Belarusian name

A modern Belarusian name of a person consists of three parts: given name, patronymic, and family name, similarly to names in other East Slavic cultures: Russian names and Ukrainian names.

Belarusian given names

As with most cultures, a person has a given name chosen by the parents. First names in East-Slavic languages mostly originate from two sources: Orthodox church tradition (which is itself of Greek origin), Catholic church tradition (which is itself of Latin origin) and native pre-Christian Slavic origin lexicons. Most names have several diminutive forms.

Some popular Belarusian names

• Уладзіслаў (Uladzislaŭ, equivalent to Vladislav)
• Арцём (Arciom)
• Ян, Іван (Jan or Ivan, equivalent to John, of Hebrew origin)
• Мікалай (Mikalaj, equivalent to Nicholas, of Greek origin)
• Уладзімір (Uladzimir, a pre-Christian name of Slavic origin)
• Яраслаў (Jaraslaŭ, a pre-Christian name of Slavic origin)
• Пятро (Piatro, equivalent to Peter, of Greek origin)
• Андрэй (Andrej, equivalent to Andrew, of Greek origin)
• Аляксандр (Aliaksandr, equivalent to Alexander, of Greek origin)
• Дзмітры, Зміцер (Dzmitry or Zmicier of Greek origin)
• Сяргей (Siarhiej, of Latin origin)
• Леанід, Лявон (Leanid or Liavon from Leonidas, of Greek origin)
• Аляксей (Aliaksiej, of Greek origin)
• Юры (Jury, equivalent to George, of Greek origin)
• Павел (Paviel, equivalent to Paul, of Latin origin)
• Кірыла (Kiryla, of Greek origin)
• Васіль, Базыль (Vasil (orthodox) or Bazyl (catholic) of Greek origin)
• Францішак (Francišak, of Latin origins)
• Станіслаў (Stanislaŭ, of Slavic origin)
• Міхаіл (Michail, equivalent to Michael, of Hebrew origin)

• Дар'я (Darja)
• Ганна (Hanna, equivalent to Ann, of Hebrew origin)
• Алена (Alena, equivalent to Helen, of Greek origin)
• Наталля (Natallia, equivalent to Natalie, of Latin origin)
• Марыя (Maryja, equivalent to Mary, of Hebrew origin)
• Вольга (Volha, a pre-Christian name derived from Varangian Helga)
• Аляксандра (Aliaksandra, equivalent to Alexandra, of Greek origin)
• Аксана (Aksana; most common Ukrainian female name; of Greek origin from Xenia)
• Кацярына (Katsiaryna, equivalent to Catherine, of Greek origin)
• Тацяна (Tatsiana, of Latin origin)
• Настасся (Nastassia, equivalent to Anastasia, of Greek origin)
• Юлія (Yulia, equivalent to Julia or Julie, of Latin origin)

Belarusian family names (surnames)

In Belarus and most of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 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 -vich (wicz) and -ich (icz) (Dashkevich,Shushkevich, Vaytsiushkevich, Matskevich, Mickewicz) or -ski (feminine form -skaya: Navitski, Kalinouski).

One common suffix in surnames is -chuk (Ramanchuk) or its simplified versions -yuk and -uk.

Other group includes surnames with the suffix -ka (Lukashenka, Yakavenka), -onak, -ionak (Malashonak, Manionak).

A different suffix is -enia (Maysenia, Astapenia)

See also

• Eastern Slavic naming customs
• Slavic names
• Slavic surnames

External links

• http://old.knihi.com/jurevic_u/prozviscy.html
• http://dzietki.org/article/cms_view_article.php?aid=4
• http://kryuja.org/artykuly/bielaruskaja_atliantyda/jak_i_czamu_bielarusy_vybirali_imjony.html
• http://old.knihi.com/mova/imiony.html