In Lithuania, it is customary to be proud of your surnames. Sometimes the explanation of their origin takes on completely fantastic versions. It’s much simpler, for example, with Koshkinaite: her mother is Koshkinene, her father is Koshkinas, but actually they are Koshkins. Or my favorite singer Shchegolevite: mom - Shchegolevene, dad - Shchegolevas” - from the word “schegol”.
There are many similar examples that can be given, but we will not talk about them, since these are newly formed surnames. It is much more interesting to trace the origin of the surnames of people who have lived here for centuries.
Our interlocutor is Zigmas ZINKEVICIUS, a famous Lithuanian philologist who worked as director of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, was the Minister of Education of Lithuania, and the author of more than 60 books. Recently, by the way, his next book “Surnames of Polish-speaking Vilnius” (“Vilnijos lenkakalbių pavardės”) was published.
The origin of the surnames of Lithuanian citizens is integrally connected with the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL), so we will constantly return to it. Let's start with the following.
In the Middle Ages, not only in Lithuania, but in all European countries, and even beyond its borders, the language of the state chancellery was not colloquial of one or another people who created the state, and inherited from the languages of the ancient eras of those regions. For example, in Western European countries this was Latin language, it was also the official written language of Poland until the end of the 14th century, that is, before Jogaila came to power there, and even, one might say, until the middle of the 16th century.
In Eastern Europe, this function was performed by the so-called Old Church Slavonic language, and since it was first used in church affairs, we call it Church Slavonic.” Then in Kievan Rus it, with the addition of local Slavic elements, became a written state language.
Before the arrival of Peter I in Rus', it was said that “one must speak Russian and write in Slavic.” Due to the fact that in the Middle Ages the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded its borders up to the Black Sea and the Moscow region, it used two written languages: Latin was used to communicate with the West, Old Slavonic - with the East. During the time of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, there were many elements from Ukraine, from the Lutsk region, since the princely scribes most likely came from there. Later, more and more elements of the Belarusian language began to appear in it, but it did not become either Ukrainian or Belarusian language, preserving the entire grammatical structure of Church Slavonic.
An interesting excursion into history, but how is it related to the origin of surnames?
First things first. Lithuanian nobles began to acquire surnames with the advent of Christianity in Lithuania at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries, but only a small part acquired them, and mostly surnames spread among the nobility at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries.
What does "surname" mean? Heritage! Heritage, that is, belonging to one particular family. The people, the residents of villages in Lithuania, did not have surnames until the end of the 18th century, when they were finally approved by the general census of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the issuance of passports. For example, someone's name was Peter - his son became Petrovich, and his children received the same surname. And this is no coincidence: since the 16th century, the Church Slavonic language became established in Lithuania as the state clerical language, and the use of Latin decreased.
Let me give you an example: during the time of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Žigimantas Augustas, four and a half times more documents were written in Slavic than in Latin. That’s why during the population census they didn’t pay attention to a person’s nationality or what language he spoke: they simply added the suffixes “-ovich” and “-evich” to the names of fathers. It should be especially noted that on the territory of Poland the Poles did not have such a suffix; they had the suffixes “-owitz”, “-jevic”, which were preserved in the names of cities, for example, Katowice.
Surnames with the suffixes “-ovich” and “-evich” came to Poland in connection with the annexation of the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Poland. Important point, which interested me very much: the fact is that these suffixes “-ovich”, “-evich” are complex, consisting of “-ov”, “-ev” and “-ich”. In Muscovy, that is, before the emergence of the Russian Empire, “-ich” meant belonging to the royal family or the nobility closest to the tsar: Petrovich, Orlovich, Yuryevich, etc.
In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, during the census, the opposite happened: the suffix “-ich” was given to everyone, regardless of origin.
Then the following happened: over time, the Lithuanian nobility began, let’s call the process so, “Polishing”, they began to look at surnames with the endings “-ovich”, “-evich”, believing, however, rightfully, that they came to Lithuania from Russia. In addition, these suffixes were foreign to the Poles, and the Lithuanian nobility began to massively change the suffixes “-ovich”, “-evich” to the suffix “-sky”. For example, there was Petrovich - he became Petrovsky, and Orlovich - Orlovsky, and so on.
