Every day we pronounce, read, hear dozens of names. But, despite this, few of us think about the history of the origin and age of our family name. The surname Bulgakov belongs to the type of the oldest surnames of eastern origin and originates from the Turkic nickname Bulgak.
The owners of the surname can be proud of their predecessors, information and information about which is contained in various historical documents confirming the trace they left in the history of Russia. The origin and meaning of the surname Bulgakov will be discussed in the article.
Origin of the surname
According to one version of the origin of the surname Bulgakov, it is based on a secular name or nickname Bulgak. So in Russia they called restless, restless and noisy people.
After the Baptism of Rus, along with baptismal names, secular nicknames were widely spread. They were given to people depending on their occupation, appearance, and nationality. For example, Blacksmith, Pockmark, Hook, Silent, Malyuta. The fantasy of our people was inexhaustible, nicknames were original, interesting and unique, most of them became prototypes of modern surnames.
Bulgak - it was a worldly nickname, parents called the child so that he grew quiet, calm and obedient. There was a case in history that a certain Vasily Bessonyev, who lived in the 16th century, named his sons Suet, Neustroy, Sutorm, Bulgak.
Turkic version of origin
There is another version of the origin of the surname Bulgakov - Turkic-Tatar. "Bulgak", according to the famous Turkologist Nikolai Alexandrovich Baskakov, means "proud man."
The basis of the name comes from the nickname "Bulgak", the meaning of which was:
- “A proud, impetuous, important person”;
- "Idler loitering";
- "Windy, fickle person."
The value of the surname Bulgakov
The nickname "Bulgak" was given to the Slav, who had absolutely nothing to do with the Turkic peoples. This naming concerned, as a rule, any personality traits. Over time, they got used to this nickname so much that descendants inherited it. The original meaning of the word, from which the nickname came, was forgotten over time.
Thus, the surname was formed from the nickname Bulgak, which could be called a cluttered, restless, scandalous person. In dialects, the word “bulgach” was common, which meant “disturb, balamut, disturb, disturb”.
Rod Bulgakov
Three genera of the Bulgakovs were known. They all originate from the Turkic ancestors, namely from immigrants from the Horde.
The first kind was founded by Mansur Kiyat, the son of Mamaia, he moved to Lithuania at the end of the 14th century. Part of this family in 1408 in the retinue of Svidrigaila went to Russian service. Here they received land near Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. In the 15th century, in written sources they are referred to as boyars.
Another family clan of the Bulgakovs went from Shay Ivan Ivanovich, who was nicknamed Bulgak, he was from the khan's clan. At the beginning of the 15th century he went to the service of Oleg Ryazansky. In written sources in the 15-16th century, these Bulgakovs already had estates near Moscow and the boyar rank. In the middle of the 16th century, Grigory and Pyotr Andreyevich Bulgakov were governors in Kazan and had estates in the vicinity of cities.
The third kind of Bulgakovs comes from Matvey Bulgakov, a native of the Horde. At the beginning of the 15th century, he entered the Ryazan prince Fyodor Vasilyevich for military service.
The descendants of these ancient clans were famous scientists, writers, warriors, metropolitans, philosophers. But the most illustrious representative of the surname is, of course, Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov, a Russian writer, author of the world-famous works “The Master and Margarita” and “Dog Heart”.
How was the surname Bulgakov formed
Many nobles in the Russian Empire were not Russian by origin. They served in the Russian army, converted to Orthodoxy, and married Slavs. Interethnic marriages were popular and widespread not only among the aristocracy, but also among peasants and merchants.
After several generations, some foreigners added the Russian suffix to their surnames. That is, the suffix –ow added to the name Bulgak, which indicated the name of the ancestor (father, grandfather, great-grandfather).
Thus, the origin of the surname Bulgakov is directly related to the name or nickname of the distant ancestor of a person from this genus.
This is a rather rare surname in Russia. In historical documents it is mentioned that the representatives of the patrimonial name were aristocrats from the Russian Pskov clergy who possessed tremendous power and honors. Historical evidence of the surname Bulgakov is on the census list of Russia during the reign of John the Terrible. As you know, he had a special list of harmonious, beautiful and honorable surnames, which he bestowed in the form of encouragement to the distinguished ones.
