Balabanov (Balaban, Balabanoff, Ballabon, etc.) and their derivatives (-ovs, -ich, etc.) are common last names in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. Notable people with the surname include: *

Aleksei Balabanov Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov (russian: Алeксeй Oктябpинoвич Балабанoв; 25 February 1959 – 18 May 2013) was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and producer, a member of European Film Academy. He started from cr ...

(1959-2013), Russian filmmaker *

Andrey Balabanov Andrey Balabanov (born 17 August 1966 in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR) is a Soviet-born Ukrainian sprint canoer who competed in the early 1990s. He won three bronze medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with two in the C-2 10000 ...

, Soviet-born Ukrainian sprint canoer *

Angelica Balabanov , image = Brodskiy II Balabanova.jpg , birth_name = Anzhelika Isaakovna Balabanova , birth_date = August 4, 1878 , birth_place = Chernihiv, Ukraine , death_date = , death_place = Rome, Ital ...

(1878-1965), Russian-Italian Marxist revolutionary, Comintern secretary in 1919-1921 * Kostantyn Balabanov (born 1982), Ukrainian football player *

Vasile Balabanov Vasily Vasilyevich Balabanov (russian: link=no, Василий Васильевич Балабанов; 30 January 1873 – 27 January 1947) was a former governor of Turkestan in Imperial Russia, a governor of Semirechye, an SR and a commissa ...

(1873-1947), provincial administrator of Imperial Russia

Origins of the name

Possible origins of the name according to Tudor Balabanov: :1. in the

Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...

Mountains there is an eagle called Balaban from which the name may be derived. :2. One of the recipients of this name may have been the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

s that around 4000 years ago started naming the leading three soldiers of a battalion, namely: the one with the flag, those with a drum, and the one with a blow instrument - the Balabans. :3. The

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

may have taken over this name and given it to the relatively tall non-Muslim men from their territories.

Origins of the name

See also