However, I want to note: the suffix “-skiy” existed among both the Eastern Slavs and the Poles, but the difference is that for a long time in Poland the suffix “-skiy” was used to create surnames from local names. To make it clearer: some Volsky definitely comes from the Polish village of Volya, and the surname Petrovsky definitely comes from the name Peter - this surname does not particularly “smell” of Polish, but was “seen” from the fashion that existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at that time.
How can you explain the origin of the names of very rich, famous Lithuanian nobles: Radvil, Sapieha, Oginsky?
- “Radvila” is a typical Baltic Lithuanian proper name, consisting of two stem roots. Everything is clear here. According to the research of our historians, the Sapiehas descended from a certain Semyon, who was the clerk of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kazimiras - this is the middle of the 15th century, he came to Lithuania from the Smolensk lands. Slavic philologists do not have a unanimous opinion about the origin of the surname Sapega: some also see a Turkish origin, since in those days the Mongol-Tatars had enormous influence in those parts.
The Oginski family is an old one (I will not bother readers with unnecessary information about their historical services to Lithuania, all this already belongs to history, but I just want to mention the well-known and famous “Oginski Polonaise”). The ancestor of the family is the grandson of the Smolensk appanage prince Vasily Glushina - Dmitry Glushonok. In 1486, the Grand Duke of Lithuania gave him the Uogintai estate, which is located on the territory of the modern Kaisiadorsky district, and, of course, if you wish, you can hear the correspondence between the name of the court and the newly formed surname.
All over the world, Lithuanians are called “Labas”, well, this is understandable: from the word “labas” - “hello”. However, their belonging to the Lithuanian nation is also determined by the ending of their surnames with “-s”: Deimantas, Budrys, Petkevičius - there are millions of them. When did they appear?
No one knows. In the old days, the suffixes “-aytis”, “-enas”, etc. they determined whose son it was: for example, Baraitis is the son of Baras, Vytenas is the son of Vitas. Lithuanian surnames have been found in lists of servants of estates since the 16th century. However, I want to especially emphasize: Lithuanians used Lithuanian surnames only in oral speech; in official documents the same surnames were written in the Slavic manner until the beginning of the 20th century. For example, the Lithuanian patriarch, the most famous Lithuanian Jonas Basanavičius, was recorded in the metrics as Ivan Basanovich, since in tsarist times it could not have been any other way, since all metrics were done in Russian! In general, it should be noted that the totality of Christian proper names is mainly international.
The oldest layer is the biblical names of the Hebrew language, then comes the Greek layer, Latin, Germanic, etc. - Adams, Solomons, Alexanders, Anatolias, Germans, Georges, and so on. That is why these names do not and cannot show nationality. For example, if the name Victor is recorded in written documents from the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then its bearer could be a Pole, a Lithuanian, or a representative of another nation. The nationality of the conditional Victor can only be established if some suffix was added to him.
For example, if the diminutive form “-el” was added to the name Victor, then the typically Lithuanian name Viktorelis was obtained.
The area around Vilnius is entirely populated by Poles, that is, people who bear Polish surnames and speak Polish. I have heard more than once that they have been living here since ancient times, or at least for a very, very long time. They say that the Polish lords brought their serfs here and thus settled the Vilnius region.
No, no and NO! This is absolutely not how things happened. Scientists have long established that in large areas in the forested part of Central Europe - from Moscow to the Vistula River and even further - the oldest hydronyms, that is, the names of rivers and lakes, are of Baltic origin. Therefore, there is no doubt that a certain Baltic language was spoken in this vast territory.
The Slavs appeared there relatively recently, somewhere around
VI century AD. The Lithuanians lived here for more than two thousand years, one might say, in isolation, and only they from the Baltic massif created a state.
The roads of the Poles and Lithuanians did not intersect - they were separated by the Baltic tribe of the Yatvingians. And only after the crusaders destroyed them, the Poles and Lithuanians began to look for each other. Only then!
