How the Hungarian surnames were formed. The Importance of the Most Common Surnames in Russia and Ukraine

Hungarians, or Magyars, as they call themselves, are settled throughout the world. In addition to their country, entire Hungarian settlements exist in Western Ukraine (in Transcarpathia), Poland, Romania, Slovakia. Many Hungarians moved to a permanent residence abroad - in the US and Canada. About 4 thousand inhabitants of Russia consider themselves ethnic Hungarians. Historical events have mixed the Magyars with other nationalities, and often those who wear Hungarian surnames do not even suspect their attitude to this nation.

History in the surname

Another name for this people is the Ugrians. The homeland of the nomadic tribe of Onugres, the researchers consider the eastern regions of the Urals, where they moved to warmer places, crossed the Carpathians and found their homeland in the Middle Urals basin.

The Hungarian state was formed in the beginning of the 11th century. Representatives of other nationalities often settled in the ethnic territory of the Magyars, relatives who were close to religious beliefs entered into marriages and mixed with the indigenous population. A long stay in the Austro-Hungarian state led to the formation of Austro-Hungarian surnames.

Hungarian language and surnames: history

Despite the close encirclement of the linguistic clans of the Slavic and Romano-Germanic groups, the Finno-Ugric language family stands apart. This fact explains the peculiar approach to the formation of names and surnames. Until the beginning of the 13th century, Hungarian surnames did not exist at all (this is common to many Slavic peoples). To indicate the identity of a person, despite his estate, only the name was used.

Hungarian surnames go before the name, as a qualifying adjective. The double designation of the personality spread first only among the aristocracy, among the nobles, a little later - among the townspeople. Landless poor peasants for a long time remained filthless, until in the 18th century the royal law was enacted, obliging all to wear a first and last name.

Hungarian surnames: origin

Lexical groups of origin of names of Hungarians have several sources.

• The most common group consists of surnames formed from the profession, occupation, craft or position: Molnar (miller), Ach (carpenter), Pap (priest), Kovacs (blacksmith), Rakos (the direct meaning of "cancer", the so-called fisherman) .
• The converted names of fathers were also common. This education became popular also for the reason that it is not accepted to attach a patronymic to the name of Hungarians. The father's name as a family name often has no end: Peter Sandor and Sandor Peter are completely different people. To clarify who is talking about, in documents, questionnaires, lists there is a graph in which the mother's maiden name is indicated. Sometimes the father's name-surname is joined by -y (and), as a sign of "whose" -Mikloshi. Another option is the addition of the word "son" ("fi"): Peterfi, Mantorfi.
• Many Hungarian surnames were formed from the place of birth. Names of villages, cities, family castles in direct form or with the suffix -i: Kalo, Pato, Debreceni, Tordai.
• A fairly large group of surnames was formed from the names of nationalities and nationalities: One (Serb), Gorvat (Croat), Nemeth (German), Olah (Romanian), etc.
• Small, but no less common among Hungarians surnames associated with the designation of internal or external characteristics of a person: Nagi (large), Baldog (happy).

Female surnames

It is very unusual to transform female names when married. Female Hungarian surnames and names are the full name of her husband with the addition of the ending "us". So, the wife of Andros Kovacs will be called Androshny Kovacs. To avoid confusion, a law has been adopted, according to which modern women have the right to choose. They can attach the ending to the surname (Kovachny), can keep the girl's name and surname, can wear a double variant: a girl's maiden plus her husband. But, as statistics show, the traditions are so strong that many of the girls are "renamed" in the old way when married, which introduces certain misunderstandings among uninitiated foreigners.

"Our Hungarians"

Many residents of Ukraine and Russia do not consider themselves to be ethnic Magyars, nevertheless Hungarian surnames derived from their ancestors are worn. The list of the most common surnames of Hungarian origin is as follows.

1. Kovacs is a blacksmith.
2. Molnar is a miller.
3. Gorvat is a Croat.
4. Varga is a shoemaker.
5. The nig is great.
6. Kish is small.
7. Sabo - tailor.
8. Farkash is a wolf.
9. The one (a) is a Slovak.
10. Balog is left-handed.