Few of us have thought about the origin of our family name. We remember him from early childhood and treat him as a given. The word "surname" is borrowed from the Latin language. In ancient Rome, this word was called slaves, which belonged to the slave owner. This term acquired a completely different meaning during the Middle Ages in Europe, by which they began to understand the family.
The same meaning of the word existed in Russia, but by the 19th century in the Russian language the term had a different interpretation - this is the hereditary naming of the genus, added to the proper name. It is difficult to imagine now, but until the middle of the 19th century, a family name was the privilege of only nobles and aristocrats. Most of our ancestors, in addition to names, used only middle names and nicknames. The article will reveal the secrets of the origin of the Shevtsov surname.
Origin of family name
The origin of the Shevtsov surname originates from the personal nickname of a distant ancestor. It belongs to the ancient type of Russian family names.
From ancient times, the Slavs had a tradition in addition to the main name (church) to give a nickname. The reason for the dual name was that there were not so many baptismal names recorded in the Saints. They were often repeated, and to identify the person, the nickname or name of the father was added to the main name. The fantasy of our ancestors was inexhaustible, therefore it was precisely nicknames that made it possible to single out people in society. For this, we used features of character, appearance, the nationality of the person or the name of the locality from where he came from.
The origin of the name Shevtsov is associated with the nickname, which refers to the name of the profession or occupation. “Shvetsom” or “Shvets” called shoemaker or tailor. A lot of sayings and proverbs were made about the people of this profession, for example: “Danilo’s Shvets sewn and rot” - that’s what they said about a bad tailor.
Surnames were originally received by rich and noble people, approximately in Russia this happened in the 15-16 centuries. The rest of the population remained without family names for a long time. Around the 17th century, priests were obliged to keep metrics for those born, dead, and married. These were a kind of census.
After the abolition of serfdom, it was necessary for all former serfs to give surnames. In 1888, a Senate Decree was published, in which they obliged all people to acquire surnames. Historical documents mention the probable ancestor of this clan name - Ilya Klementievich Shvetsov, 16th century Ryazan.
Topographic version of the origin of the name Shevtsov
Perhaps some owners of this generic name received it at the place of birth or residence. For example, in the Vologda region there is a village Shevtsovo, the same villages are found in Novgorod, Ryazan, Tver regions.
A few more versions of the origin of the surname
What does the name Shevtsov mean? In ancient times, a tailor was called a “Shvets” or “Shvets”. In Tver and Pskov dialects, “shvetsom” was called a shoemaker. It should be noted that the shoemaker was also called in Ukraine. In addition, the “Swede” was called a young black cockroach.
In Kostroma, “swede” was called rutabaga. The name “seamstress” - a seamstress was also widespread, and “Shveikin” was called the son of a seamstress. Most likely, the Shevtsov surname and derivatives from it could be formed from these dialects.
Surname Shevtsov: nationality
The surname is 50% of Russian origin, 10% - Belarusian, 5% - Ukrainian. This family name is derived from a nickname, occupation or place of residence of a person. Last name is not very common. The geography of residence of the carriers of this generic name is: Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan.
