragcha;
Surdul;
Bochard;
Zhovna.

The list is endless, there are not the most successful options that do not sound very aesthetically pleasing. But what to do, such Ukrainian language and we must respect him.

Beautiful Ukrainian surnames

Beautiful Ukrainian surnames, the list of which is extensive. There is familiar data here that is often encountered. The data is really very interesting, well-known, and most importantly, consonant.

Tkachenko;
Stepanenko;
Plushenko;
Leshchenko;
Skripko;
Goncharenko;
Sobchak;
Tishchenko;
Vinnichenko;
Timoshenko;
Romaniuk;
Onishchenko;
Gouzenko.

Western Ukrainian

Western Ukrainian surnames are the owners of the suffix -iv-, it is found absolutely everywhere. For example, Illiv, Ivaniv, Ivantsiv. In general, in Western Ukraine there are not so many endings and suffixes, so the people limited themselves to the main additions to the data, without declension: -vich-, -ych-, -ovich-, -evich- and -ich-. That's all diversity. If a word ends in one of these suffixes, then you should immediately determine that it is exclusively Western Ukraine. So, for example, here are a number of well-known names that refer to the Western Ukrainian addition system:

Mishkevich;
Koganovich;
Mrych;
Enukovich;
Gorbatsevich;
Krivich;
Bekonovich;
Vinich;
Stroganovich;
Strarovoitovich;
Gudzevich;
Bykovich;
Kpekych.

Common

There are also a dozen - the most common Ukrainian surnames, which are not only found on every corner, but are also considered the most popular of all. A large number of famous people are owners of real surnames of Ukrainian origin, for example, astronauts, politicians, etc. List of Ukrainian surnames:

Strelbitsky.
Kravets.
Kravchenko.
Koval.
Kravchuk.
Kovalchuk.
Pridius.
Butko.
Khrushchev.
Matvienko.

How Ukrainian surnames are inclined

Do Ukrainian surnames decline? Generally, male surname will always be subject to this rule. But there is also another weighty rule: non-Russian surnames that end in a consonant are necessarily inclined, and foreign data related to non-Slavic traditions ending in a vowel remain unchanged. The feminine side is not as flexible as there are some suffixes that just fall out. So, women have to walk all their lives with male data, but this does not upset them in any way, because in most cases these surnames are very concise and beautiful.