The whole life of the Chechens was closely connected with their family relations, therefore, much attention is paid to the relations of their surnames. The written-off surnames and names are mainly of Arab and Persian origin, but there are also Russian roots. Blood communication plays an important role in the life of Chechens, all family members are closely related.
One tribe - one last name
Even in ancient times, Chechen surnames were a single whole, and accordingly, all family members were closely related. If someone from the family was offended, other relatives stood up for him. A similar kinship among Chechens has its own name “taip” or “taipan” - one clan, tribe, or one last name. If Chechens talk about some kind of person, they will definitely specify from which taip he is. With regard to family kinship, all its members call themselves “louse” or “vezhera,” that is, brothers, and “gagging” means a whole connection by the brotherhood.
The origin of Chechen surnames
In primitive times, when there were few members of the surname, they were all together, made up one family. Later they began to divide themselves into branches and lines. When there were too many members in the family and there was not enough room for living, they began to explore new places, thus disconnecting from their family. But this was not the reason for the collapse of fraternal relations, rather, on the contrary, their relationship only intensified when they recognized each other.
Chechen male names come from the name of the ancestor. For example, take the surname Kutaev. It comes from the name of Kutai, which means “holy month”. This name was used for the boys who were born in Ramadan - the holy month, a time of mercy, cleansing, fasting and forgiveness. Of course, today it is difficult to say exactly how Chechen surnames were formed, in particular Kutaev, since this process took a long time. But, despite this, the surname Kutaev is a wonderful monument of culture and writing of the entire Caucasian people.
Kiev is both a city and a surname
Chechen surnames for men have an equally interesting history of origin, especially if it is associated with the location of the ancestor or profession. One of the most common surnames is Tsurgan, which means “patchwork” in Chechen. A tailor or a furrier could have such a surname.
The Caucasian people called the glade a tsurg, which indicated the abode of the ancestor. Some authors cite a number of names that were in fashion back in the 17th century. A large number of strange Russian families pretend to them.
An interesting fact is that there are Chechen surnames that sound like the names of Russian or Ukrainian cities, for example, Saratov or Kiev.
Persian, Arabic, Turkic - the basis for the Chechen name
Chechen languages, like Ingush, are part of the Nakh group. The names of the Chechens reflect the specific features of the phonetic system, the lexical unit and the morphological structure. The main thing that is included in the names of the Chechen people:
- real Chechen names;
- Arabic and Persian names ;
- names received from other languages using Russian.
Chechen surnames are masculine, as well as the names are of old origin. Some are derived from the names of birds and animals: falcon - Lecha, hawk - Kuyra, wolf - Borz. Khokha (pigeon), Chovka (jackdaw) are female.
Some Chechen women's surnames are written off from Arabic, Persian and Turkic languages. This also applies to male surnames. In frequent cases, names become compound. There are some elements that can be attached to both the beginning and the end of a personal name.
Larisa, Louise, Lisa, Raisa - names that were taken from the Russian language. In some documents, there are reduced forms of names, for example, Zhenya and Sasha.
Sound features
Dialect differences must be considered when pronouncing and writing. The fact is that the same word may differ in sound. For example, at the end of a name, consonants can be stunned: Almakhad (Almakhat), Abuyazid (Abuyazit), a vowel can change at the end of a word (Yusup - Yusap, Yunus - Yunas). Regardless of longitude or brevity, in Chechen names the emphasis always falls on the first syllable.
Ingush names differ from Chechen spelling features. A characteristic feature of the Chechen language is the frequent use of the sound “ah”, in contrast to the Ingush language. Certain feminine names are used with the sound "a", while in Ingush there will be a sound "ay." For example, the Chechen name of Asia in Ingush will look like this - Aizi.
Chechen surnames and patronymics appear in a very specific way. The name of the father should be put only in the genitive case and must be put in front of the name, and not after, as in Russian or Ukrainian. Chechen - Hamidan Baha, Russian - Baha Hamidanovich. For official documents, Chechens write their surname and patronymic in the same way as Russians: Ibragimov Usman Akhmedovich.
Chechen last names of the reign of Ivan the Terrible
The number of Chechen surnames by origin can be divided into percentages: 50% - Russian origin, 5% - Ukrainian, 10% - Belarusian, 30% - the peoples of Russia, 5% - Bulgarian and Serbian. Any surname is formed from a nickname, name, place of residence, occupation of the ancestor of the male line.
If we talk about such a name - Chechentsev, it is very common not only in Russia, but also in neighboring countries. Prerevolutionary letters have survived to this day, in which it is said that the bearers of this family name were honorary persons and consisted of the Kiev clergy, while having a huge royal privilege. The surname is mentioned in the census list, even during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The Grand Duke had a special list, in which there were very bright surnames. They were granted courtiers only in some special case. As you can see, the surname has its original origin.
Chechen surnames are very diverse and unique, their list is long and constantly updated. Someone has ancient roots and retains his name, while someone constantly brings something new, thus changing it. It is interesting to know after many, many years that you are a descendant of some kind of honor. This is how you live without suspecting anything, and one day you will find out the true story of your ancestors.