The Polish language began to penetrate into Lithuania at the end of the 14th century under the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila, who became the Polish king. At that time, Lithuanian nobles “won back” the law, which was written into the Statute: people from the Kingdom of Poland do not have the right to buy land in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania! The only way to acquire land is to marry a Lithuanian woman, and this position was strictly adhered to until the end of the 18th century, until the disappearance of the united state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth! Moreover, we are, of course, not talking about ordinary people, but only about noble Polish families - commoners were serfs then. So this is a myth - they say, the Poles settled the Vilnius region: there was a “Polishing” of the local people through schools and - especially - churches, in which teaching and services were carried out on Polish language.
The common people in the Vilnius region began to speak Polish only at the end of the last quarter of the 19th century - all the villages around Vilnius were Lithuanian! Many Poles from Poland came to Vilnius and the Vilnius region at a time when the city and region belonged to Poland - in 1921-1939.
Now we move on to the most fundamental things. When scientists “removed” the Polish and - in general - Slavic layer from the surnames of people speaking Polish in the Vilnius region, that is, phonetics and suffixes acquired from the clerical Old Church Slavonic language - 100% very beautiful personal Lithuanian names remained. That is, the modern surnames of Vilnius Poles are created from former Lithuanian names. And here’s what’s interesting: these personal names, by their meaning, indicate the former past greatness of the ancient Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Mr. Zinkevicius, your statements will not particularly please the Poles living in Lithuania!
I have devoted more than sixty years to science and I am responsible for my words, since I operate only with facts. Let's say the names of officials of the ON. In those days there were no telephones, radio, television and extremely important role couriers, envoys, and heralds played. They were called differently, personal names were used, from which surnames were later derived. For example, Shavkalo, Shavkolovsky, look: if we discard the suffixes, we will see the word “shaukalas”, and in the ancient Lithuanian language it defined the person who “shaukola” - announced the will of the Grand Duke. Or Begunovich, from the word “begunas” - a person who runs fast. Let's take the surnames Leitovich, Leitovsky, Leith, Leitis.
Yeah, from the word “Lithuanian”!
But no: in the clerical state Lithuanian language we find the word “leiti”, it meant a certain social stratum of people of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who were engaged in the so-called “leitian service”. They obeyed only the Grand Duke and looked after the prince's military horses. And the names of the settlements Laičiai and Laitėliai also take us back to ancient times. So the given Polish surnames reflect the social stratum that once existed, let’s call them privileged grooms. And there are many such examples, I have mentioned only a few. Or here’s another: surnames created from the names given at birth. They came to Lithuania in two ways - from Byzantium through Kievan Rus and from the West through the German lands: the Germans christened the Czechs, the Czechs christened the Poles, and the Poles christened us, the Lithuanians. They retain elements of “intermediaries”. For example, the name Vasily comes to us from Byzantium, since it is of Greek origin, meaning “royal”. However, the same name, which came to us from the West, is pronounced "Basilius", since the letter "s", according to German phonetics, turned into a "z". The most interesting thing: the surnames of Poles in the Vilnius region, derived from the names given at birth, mostly have roots from Byzantium rather than from Poland, which means a special influence on this region of Kievan Rus.
From the same Vasily came the Vasilevskys, Vasilkovskys, Vasilevichs, etc. And from Basilius - one or two surnames that came from Poland, for example, Bazilevich.
The parents of the current President of Poland Komorowski are from Lithuania...
The etymology of this surname is unclear, since it is unclear when and where they came from to Lithuania. Perhaps their ancestors in tsarist times could have moved to Lithuania from the Polish hinterland and bought land here, since in those days Polish nobles were allowed to purchase it in Lithuania. I'll give you an example of more interesting fact origin of one very famous family. We are talking about the poet, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz. He comes from a village located in Panevėžys County. I myself visited there several times with the poet, since I knew him well. It’s curious: his neighbors called him not Milos, but Milasius, that is, they used an older form of the surname, and then it became “Polished.”
