Every day we hear, pronounce, write many surnames. Each of us has a generic name, which is recorded in identity documents.
We remember the name from childhood, and then take it for granted. But the origin and history of a given surname is interesting, individual and unique. Generic names were formed from the names of professions, territories, customs, everyday life, nicknames, appearance, character of our distant ancestors.
Recently, young people have increased interest in the issue of the origin of their generic name. And this is far from idle curiosity. They want to know the history of their family, the customs and lifestyle of their distant ancestors. A family name story helps uncover these secrets. The article is about the amazing, melodic and beautiful surname of Egorov, its origin and significance. Many will be interested.
Surname Egorov
The origin of the name Egorov is closely related to the church name Egor. That is, the name is formed from the canonical male name George. What does the name Egorov mean? So, Yegor is a form of the name Gregory, which is translated from Greek as “landowner”. This name in Russian is fixed in several forms:
- George is the church form;
- Yuri - Scandinavian, who came to us with the Vikings;
- Egor or Egoriy - conversational.
The owners of this generic name can rightfully be proud, since information about it is contained in various historical documents, which confirms its value.
Name patron
The value of the name of Yegorov is directly related to the name of the holy great martyr George the Victorious, who during the period of the persecution of the early Christians declared himself a follower of Jesus and exposed the pagans in wickedness, for which he was beheaded after great torment. It happened in the year 303.
George was born in Beirut, he quickly advanced in military service and soon became close to the emperor Diocletian, who in history immortalized his name as a cruel persecutor of Christians.
At the trial, George once heard an unjust and inhuman sentence that concerned Christians and their destruction. He came to the emperor and declared himself one of the followers of the Christian faith. After futile persuasion to renounce Jesus, the emperor ordered George to be subjected to suffering and torment, after which he ordered him executed.
On the icons, Gregory the Victorious is depicted sitting on a horse and defeating a snake. This is due to the legend, as if not far from the place where George was born, in the lake there was a huge snake that devoured people. To satisfy his hunger, people from the village voluntarily gave him a young boy or girl. Once the lot fell on the child of the ruler, who was taken to the lake and tied to a rock. When the snake began to approach him, a fearless young man appeared on a horse, who defeated the insidious snake. This young man was George the Victorious. The victory over the snake in engravings symbolizes the victory over the demon.
Among the Slavs, George is considered the patron saint of the peasantry and the army. Until the middle of the 17th century, peasants were allowed to leave their landowner and go to another only on the day of St. George, which was called "St. George's Day."
The Slavs believed that if you name the baby in honor of the saint, his life will be bright and happy, since Gregory will protect and preserve him. George the Victorious is one of the most revered Christian saints. His image is immortalized on the arms of many cities and states.
Surname history
In the 16-17th centuries in Russia, clan names began to be fixed, which denoted belonging to a particular family. The surname Egorov owes its origin to the name of the ancestor of this kind, who was called Egor.
The surname Egorov is not rare in Russia. In the ancient diaries, the bearers of this generic name were prominent figures from the Novgorod nobility, who possessed considerable power and honors.
The family name Egorov is mentioned in the census of the population of Ancient Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. In addition, he kept a special register of beautiful, melodic, consonant surnames, which were bestowed on close ones as a sign of encouragement for special merits.
Another version of the origin of the name Egorov
According to one version, the family name is based on the verb “to make one”, which in the Uralic dialects means “restlessly”. Most likely, the restless person could be called a worldly name Egor, and his children and grandchildren eventually received a surname.
In addition, the origin of the name Egorov may be associated with a geographical name. On the territory of Russia there were villages and small rivers Egorovka. The ancestors of the contemporaries of the Egorovs could have come from these places.
There is, for example, such a version: the inhabitants of one village called Yegorovka were famous in the district for their quick wit and enterprise. They managed to circle any person around the finger, that is, to foul it. It is for this that the village got its name, and the inhabitants were called Egorovs.
Any version of the origin of generic names has a right to exist, since surnames on the territory of our country have been formed over several centuries.