What’s in a Name?

By Walter Kish

We all have a name, typically a first name that is commonly used by our friends, relatives and acquaintances, and a last name which is used for official purposes and by those outside our inner circle.  The most common first names in Western cultural usage are usually derived from those found in the Bible, i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Mary, Sarah, Rebecca, etc. in English. Of course, we have Ukrainian versions of many of these names such as Matvyj, Marko, Luka, Ivan, Petro and so on. 

However, there are many common Ukrainian first names that have other roots that our tied to our history.  There are some, for instance, that have come down from the Vikings (also known as Normans or Varangians) that played such an important role in the early history of Ukraine at the time of the Kyivan Rus Empire.  My name Volodymyr, for instance is derived from the Viking Valdemar.  Oleh or Oleg is a Slavicized form of Helgi, Olha or Olga comes from Helga, while Ihor or Igor comes from the Norse Ingvar. 

The use of names to identify individuals goes back almost as far as there has been language and recorded history.  However, last names, also known as surnames or family names are of very recent origin.  In European culture, including Ukraine, they have only come into common usage in the past three or four centuries with the advent of population growth and the organization of large towns and urban centres.  Prior to that, people were known by their first name, with additional identification tied to paternity, occupation or place of residence, i.e. Ivan, son of Luka the Blacksmith, or Sviatoslav from Berezivka.

Once the necessity of more precise identification became necessary, people adopted last names usually on the basis of family lineage, location, occupation, or physical or personality traits.

The most common was based on the first name of one’s father.  So if you were the son of Petro, you would assume the surname of Petrenko or Petrovich or Petruk.  A variation of this, taking the matrilineal aspect in mind (i.e. son of Petro’s wife or woman), would give you the name Petryshyn, the –yshyn indicating descent from the mother’s side.  Surnames ending in –enko, -iuk, -iak and –vych imply “son of”.  Some examples are Semeniuk, Matvienko, Markevych, Yurkevich, Hryhorenko, Pavliuk, Mykuliak and Tymoshenko.

Also common, as is also true in names with Anglo Saxon origins, were names adopted from a person’s occupation or trade.  Some examples are Kowal, Kowalchuk, Kowalenko (smith), Krawets (tailor) Shvets (shoemaker), Honchar, Honcharenko (potter), Chaban (herdsman), Rybak (fisherman), Bondar (cooper), Tkach, Tkachenko (weaver), Kossar (mower) and Kuchar (cook).

Another common source related to a persons ethnic group or origins – Lytwyn, Lytwyniuk, Lytwynenko (Lithuanian), Tataryn, Tatarchuk (Tatar), Moskaliuk, Moskalenko (Muscovite), or Boyko, Boychuk (from the Boyko area of Ukraine, and even Ukrayinets, Ukrainka (Ukrainian).

My favourites are name that refer to some trait or characteristic of the original individual, such as Mudryj (smart), Lysyj (bald), Bosyj (barefoot), Hladyj, Hladun (smooth), Maceluch (feeler), Panko, Panchuk, Panchenko (noble) and Masnyj or Salnyj, Saleniuk (fat).  A variation of this was names based on various colours – Zelenyj (green), Chornyj, Chornenkyj (black), Bilyj (white), Siryj (grey), and Rudyj (red).

There are many names based on nature.  Animal, bird and even insect names are fairly common, such as Wowk (wolf), Baran, Baraniuk (ram), Kohut (rooster), Zayets (rabbit), Woroniuk (raven), Zuk (beetle), Worobec (sparrow), Kozyj, Kozynets (goat) and Oleniuk, Olenchuk (deer).  Trees provide another source for surnames – Berezovskyj (birch), Wyshnevskyj (cherry), Dubenko (oak), Verbeniuk (willow).  Some refer to locations in nature such as Pidhainyj (by the wood), Pidwerbecky (under the birch tree), Naberezhnyj (on the shore). There are even names based on vegetables such as Pasternak (parsnip), Burak, Burakevich (beet), Hryn (horseradish) and Kapusta, Kapustynski (cabbage).

There is even a whole category of names based on tools and implements – such as Lopata (shovel), Skovoroda (frying pan), and Pidkova (horseshoe), Pidkovych (horseshoe fitter).

Which brings me to my own name Kish, which after extensive research, I find may or may not even be Ukrainian.  Kish is a name very common in Hungary and means “small” in their native tongue.  Kish can also be a kozak word used to denote a fort (the leader of which was known as a koshovyj ataman).  In some parts of Ukraine it is also the word for a type of basket (variation of koshyk).  So, either I am a small Hungarian, a kozak warrior or just another basket case!