I'll bring you interesting fact: a statement written by him in 1941 addressed to the rector of Vilnius University, Professor Konchius, has been preserved. Then the Vilnius region was annexed to Lithuania, and part of Kaunas University was “moved” to Vilnius. So, in that statement, Milosz asks the rector to issue a certificate listing the subjects he studied at the university, since, apparently, he did not finish it, and signed: “Czeslav Milasius”, and at the bottom, in parentheses, wrote: “Milosz”. You see, he, like Marshal J. Pilsudski, dreamed of reviving the disappeared state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within the old borders and considered himself its citizen.
But Pilsudski is also from Lithuania! Where did this surname come from?
I'll tell you an almost anecdotal incident. After the war, a discussion broke out in Polish newspapers about the origin of the Pilsudski surname; there were many versions, even fantastic ones. Wojciech Smoczynski, my student, came to us at Vilnius University to study from Poland. Apparently, he was “sick” of this controversy, and he wrote an article on this topic. After all, everything is very simple: the surname Pilsudski comes from the word “Pilsudy”, which denoted an area in Samogitia, once there was a manor there, but now three small villages have survived. The Pilsudskis are from there: “Pilsudy” plus the suffix “-ski”, which determines their place of residence. Moreover: his grandfather’s surname is originally Lithuanian - Ginetas! But due to the fact that the whole family came from Pilsud, the Pilsudski surname stuck, then they moved to Vilnius, where the future marshal was born.
A quick question: where does Lokis, a very common surname among Poles in the Vilnius region, come from, as well as the surname of the brilliant Lithuanian artist - Ciurlionis and the great Lithuanian basketball player - Sabonis?
It’s not difficult to answer: the surname Lokis is undoubtedly of Lithuanian origin. The fact is that the Slavs did not have the diphthong “au”, and therefore it was transformed into “ov”. The surname Lokis comes from the ancient Lithuanian word “laukas” - this is the name given to the white star on the forehead of a cow or a bull. And Čiurlionis is the son of Čiurlis, Sabonis comes from the name Sebastianas, abbreviated Sabas, that is, Sabonis is the son of Sabas (from Sebastian).
Interviewed by Romuald SILEVICH,
From the editor. The published material may cause mixed reviews. And that's great! But “Review” in this situation would like to especially emphasize that we will publish only those responses and comments that do not offend the opponent, but contribute to clarifying the truth and encourage us all to be more attentive to our roots.
Studying the history of the origin of the Litovsky surname reveals forgotten pages of the life and culture of our ancestors and can tell a lot of interesting things about the distant past.
The Litovsky surname belongs to the old type of Russian surnames, formed from a personal nickname.
The tradition of giving a person, in addition to the name received at birth, an individual nickname, usually reflecting some of his characteristics, has existed since ancient times in Rus' and persisted until the 17th century. Sometimes a nickname became an indication of a person’s nationality or native area. Thus, ancient documents mention the Kiev governor Kozarin (1106), the Rostov bishop Nikola Grechin (1185), the landowner Ivashko Turchenin (1500), the resident of the Pyskor settlement on the Kama River Filka Nemchin (1623), the Vilna landowner Yakov French (1643) and many others. Most often, such names appeared when settlers from different places and representatives of different nations. In addition, such nicknames could also be a family tradition, for example, in the family of Rostovite Cheremisin (1471), children were usually given ethnic names; he named his children Rusin and Meshcherin (1508), and Meshcherin’s son was nicknamed Mordvin (1550).
The nickname Lithuanian belongs to a number of similar nicknames. It must be said that in the old days the ethnonyms “Lithuanian”, “Litvin” were not used to refer to the inhabitants of modern Lithuania (in the old days called the principalities of Samogit and Aukstaitsky), but to the population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which existed from the mid-13th century to 1795 on the territory of modern Belarus and Lithuania, as well as parts of Ukraine, the western regions of Russia, Latvia, Poland and Estonia. At the same time, as a rule, representatives of the Belarusian people were called Lithuanians and Litvins. Such nicknames were not uncommon in the old days. Ancient letters mention, for example, the princely boyar in Lithuania Roman Litvin (1466), the Novgorod peasant Ivashko Litvinko (1495), the Polotsk villager Andrei Litvin (1601), the resident of Novgorod Agafya Litovka (14th century) and many others.
