Abashev (Russian: Аба́шев; masculine) or Abasheva (Russian: Аба́шева; feminine) is a Russian last name.[1] Variants of this last name include Abashenko (Russian: Абаше́нко), Abashin/Abashina (Russian: Аба́шин/Russian: Аба́шина), Abashkin/Abashkina (Russian: Аба́шкин/Russian: Аба́шкина), Abashichev/Abashicheva (Russian: Аба́шичев/Russian: Аба́шичева), Abashkov/Abashkova (Russian: Аба́шков/Russian: Аба́шкова), and Abashurov/Abashurova (Russian: Абашу́ров/Russian: Абашу́рова).
There are two theories regarding the origins of these last names. The first one relates them to nicknames "Russian: Абаш" (Abash) and "Russian: Абаша" (Abasha), the diminutive forms of which are "Russian: Абашка" (Abashka), "Russian: Абашко" (Abashko), and "Russian: Абашур" (Abashur). Patronymic "Russian: Абашич" (Abashich) is also derived from these nicknames. The nickname itself has either Russian or Turkic origins. In Russian, it could have been given to people who overused the dialectal Russian word "Russian: або" (abo; meaning or, if only, so that)—in this case the suffix "Russian: -аш-" (-ash-) is a standard means of forming a name. The Turkic origin theory is more plausible and traces the nickname to the Turkic root "aba" (meaning an uncle on the father's side), to which diminutive suffix "-š" was added.
The other theory traces these last names, in particular Abashin and Abashkin,[2] to the Christian male first name Avvakum.