Carriers of the surname Polyansky are the heirs of the patrimonial name, which is a monument of Slavic culture, history and language. Slavic surnames are very difficult to divide according to nationality. For many centuries, peoples have sought unity. They studied from the same books in Russia, and in Ukraine, and in Serbia. The Kiev monk Berynda Pamvo, who created a unique vocabulary, believed that he writes in Russian, although his own language was actually Ukrainian. Vladimir Dal included in his famous dictionary the words of all East Slavic languages, without dividing them into Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian.
Recently, people have grown interest in the issue of the emergence of generic names, the history of their formation. The article will reveal the secrets of the origin and meaning of the surname Polyansky.
Toponymic Origin of a Generic Name
Family names that arose from the geographical name of the object are among the most ancient. Some of them arose in the 15th century. Such generic names appeared first among the nobles. For example, Vyazemsky, Volkonsky, Meshchersky. The presence of a surname in those days was a matter of prestige and status, this is also explained by the fact that there was a need to consolidate the right to own land, estate, city, village. The surnames were based on the names of the places that they owned.
Most likely, the origin of the surname Polyansky is associated with the name of the Polyansky district, from which the ancestors of the clan were born. There are many settlements with the name Polyana, for example, villages in the Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Perhaps the ancestor of this family name was a resident of one of these villages.
It is also likely that the origin of the name Polyansky is associated with the village of Polyany, located near the town of Lęczyca in Poland.
Since the surnames formed from the toponym contained an indication not only of gender, but also of attitude to a specific geographical object, they, first of all, were adjectives with different forms of endings:
- The family names in -sky, -sky, -aninov, -aninov, mainly belonged to noble and noble families.
- Surnames in Yevchev, -itov, -etsev, -inov, -akov, -yakov, -nikov, -y, -i, -in belonged to other unprivileged classes.
The ending -sky suggests that the origin of the family name Palyansky is associated with the ancient nobility.
Origin from nickname
There is a version that the origin of the surname Polyansky is associated with the nickname Polyak. In ancient times in Russia, all citizens of the Commonwealth were called by this name, regardless of their true nationality. That is, the "Poles" called the inhabitants of the territory of modern Lithuania, Poland, part of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the western regions of Russia.
In addition, this could be called a person who lives in the field, or a child born in the field.
According to another version, the origin of the Polyansky family name is from the Greek family, that is, from the Greek name Polievkt, which translates as “long-awaited”, “desired”, or the name Polien - “somewhat laudable”, it is possible that the family name was formed on behalf of Polivius - "vital".
Jewish version
According to the Jewish hypothesis, the origin of the family name Polyansky is associated with the name of the village Polyany in the Uman region. Most likely, the ancestor of this genus came from these places.
Surnames began to be given to Jews in the Russian Empire since the 18th century, after the partition of Poland and the annexation of the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus to Russia. Together with the lands, the state acquired a huge number of Jewish people, most of them did not have surnames, only names and patronymics.
Catherine the Great ordered to conduct a census in order to know the exact number of her subjects and organize a draft in the army. At this time, everyone began to assign generic names, usually either by place of residence, or by occupation, or by the name of one of the parents.
Instead of a conclusion
The meaning of the surname Polyansky is associated with a toponymic object. That is, the generic name is formed from the name of the city, village or town in which its first carriers lived. As a rule, the surname was not assigned when a person lived in this region, but when he moved to a new place. He was assigned a nickname that answered the question “Where did he come from?”, The initial answer was: “From Polyany”, and later was interpreted in “Polyansky”. Thus, "toponymic" generic names were formed.