By the 17th century, the most common model for the formation of Russian surnames was the addition of the suffixes -ov/-ev and -in to the stem. By their origin, such surnames are possessive adjectives, formed from the name or nickname of the father, and from the form that others habitually called him. And in the Russian North and in some regions of the Black Earth Region at the end of the 17th century, a peculiar territorial variety of surnames with endings -i/-yh, and sometimes -skih, developed. Similar surnames in which the adjective is fixed in the genitive case plural, have the meaning “from the family of such and such”: the head of the family is Lithuanian, family members are Lithuanian, each of them is from the Lithuanian family. In the central regions at the beginning of the 18th century, by decree of Peter I, surnames were “unified” - elements of theirs were excluded from them, which were preserved only in the northern and northeastern family names.
It is obvious that the Litovsky surname has an interesting centuries-old history, testifying to the variety of ways in which Russian surnames appeared.
Sources: Nikonov V.A. Geography of surnames. Tupikov N.M. Dictionary of Old Russian personal names. Unbegaun B.-O. Russian surnames. Veselovsky S.B. Onomasticon. Superanskaya A.V., Suslova A.V. Modern Russian surnames. Brockhaus and Efron. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Since in the XIV-XV centuries, during its heyday, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania actually owned half of the Russian lands, close administrative and cultural ties led to the spread in our country of names, words and expressions characteristic of the neighboring state. It is the surnames of Lithuanian origin that make up most similar Baltic borrowings. Residents of Pskov and Novgorod felt a particularly strong influence from their neighbors.
For example, in the north-west of Russia the surname Paskalov is found, derived from the nickname Pascal. The word paskala is translated from Lithuanian as “whip”. That is, this could be called a person with a sharp tongue, whose critical remarks are quite painful. And his descendants later received a surname derived from this nickname.
There is virtually no doubt that the ancestors of the Litvinovs, Litvins, Litvintsevs, Litovkins and Litvyakovs have corresponding roots.
The famous linguist Zigmas Zinkevicius, author of numerous scientific works on this topic, he wrote that in the 16th-17th centuries, representatives of the Lithuanian nobility often changed their surnames, adding the ending -sky to them. To be called in imitation of the gentry (the privileged Polish class) was considered prestigious. Thus, the old Oginski family once owned the Uogintai estate, located on the territory of the Kaisiadorsky district. This is where the surname came from.
After the annexation of Lithuania to the Russian Empire, the process of forced Russification of this Baltic country began. In the 19th century, printing in the Latin alphabet was banned, and the Lithuanian language was transferred to the Cyrillic alphabet. Last names also changed. For example, Jonas Basanavičius was already listed in official documents as Ivan Basanovich. And after moving to Russia, the suffix -ich could well have disappeared from the surname of his descendants - here you have the Basanovs.
Many Lithuanians, after moving to St. Petersburg, Moscow or other cities in our country, did not want to differ from the bulk of the population, so they often changed their surnames. So, Kazlauskas became Kozlov, Petrauskas - Petrov, Yankauskas - Yankovsky, Vasiliauskas - Vasilyev, Zhukauskas - Zhukov, Pavlauskas - Pavlov, Kovaliauskas - Kovalev, Simonaitas - Simonov, Vytautas - Vitovsky, Shchegolevas - Shchegolev, Vilkas - Volkov or Vilkin, etc. P.
As a rule, surnames formed from similar names and nicknames were simply Russified. It was enough to replace the characteristic suffix -as with the traditional Russian ending -ov. If the Lithuanian surname ended in -is, then during the “translation” they added -in to it. For example, the Lithuanian word “laukas” means a kind of “star” that appears on the forehead of various livestock: cows, oxen, horses. From this word the surname Lokis was formed (the diphthong “au” was transformed into one sound “o”), and on Russian soil the descendants of its bearer turned into the Lokins.
