Recently, many families have aroused interest in the history of the origin of generic names - both their own and others. Some believe that when they find out where their name comes from, they will learn the story of their family. For others, this is pure curiosity: how, under what circumstances, when a particular family name could have arisen. The article will discuss the history and origin of the surname Rodin.
Generic Name History
The origin of the surname Rodin is associated with a proper name, it refers to the common form of Russian generic names.
After the Baptism of Rus, every Orthodox during the official baptism received from the priest a church baptismal name. He had one goal - to provide a person with his own name. All baptismal names corresponded to the saints.
The origin of the surname Rodin was based on the church name Herodion. Often the Slavs attached the name of the father to the name of the child, thereby indicating belonging to a particular genus. This custom was associated with the fact that there were few church names (in the holy calendar), they were often repeated, and to highlight the child, in addition to the name, a middle name or nickname was added, which helped solve the problem of identification of a person.
What does the surname Rodin mean? It is formed from the personal name of Rodya, which is a diminutive form of the name Herodion, which is translated from Greek as “hero”, “hero”. Some scholars believe that the name and its derivatives were used in ancient Greece in the meaning of "Rhodes", that is, descended from the island of Rhodes, which in ancient times was famous for the cult of Helios (god of the Sun). A huge copper statue dedicated to Helios, called the Colossus of Rhodes, was erected in the harbor of the island, but in 227 BC it was destroyed by a powerful earthquake.
Saint Herodion
In Saints, the name Herodion appeared in honor of the Saint, chosen by Jesus Christ, numbered among the apostles and sent to preach. He was a relative of the Apostle Paul and his companion. When Christianity spread on the Balkan Peninsula, Saint Herodion became bishop of the city of Patara. He preached and converted many pagans to the Christian religion.
But idolaters conspired against the bishop, attacked him, began to beat with sticks and stones. One of the attackers stabbed Herodion with a knife; he fell, bleeding. The attackers were very scared and fled. The Lord lifted the bishop to his feet and made him a saint.
Jewish version of the origin of the surname
According to one version of the origin, the surname Rodin is formed from the Yiddish name Rod or Rada, and in this case it is translated as “son of the Rada”.
It should be noted that Jews in the Russian Empire began to give clan names only at the end of the 18th century, after the annexation of the western part of Belarus, part of the Baltic States and Ukraine to the Russian Empire. Catherine the Great, along with the Western lands, acquired a huge number of representatives of the Jewish people who did not have surnames, but only names and patronymics.
In order to know the exact number of her subjects, as well as to call them into the army, she introduced a population census, which was carried out about once every ten years. Surnames were given to all Jewish citizens in order to simplify the registration of persons. As a rule, family names were given either at the place of residence, or by the name of one of the parents, or by occupation. So the names Berdichevsky, Haimovich, Schneider, Portnoy appeared. There are villages with the name Rodino in the Vologda, Smolensk regions and Altai.
Surname formation
Surnames in Russia began to be fixed in the 15-17 centuries. They were passed down from generation to generation. These were possessive adjectives with family suffixes -in, -ov, -ev. In this way, the long-standing descendants of a man whose name was Rodya, after a while received the name Rodin.
It is difficult to talk about the exact place and time of origin of the surname Rodin these days, since the process of forming generic names was lengthy.
