A modern Belarusian name of a person consists of three parts:

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

, and

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

(surname), according to the

Eastern Slavic naming customs East Slavic naming customs are the traditional way of identifying a person's family name, given name, and patronymic name in East Slavic cultures in Russia and some countries formerly part of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. They ar ...

, similar to

Russian name East Slavic naming customs are the traditional way of identifying a person's family name, given name, and patronymic name in East Slavic languages, East Slavic cultures in Russia and some countries formerly part of the Russian Empire and the ...

s and

Ukrainian name Ukrainian names are given names that originated in Ukraine. In addition to the given names, Ukrainians also have patronymic and family names (surnames; see: '' Ukrainian surnames''). Ukrainian given names Diminutive and hypocoristic forms are ...

Belarusian given names

As with most cultures, a person has a given name chosen by the parents. First names in East-

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...

mostly originate from three sources: Orthodox church tradition (which is itself of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

origin),

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church tradition (which is itself of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

origin) and native pre-Christian Slavic origin lexicons. Most names have several diminutive forms. ;List of Belarusian names: * Арцём ( Arciom) * Аксана (Aksana; most common Ukrainian female name as ''Oksana''; of Greek origin from ''Xenia'') * Алена (Alena, equivalent to Helen, of Greek origin) * Аляксей (Alaksiej, of Greek origin) * Аляксандр (Alaxandr, equivalent to Alexander, of Greek origin) * Аляксандра (Alaxandra, equivalent to Alexandra, of Greek origin) * Анатоль (Anatol, equivalent to Greek ''Anatolios'', of Greek origin) * Андрэй ( Andrej, equivalent to Andrew, of Greek origin) * Вадзім ( Vadzim, equivalent to Persian '' Bademus'') * Васіль, Базыль (Vasil (orthodox) or Bazyl (catholic) of Greek origin) * Віктар ( Viktar, equivalent to Victor, of Latin origin) * Вольга (Volha, a pre-Christian name derived from

Varangian The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

Siarhiej, of Latin origin) * Станіслаў ( Stanisłaŭ, of Slavic origin) * Тацяна (Taciana, equivalent to Latin Tatius, of Latin origin) * Кацярына (Kaciaryna, equivalent to Catherine, of Greek origin) * Кірыла (Kiryła, of Greek origin) * Леанід, Лявон (Leanid or Lavon from ''Leonidas'', of Greek origin) * Марыя (Maryja, equivalent to Mary, of Hebrew origin) * Міхал, Міхась (Michał or Michaś, equivalent to Michael, of Hebrew origin) * Мікалай (Mikałaj, equivalent to Nicholas, of Greek origin) * Наталля (Natallja, equivalent to Natalie, of Latin origin) * Настасся (Nastassia, equivalent to Anastasia, of Greek origin) * Паўло, Павел (Paŭło or Pavieł, equivalent to Paul, of Latin origin) * Пятро, Пятрусь ( Piatro or Piatruś, equivalent to Peter, of Greek origin) * Раман ( Raman, of Latin origin) * Уладзіслаў ( Uładzisłaŭ, equivalent to Vladislav) * Уладзімір ( Uładzimir, a pre-Christian name of Slavic origin) * Францішак (Francišak, of Latin origin) * Юры (Jury, equivalent to George, of Greek origin) * Юлія ( Julija, equivalent to Julia or Julie, of Latin origin) * Яраслаў ( Jarasłaŭ, a pre-Christian name of Slavic origin) * Ян, Іван ( Jan or

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the B ...

, equivalent to John, of Hebrew origin)

Belarusian family names (surnames)

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and most of the former

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, surnames first appeared during the late Middle Ages. They initially denoted the differences between various people living in the same town or village and bearing the same name. The conventions were similar to those of English surnames, using occupations, patronymic descent, geographic origins, or personal characteristics. Belarusian surnames, like those in most of Europe, are hereditary and generally patrilineal, i.e., passed from the father on to his children. Depending on the region, Belarusian surnames could have a different form and different ending. One very large group of surnames end with the common Slavonic suffixes -vič (wicz) and -ič (icz) (Daškievič, Šuškievič, Vajciuškievič, Mackievič, Mickievič, Misilevič) or -cki and -ski (feminine form and : Navicki, Kalinoŭski, Pilecki, Rusiecki, Sadoŭski, Caŭłoŭski, Bialaŭski). One common suffix in surnames is ''-čuk'' (Ramančuk, Kačuk, Kavalčuk) or its simplified versions ''-iuk'' and ''-juk'' (Maliuk, Masiuk). Another group includes surnames with the suffix ''-ka'', corresponding to the suffix ''-ko'' found in

(Łukašenka, Jakavienka, Haponienka), (Malašonak, Manionak). Another suffix is (Majsienia, Astapienia, Jurčenia, Hierasimienia).

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110721203006/http://old.knihi.com/jurevic_u/prozviscy.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20110815090007/http://dzietki.org/article/cms_view_article.php?aid=4 * https://web.archive.org/web/20110411132101/http://kryuja.org/artykuly/bielaruskaja_atliantyda/jak_i_czamu_bielarusy_vybirali_imjony.html * http://knihi.com/Symon_Barys/Bielaruskija_imiony.html

References

{{Names_in_world_cultures Slavic-language names Names by country Belarusian names

Belarusian given names

Belarusian family names (surnames)

See also

External links

References