Representatives of the Lithuanian nobility, fleeing civil strife or in search of profit, often moved to Russia and entered the service of the Moscow kings. They became the founders of such ancient noble families as the Pronsky, Belsky, Glinsky, Khovansky, Mstislavsky, Khotetovsky.
select a country and click on it - a page with lists of popular names will open
Lithuania, 2015
State in North-Eastern Europe. It borders with Latvia, Poland, Belarus, and Russia. The capital is Vilnius. Population: 2,898,062 (2015 estimate: 3,053,800 according to 2011 census). The ethnic composition of the country according to the 2011 census: Lithuanians (84.16%), Poles (6.58%), Russians (5.81%), Belarusians (1.19%). Religious affiliation of the population: Catholics (77.3%), Orthodox (4.1%), non-believers (6.1%). The official language is Lithuanian.
The identification of official statistics of names in the country is carried out by the Resident Registration Service under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania (Gyventojų registro tarnybos). On her website at this moment(as of June 22, 2016) published lists of the ten most popular names of newborns registered in the period 01/01/2015–06/30/2015 and in the period 07/1/2015–12/31/2015. Previously, statistics were provided both for the whole of Lithuania and for individual cities: Vilnius, Klaipeda, Kaunas, Siauliai, Panevezys and Alytus, but now such data is not published. The website of the Department of Statistics of Lithuania also publishes lists of the ten most popular names - separately for newborns and for residents of the country of all ages (currently there are statistics for the 1st and second half of 2015, for 2014, 2013 and 2005. In addition, information on the ten most common surnames - both the entire population and newborns (currently for 2014, 2013 and 2005).
On the Internet you can find lists and the 20 most common names of newborns in Lithuania for the period starting from 1999. The source of this data is still indicated by the same Resident Registration Service. There are no such detailed data on its website. They may be found in reports published by the Department of Statistics for the general public. Including names.
For those who wish to learn more about Lithuanian names, I additionally offer information on the etymology of some of the names. In general, Lithuanian names have quite a lot of specificity compared to other Baltic peoples. If in the list of common names of Latvians and Estonians well-known Christian names are easily recognized, then the phonetics of the Lithuanian language adapts names from the common European fund more radically and they are not always recognizable to an outside observer. In addition, among the popular names of Lithuanians there are several original personal names, i.e. formed from words of the Lithuanian language.
Boys names
Girls names
Some differences by city in 2015
Boys names
Girls names
(1, 2, 3 – place in the frequency list)Etymologies of male names (selected)
Adomas – “relative” of the name Adam, Hebrew (“man”). Lithuanians also know variants of this name Adam, Adamas, Adanas, Adem, Adomis.
Arnas – a derivative of full names with a component Arn-. This is first of all Arnoldas. Arn- goes back to ancient Germanic arn"eagle".
Dovydas – “relative” of the name David, Hebrew (“beloved”).
Gustas – 1. From Lithuanian gustas(“taste, desire, mood”) or from gusti("learn"). 2. Short form of the Latin name Augustas(“sacred, majestic”) 3. Derivation of a Scandinavian name Gustavas(“battle” + “rod”).
Kajus – 1. Matching Latin name Gaius(“rejoice”) 2. Possibly Greek (“earthly”).
Mantas – Lithuanian, possibly from mantus(“smart”) or from mantas(“property, treasure”).
Matas – “relative” of the name Matvey, Hebrew (“gift of [god] Yahweh”).
Nojus – “relative” of the biblical name Noah, Hebrew (“rest, peace”).
Rokas – “relative” of the name Rochus (Latinized from German Rochwald, “battle cry” + “to rule, dominate”)Etymologies of female names (selected)
Austėja - In Lithuanian mythology, Austėja is the female deity of bees (there was also a male deity - Bubilas). Etymologically related to the words austi("weave"), audėja("weaver"), audimas("weaving"). Short form of the name - Auste
Gabija – In Lithuanian mythology, Gabija is the goddess of fire. Fire was also called by the same name. hearth and home, considered sacred. Etymologically related to the word gaubti(“to cover, to protect”).
Goda – from Lithuanian goda(“thought, dream”, also “honor, glory, respect”).
Ieva – “relative” of the biblical name Eve, Hebrew (“life, life”).
Miglė – from Lithuanian migla"fog".
