What is the secret of my name? Where did my last name come from? Who are my ancestors, and how ancient is my family? Probably each of us at least once asked ourselves such questions. The history of the family is a very interesting material in which it is worth digging at least in order to find out your roots, and, perhaps, famous ancestors.
The origin of the surname may not shed light on who our great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers were, but the thing is also very entertaining and useful.
In this article, read the story of the name Konovalov.
What is a surname?
A surname is a family name and not even just a family name, but a name of a whole kind. It is inherited through the male line - from father to son. But who is he - the very first father who is the ancestor of the family tree, thanks to which this or that surname was born?
In the most distant times, people, of course, had no surnames. There were only nicknames. They also became prototypes, prototypes of real names familiar to modern man.
Initially, noble families acquired surnames. After all, they had to keep their family name so that everyone around them, only hearing it, knew that they were dealing not with a simple person, but with a nobleman of high descent. Later, the tradition of giving surnames spread to ordinary peasants.
What were the first surnames?
As a rule, surnames in Ancient Russia were associated with the name of the head of the family. So there were such generic names as Ivanov, Petrov and others. Another construction principle is by occupation, because before, the type of occupation was also passed from father to son. So, the son of a groom, like his father, became a groom, the son of a priest - a clergyman, and so on. The origin of the name Konovalov is also associated precisely with the professional affiliation of members of this family.
Similar surnames often ended in s. This suffix indicates that the father belongs to his son. Previously, the full family name sounded like this: Vasily Ivanov son, Ilya Popov son. Later, the word "son" was reduced, firstly, from the economy of speech means, and secondly, due to the fact that the names began to be carried not only by sons, but also by other members of the family.
Origin of Konovalov surname
As mentioned earlier, this surname is formed from the name of the type of activity of one of the ancestors. Now we are unfamiliar with the profession, so it’s quite difficult to build associations. It is clear that the word consists of two roots and is formed from “horse” and “wallow”, but what is the meaning of the concept, it is not easy for a modern person to understand without resorting to any source.
So, in the Old Russian language this word had a completely different meaning than in the modern one. "Felting" then also meant "healing." Therefore, he hiked - the one who rolls horses - this is a healer for horses, and in fact, not only for them, but for all the cattle kept at that time in almost every yard.
Proceeding from this, Konovalov is a person from a clan, from a family of then veterinarians. So, having learned the origin of the name Konovalov, and we also understood its meaning.
First mention
This surname first met in a written source dated to the seventeenth century. At the same time, people who bore this generic name were no longer among the workers of the barnyard. The first Konovalovs mentioned in written sources were Moscow archers.
Whose surname is this?
By the way, determining the nationality of the name Konovalov, that is, its original carriers, we can conclude that this generic name is originally Russian. The first sign is its form, structure, way of education using the suffix -ov traditional for Russian surnames. Secondly, the meaning of the word also corresponds to the realities of ancient Russian life - the origin of the name Konovalov is associated with the primordially Slavic profession. Well, the last aspect in this matter is the first mention of this surname in archival documents collected on Russian soil.
