According to the spiritual tradition that settled in Russia in the X century, after its baptism, it was customary to name newborns in honor of the famous saints whom the Orthodox Church honored on this day. Naturally, almost all the names were borrowed from languages that in one way or another related to the stage of the formation of Orthodoxy as a world religion: Greek, Latin, Hebrew. No exception is the male name - Thomas.
So, the word Thomas is derived from "te-oma" - which translates from the Hebrew language as "twin." “Theta” is the first letter, according to ancient Bible translations, pronounced in Latin as “T”, and in Cyrillic as “F”. Therefore, there are differences in the Catholic and Orthodox pronunciation of names, they sound like Thomas and Thomas, respectively.
One of the biblical stories made an expression with this name winged: "Thomas is an unbeliever." It appeared after one of the disciples of Christ refused to believe in his resurrection.
The appearance of a surname in Russia
From the end of the 10th century, the name Thomas began to take root in Russia. First of all, among the clergy, and only then among the general population.
The history of the origin and meaning of the surname Fomin dates back to the XV-XVI centuries, when surnames began to be taken by wealthy segments of the population to highlight family heredity. Usually the meaning of the formation of surnames came down to adding various suffixes -s / -ev and -in to the name of the founder of the clan. In the same way, the surname Fomin was formed.
According to the census of the end of the XVII century, the surname Fomin received the greatest distribution in the middle and southern Urals, as evidenced by the presence of many villages of the same name there.
The meaning and origin of the surname Fomina: historical figures
The Russian historical archives mention a lot of really living people with the surname Fomin. From these sources it can be seen that it was distributed in almost all classes:
- In the middle of the 15th century, the famous Moscow master jeweler Ivan Fomin lived, whose nationality and surname was most likely Jewish.
- One of the chronicles reports that in 1550, the governor Fomin Ivan Dmitrievich was killed on a campaign in Kazan.
- In 1602, a nobleman, Fomin Bogdan Ivanovich, sat in Moscow.
- Also, the Moscow census for 1685 reports on the boyar Fomin Danil Ivanovich.
- Fomin Dmitry Ivanovich, in 1571 the guardsman of Tsar Ivan IV.
- Fomin Bogdan Danilovich, in 1581 a landowner.
- Fomin Gleb, in 1547 Moscow governor.
- Fomin Vasily, in 1571 the guardsman of Tsar Ivan IV.
- Fomin Vasily, in 1655 a noble Cossack.
- Boyarin Fomin Andrei Borisovich (1784).
- The wealthy landowner Fomin Peter Alexandrovich (1795).
- State Counselor Fomin Semen Alekseevich (1783).
- The famous landowner Fomin Alexander Mikhailovich (1777).
- State Counselor Fomin Alexander Ivanovich (1838).
During the Great Patriotic War, a number of glorious bearers of this surname were marked with the highest state awards, among people with the surname Fomina, whose Russian origin, there were several generals, important statesmen and public figures.
In Soviet times, representatives of this family achieved outstanding results and fame in architecture, music, bibliography, book science, literature, and theater. The presence of their own family coat of arms, registered and described in official heraldic sources, also speaks of the nobility of this surname.
Surname Features
It should also be noted that from the surname Fomin, the origin has many derived surnames, which are very common in the territory of the post-Soviet space:
- Fominsyn, then Fomintsin (i.e.Fomin son).
- Fomushkin.
- Fomochkin.
- Fominenko.
- Fomenko.
- Fomkin.
- Fomchenko.
- Fomyakin.
- Fomyakov.
- Fomyagin and many others.
In addition to the episode already mentioned and recorded in Christian scripture about the “Thomas of the Unbeliever”, in Russian literature and folklore, as well as colloquial speech, several distinguishing features are associated with this name.
Despite the many outstanding personalities recorded in historical archives and in the people's memory with a similar surname, the people of Thomas usually called a rustic, non-initiative, sluggish, phlegmatic person. Often found the expression "In the deserted and Thomas the nobleman." Often Thomas was called a thief or a fraudster, and the name "fomki" is an obvious reason for this - the usual cracking tool, nail clipper.