Rugilė – from Lithuanian rugys("rye").
Saulė – in Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, this is the name of the daughter of the supreme god. Lithuanian sáulē and Latvian saũle mean "sun" and are related to Russian Sun. Name Saulė in Lithuania in 2009 it rose to 12th place. In some cities it was among the most frequent ten (in Alytus in 2010, in Vilnius and Kaunas in 2006). I would not focus on this name if not for one interesting coincidence. It is known and very common among Kazakh women female name Saule, which etymologists trace back to Kazakh sәule"a ray of light".
Ugnė – from Lithuanian ugnis("fire"). Having a male name Ugnius from the same word suggests that a male name first arose, and from it a female one Ugnė.
Urtė – 1. Old German (“sword”). 2. There is a probable connection with the name of the source Urd in Scandinavian mythology - it was located under the roots of the world tree and is supposedly translated as “fate”. 3. Also derived from Lithuanian words urtas("great desire; self-confidence"), from Danish urt"plants, herbs" and even from Albanian urti"wise". 4. Also considered as a variant of the Hebrew name Ruth(possibly "girlfriend") and Dorothea– Greek (“gift” + “god”).
Viltė – from Lithuanian viltis("hope").
The name has always been key to the image and character of a person. Each name had some designation or meaning. Sometimes the names given at birth did not correspond to the character or behavior of a person, and then some nickname was assigned to him, more clearly reflecting the essence of the human soul or appearance.
For example, Juodgalvis - black-headed (juodas - black + galva - head), Majulis (maћas - small), Kupryus (kupra - hump), Vilkas (vilkas - wolf), Jaunutis (jaunas - young)
Ancient Lithuanians most often identified themselves with a single personal name. But with the advent of Christianity and the formation of Christian culture, personal Lithuanian names formed the basis of Lithuanian surnames, and names at the baptism of infants were already given in accordance with Christian names. For example, in the contracts of that time such names were already found - “Pyatras Mantigirdas”, “Mikalojus Byliminas”.
According to their word formation, Lithuanian names are divided into 3 groups:
1. Single-base ones - those that are formed from one component of two-base personal names, with or without the addition of suffixes. For example, KAST –IS, KASTU –TIS, KAST-GAYLA.
2. Two-base names - consist of two bases or a combination of two names. As an example - MIN - DAUGAS, GEDI - MINas.
3. Monobasic ones, which were formed as nicknames or were formed from common nouns. For example, Lokis (lokis – bear) Audra (Audra – storm)
Lithuanian female names
Ancient Lithuanian names are very sonorous and poetic. They can denote celestial bodies, natural phenomena, or human qualities. Saule – sun, Jurate – sea maiden, Skaiste – pure, Danguole – heavenly; Gintaras - amber, Rasa - dew, Audra - storm, Aidas - echo, Linas - flax, or which are the names of rivers and places, such as Ula - Ula, Neringa - Neringa.
Lithuanian male names
Old Lithuanian male names had several bases.
Taut - people (Vytautas), kant - patient (Kantrus), min - thought (Gediminas), vil - hope, gail - regret (Yagaila)
By education, male names are mainly traditional Baltic names (Algirdas, Kestutis; Birute, Aldona) or Christian names adapted to the Lithuanian language and culture - Antanas - Anthony, Jurgis - George, Jonas - John, Povilas - Paul.
Lithuanian Surnames
Very interesting formation of surnames in the Lithuanian language.
Previously, women's surnames differed from men's only in the ending. For example, Raude - Raudis, Dyarkinte - Dyarkintas.
Now there is a suffix difference. Moreover, the formation of female surnames proceeds in two directions:
1 – Formation from the father’s surname. The suffixes used here are –ayt-, -ut-, -yut-, with the addition of the ending –e-.
The well-known surname of Kristina Orbakaite is based on the surname of her father, Orbakas. Butkus - Butkute, Katilyus - Katilute.
2.- Formation from husband's surname for married women occurs with the help of completely different suffixes - en-, -uven-, -yuven- and plus the ending -e-.
An example is Varnas - Varniene, Grinius - Grinyuvienė.
