A Slavic name suffix is a common way of forming patronymics, family names, and pet names in the Slavic languages. Many, if not most, Slavic last names are formed by adding possessive and other suffixes to given names and other words. Most Slavic surnames have suffixes which are found in varying degrees over the different nations. Some surnames are not formed in this way, including names of non-Slavic origin. They are also seen in North America, Argentina, and Australia.
An example using an occupation is kovač, koval or kowal, which means blacksmith. It is the root of the names Kovačević, Kovačić, Kowalski, Kowalchuk, Kowalczyk, Kovachev, Kovalenko, Kovalyov, and Kovalev. All mean "descendant of a blacksmith".
The given name Petr, Petro, Pyotr or Petar (equivalent to Peter) can become Petrov, Petriv, Petriw, Petrenko, Petrovsky, Petrović, Petrić, Petrič, Petrich, etc. All mean "descendant of Peter". This is similar to the use of "-son" or "-sen" in Germanic languages.
In East Slavic languages (Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian) the same system of name suffixes can be used to express several meanings. One of the most common is the patronymic. Instead of a secondary "middle" given name, people identify themselves with their given and family name and patronymic, a name based on their father's given name. If a man gives his full name as Boris Vladimirovich Kuznetsov, then his father's name must have been Vladimir. Vladimirovich literally means "Vladimir's [son]".
Similarly, many suffixes can be attached to express affection or informality (in linguistics, called a diminutive). For example, calling a boy named Ivan "Ivanko", "Ivo", "Ivica" etc, or Yuri "Yurko", expresses that he is familiar to you. This is the same as referring to Robert as "Rob," "Bob" and "Bobby"; or William as "Bill", "Will" and "Willy". Unlike in English, nicknames can be derived from the middle of names, such as "Sasha" from "Aleksander."
| Suffix | Region | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic | Roman | |||
| ////-ів (//)[1] | ////-iv (//) | Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia (rare) | This has been adopted by many non-Slavic peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus who are or have been under Russian rule, such as the Tatars, Chechens, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens, etc. Note that -ev (Russian unstressed and non-Russian) and -yov (Russian stressed) are the soft form of -ov, found after palatalized consonants or sibilants. The suffix -off comes from the French transliteration of -ov, based on the Muscovite pronunciation. | |
| -ová | Czech Republic and Slovakia | Not a possessive suffix (unlike -ova would be in these languages), but rather it makes a feminine adjective out of a surname. Example: Krejčí 'tailor' (male form), Krejčová 'tailored' (female form) | ||
| Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia | ||||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia (only -ić endings), North Macedonia (rare), occasionally Bulgaria (-ич, -на endings) Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic (-ič, -na), Poland (-icz),[2] Ukraine, Belarus, Russia (-ич, -ыч, -на) | Example: Petrović means Petr's son. In Russia, where patronyms are used, a person may have two -(ov)ich names in a row; first the patronym, then the family name (e.g. Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich). | |||
| Russia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina), Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Ukraine (rare) | ||||
| -ко | -ko | Ukraine (to a lesser extent in Belarus, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) | Comes from the physically smaller of a noun; possibly coming from the younger son or daughter of a family. (i.e. Proto-Balto-Slavic āˀbōl > OCS. аблъко, Rus. я́блоко, Srb-Cro. jȁbuka, Pol. jabłko.) | |
| -енко | -enko | Ukraine,[3] Belarus, (to a lesser extent in Russia) | Of Ukrainian origin. | |
| Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, also in Russia | ||||
| -чук-юк-чик -чак | Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland Ukraine, Belarus, Russia | |||
| Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia (only -ac), Czech Republic and Slovakia (-ec), Belarus and Russia (-ец) and Ukraine (-єць) | ||||