The family is the main component of society, it plays an important role in the life of every person. Knowing a kind of origin story is an important issue for all people. Each of us is inseparable from our family, and therefore knowledge of the genealogy is fundamental. Family tree and family name are closely related. Since the family name speaks of belonging to a particular family clan.
The article will discuss the origin of the name Biryukov, its history and significance.
The first generic names in Russia
The first surnames in Russia appeared in the 13th century, but many people remained without a family name for about 6 centuries. They dispensed with nicknames, names of professions, patronymics, names. Fashion for surnames came to us from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 12th century, close economic ties with this state were established near Veliky Novgorod, the Novgorod boyars were the first to adopt the traditions of the hereditary name, they are considered the first official holders of generic names in Russia.
In the 14-15th century, surnames began to appear among the boyars, they were formed from the name of the land. Then clan names began to arise that were derived from the baptismal name of the ancestor.
Following the nobles, servicemen began to receive the surnames, and only in the 19th century did the first surnames appear among the peasants.
Each family name is unique in its history of origin, form of education, in meaning and semantic load. Each of them has its own fate, which is worthy of study.
So what does the surname Biryukov mean?
Versions of the origin of the surname
There are a lot of versions of the origin of the name Biryukov. Translated from the Turkic language, the word "biryuk" means "wolf". This animal was considered sacred by many ancient peoples. In Russia, the word "biryuk" began to be used both in the meaning of the beast, and in the meaning of the unsociable, gloomy person.
According to one of the variants of the origin of the Biryukov surname, it came from the name of a person named after a terrible ferocious beast, which was supposed to protect this person, according to the legends of that time. In ancient times, it was believed that the name can protect the baby from evil spirits, scare them away from the child and endow him with the features of the animal in whose honor they called him.
According to another version, the nickname Biryuk came from the collective image of the "terrible wild forest beast." It should be noted that in Russia it was very popular to name children in honor of forest residents. So parents wanted nature to perceive the children as their own. The names Bear, Wolf, Fox, Falcon, Squirrel and so on were especially popular in those days. These names and nicknames later formed the basis of the names: Lisitsyn, Volkov, Medvedev, Belkov, Sokolov.
According to another version of the origin of the surname Biryukov - it was appropriated by people in the geographical region to the place of residence. For example, in the Ivanovo region there is a settlement of Biryukovo, from where all the ancestors of the Biryukov clan could have come.
First written mention of a surname
The surname Biryuk very often appears in written sources, so in the materials of the census of the Cossacks in 1632 the Cossack Aleksey Biryuk is mentioned.
It is possible that the surname Biryukovs belongs to the ancient type of Russian patrimonial nicknames, formed by the name of a geographical object or estate.
The surname Biryukov’s nickname is found in archival documentary sources in the 16th century, for example, Cherkasy tradesman Biryukov Semen lived in the southwestern part of Russia, it is mentioned in written sources in 1552.
Noble family
According to archival data, the ancestor of the noble family of the Biryukovs was the landowner Grigory Porfirievich Biryukov, information about him is found in documents of 1683. Members of this noble family lived in the Kostroma and Smolensk provinces.
The adoption by the family of the name of the ancestor as its hereditary family name means that the founder of the family was a respected and authoritative person.
There are several more noble families of the Biryukov family, but they arose much later.
So, the family name of Biryukov has a rich history, reflects the ancient traditions and beliefs of our ancestors. It should be noted that the surname is of original Russian origin. It was formed on behalf of the ancestor or his nickname. She literally answers the question "whose?" (that is, it means "what kind?", "whose son, grandson, great-grandson?").
The surname includes a suffix that was added to the worldly name Biryuk, thus the surname Biryukov arose, the meaning of which literally speaks of a kinship with a person named Biryuk.