In the list of 500 most common surnames of Russia Shcherbakov is in 84th place. And this is not surprising. The name Shcherbakov origin is ancient, from the time when people had only the name given at baptism, and the nickname. What is a "scherba" and who in Russia was called scherbach?
A bit of history
In Russia for a long time there was no need for hereditary generic names. Princes and boyars were the first to acquire surnames in the 16th century. Later, prosperous merchants and the nobility received this privilege. The common people were not affected by the reform. The first noble family of the Shcherbakovs was noted in the genealogy book of the Smolensk province in the early 17th century.
The process of total shedding of fire lasted until the 18th century, and the peasants were affected only after 1861 when serfdom was abolished. Until then, ordinary people were given a baptismal name and a personal nickname, which was assigned to a person either by occupation (for example, Ivan Kuznets), or due to the appearance (Vasily Shcherbak). Everything is clear with the first, but what does the name Shcherbakov mean?
Shcherbaty - Shcherbak - Shcherbakov
At the word "crushed" someone represents the moon. However, for most, this is a defect in appearance: a diastema of the front teeth (a clearly visible gap between them or their partial absence) or uneven skin of the face.
In Russia, any flaw was indicated by the word “damage”: a crack, scratch, or notch. Frequent outbreaks of smallpox epidemics were left on the faces of those who had been ill for life, and people with characteristic traces of a hemorrhagic rash began to be called chipped. From here, according to one version of experts in the field of anthroponymy, the nickname Shcherbak appeared and, as a result, the origin of the name Shcherbakov.
However, the second, most likely version deserves no less attention.
This piquant chink
Today, the stars of the modeling business specifically acquire a chink between their front teeth. In fairness, against the backdrop of a Hollywood smile, it looks really juicy.
And in ancient times, people lost their teeth early. A smile opening a half-toothless mouth is a common thing, therefore, if a person did not have other distinctive features, he could well be called Shcherbak or Shcherbaty. Since there were a lot of such people, nothing offensive was observed in the nickname. Just recall Tikhon Scherbaty from War and Peace: there is no one tooth, but how much cunning, courage, resourcefulness and respect on the part of the comrades.
If we talk about the gap between the teeth, then from time immemorial such people are considered happy in life. Therefore, it is likely that the noble Shcherbakovs took their generic name for this reason.
Another thing is when the nickname Shcherbak takes on a completely different meaning.
A grabber and grabber, a horse-drawn cabman or a perky guy?
There is not the most pleasant variant of the origin of the name Shcherbakov. People fisted, prone to hoarding, grabbers and money-grubbers, too, were sometimes called scrubbers. It is likely that the consonant word "damage" was traced in the common nickname.
In the Kostroma and Novgorod provinces, so-called single-cab drivers. This work was considered honorable, and the nickname, respectively, was respectful.
The word "scribble" was still in use. Its synonyms: "have fun", "quarrel", "scold." It’s clear that this belonged to rollicking guys, and add a couple of knocked out teeth here - you get a real Scherbak!
The people in Russia were extremely superstitious, hence another interesting version, from where the name of the Shcherbakovs originates.
Nickname - Charm
Doubling appeared for a reason, although the main reason is a lot of identical baptismal names. However, there were some superstitions. It was believed that the nickname hides the church name of a person from evil spirits and, most likely, misleads the devils.
So the nickname Nekras appeared, which means not sparkling with beauty, foolish, or Fool, and even Chertan. Sherbak could be nicknamed a completely sweet and healthy child, in order to protect him from the evil eye and dark forces. Therefore, the worldly name of a person often contradicted reality.
Over time, Shcherbaki and their descendants became Shcherbakov. Judging by the numerous carriers of this generic name, they took the surname very willingly. And the nationality of the surname is not subject to doubt. The Shcherbakovs are originally Russian people.
