The origin of the surname Mikheev etymologists associate with the name Mikhey. Its roots go back to Hebrew. It is derivative on behalf of Michael. There are two more surnames formed from the short form of the latter - these are Mikhelev and Mikheikin. The origin and nationality of the surname Mikheev will be described in the article.
Equal to God
The origin of the surname Mikheev is based on the name Mikhey. It is formed from another that is part of the baptismal canon. This is the name Michael. Translated from Hebrew, it means "equal to God Yahweh" or "God-like." There are other forms of this name. These include:
- English Michael;
- Arabic Michael
- German Michel
- Spanish Miguel;
- french michelle.
Studying the history of the name Mikheev, it should be said about the origin of the name, the full form of which gave it a start.
Head of the angelic army
Like so many others, the name Michael is closely associated with scripture. Under him was originally known the angel mentioned in the Book of the Prophet Daniel. In the Christian tradition, it means the archangel Michael, the main among the angelic troops, one of the most revered figures in the Bible.
In Orthodoxy, he, together with the holy army of angels, stands guard over the law of God. Believers turn to Michael for prayers for healing. This is due to the fact that he is revered as the conqueror of evil spirits, which are considered a source of disease in Christianity.
It is also believed among Christians that it was the archangel Michael who was the cherub who stood at the gates of heaven, armed with a sword. This is also reflected in iconography, where it is usually depicted with a spear in one hand and a mirror sphere in the other. The latter is a symbol of foresight transmitted to the archangel by God.
The Orthodox Church has established the feast of the Cathedral, that is, a collection of holy angels, headed by the archangel Michael. It falls on November 8th. According to one version, the founder of the Mikheev family could be born on that day, and as a result received his name.
Belonging to the genus
According to another version, the origin of the name Mikheev refers directly to the name Mikhey. In the ancient Slavs, the addition of the name of the father to the name of the son or daughter denoted his belonging to a particular family.
The reason for this was a small number of baptismal names in the holy calendar, so there were many people with the same names who needed to be distinguished. The solution to the problem of identification was precisely the addition of a generic personal name.
So, the children of people who carried the indicated name were called “Mikheev’s daughter” or son, hence the surname in question appears. The suffix "ev" refers to the Russian patronymic particles that make up the names. He indicates that the origin of the patronymic of Mikheev dates back to the time that came not earlier than the 16th century.
The owners of the surname were on the most various steps of the social ladder. For many centuries, among them were peasants, merchants, nobles, Cossacks, representatives of the clergy, including the highest, the Old Believers.
Famous, for example, is the family founded by Peter Mikheev, granted noble dignity in 1810. Its representatives are listed in the tombstone of Russian noble families, which was established in 1797 by Emperor Pavel I. Among the famous namesakes is the poet and writer Mikhail Petrovich Mikheev (20 c.). He is the author of poems for children and science fiction stories.
Bible prophet
Despite the fact that the name Micah is derived from Michael and has the same interpretation with him, each of them appears in the holy calendar independently. In Hebrew, the first has such forms as Micah, Mihaihu, Mikaya. It is found several times in the Bible. Its most famous owner is the prophet Micah, born near Jerusalem and a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah, as well as the kings of Hezekiah and Manasseh.
He is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets. So they are called because, in comparison with large ones, they wrote books of a smaller volume. Micah predicted the birth of Christ 800 years before this event. In addition, his predictions touched:
- the coming of Jesus Christ;
- the fall of Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom of Judah;
- the death of Samaria - the main city of the kingdom of Israel;
- the salvation of nations through faith;
- punishment for sins.
In conclusion of the consideration of the origin of the surname Mikheev the following should be noted. It can have both aristocratic and peasant roots. For example, it may refer to a distant ancestor who was serf at the landowner Mikheev. After the abolition of serfdom in Russia, he could take the name of the latter.
And also linguists do not exclude a toponymic variant of origin. In accordance with the decree of the Senate, issued in 1888, all residents of the Russian Empire were to acquire surnames. Some of them took the name of their small homeland as a basis. Therefore, it can be associated with Mikheevka, Mikheevsky, Mikheev and other settlements with similar names.