Ukrainian surnames
By the 18th century, almost all Ukrainian had family names. Most Ukrainian surnames are formed by adding possessive and other suffixes to given names, place names, professions and other words.
Surnames were developed for official documents or business record keeping to differentiate the parties who might have the same first name. By the 15th century, surnames were used by the upper class, nobles and large land owners. In cities and towns, surnames became necessary in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1632, Orthodox Metropolitan Petro Mohyla ordered priests to include a surname in all records of birth, marriage and death.
After the partitions of Poland, Western Ukraine came under the Austrian Empire, where peasants needed surnames for taxation purposes and military service and churches were required to keep records of all births, deaths and marriages.
The surnames with the suffix -enko are the most known and common Ukrainian surnames. Due to migration and deportations of Ukrainians during the history, they are also present in Belarus and Russia, especially in the Kuban region, where many ethnic Ukrainians historically lived.
Suffixes
Common suffixes in Ukrainian names are: , distinctively Ukrainian, first recorded in the 15th century.' or or its simplified versions or and . The suffixes are considered to be patronymic. . Such suffixes are simply added to Ukrainian given names. These are considered patronymic. , toponymic, originally from aristocratic usage but then generalized. Ukrainian version of surnames ending in -ski, common in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. . Common with neighboring Belarus, descending from the common Rzeczpospolita culture. , a diminutive ending often with patronymic meaning. , an old-Ruthenian/Rusyn type surnames- Less common suffixes that may identify Ukrainian origin are
First elements
The first elements of Ukrainian surnames are most commonly given names, place names, and professions.Patronymic surnames
From the first name Ivan, over 100 different surnames can be formed. The most common variations of Ivan in Ukrainian are Ivas, Jan, Vakhno, and Vanko. The surnames based on Ivan include: Ivaniv, Ivankiv, Ivasiv, Ivashchenko, Ivanyshyn, Ivankhiv, Janiv, Jankiv, and Ivaniuk. More examples of surnames based on a first name:
- Andrii : Andriiash, Andriiets, Andrusyshyn and Andrukhovych
- Hryhorii : Hryniuk, Hryniv, Hryhoruk
- Mykhailo : Mykhailuk
- Pavlo : Pavlovych, Pavliuk, Pailiuk, Pavluk
- Savko : Savchuk
- Stepan : Stefaniuk, Stefanyk
Toponymic surnames
Some Ukrainian toponymic surnames can be identified as from the Galicia region. Those surnames often contain the suffixes ' or '.
The surnames ending with -skyi were originally aristocratic and indicated the principal manor but from the late Middle Ages they became increasingly common and simply denoted the bearer's origin from a specific town or village.
Profession-based surnames Bondar — barrel maker, cooper Honchar — potter, ceramistKolisnyk — wheelwrightKoval — smithKravets — tailorKushnir — furrierOliinyk — vegetable oil-manufacturerPalamar – clergyman Skliar — glazierChumak — salt-traderKramar — store owner
Ethnic surnames'''
Names that show ethnic, national or tribal origins other than Ukrainian.
- Nimchuk, from Germany.
- Tataryn, from Tatar, the Turkic people of the "Golden Horde".
- Voloshyn, from Volokh, a medieval generic name for Romanians and Moldovans.
Cossack names
There are also old Cossack names that derive from military occupations, such as Kompaniiets or Kompanichenko. There are also surnames derived from monikers based on personal characteristics. Those are considered to derive directly from the usage of monikers instead of actual names due to nature of occupation. These compounds, usually consisting of a second person-singular-addressed imperative verb or an adjective coupled with a noun, can often be somewhat comical such as:| Name | Literal meaning |
| Chornovil | Black ox |
| Chornyi | Black |
| Dobroshtan | Good pants |
| Dobryivechir | Good evening! |
| Holodryha | Nude twitch |
| Hryzydub | Munch the oak |
| Kandyba | Useless horse |
| Kryvoshapka | Crooked headwear |
| Krutyvus | Twist the moustache |
| Kryvonis | Curved nose |
| Lomachenko | Breaker |
| Lupybat'ko | Pummel the father |
| Molyboha | Pray to God |
| Navarykasha | Boil the porridge |
| Nebaba | not a woman |
| Nedaivoda | Do not give water |
| Nepyipyvo | Do not drink beer |
| Neschadymenko | No mercy! |
| Nesviatypaska | Do not paska bless |
| Netudykhata | Wrong way house |
| Neizhkasha | Do not eat porridge |
| Neizhpapa | Do not eat dad/bread |
| Nezdiimynoha | Do not lift up the leg |
| Obbizhysvit | Run around the world |
| Otchenash | Our Father! |
| Panibud'laska | Lady, please! |
| Perebyinis | Break the nose |
| Perevernykruchenko | Turn over the cliff |
| Pidipryhora | Bolster the mountain |
| Pidkuimukha | Horseshoe the fly |
| Podlypa | Under a lime tree |
| Pokyn'boroda | Ditch the beard |
| Salohub | Salo lips |
| Sorokopud | Forty poods |
| Tiahnyriadno | Pull the blanket |
| Ubyivovk | Kill the wolf |
| Uvorvykyshky | Rip the guts out |
| Voshkolup | Louse scratch |
| Vyrvykhvist | Rip a tail |
| Vernydub | Twist the oak |
| Vernyhora | Twist the mountain |
| Zapliuisvichka | Dip-spit the candle |
| Zhuivoda | Chew the water |
Such surnames are primarily derived from a funny memorable situation or a phrase coined by the person, who eventually received such a name, and supposedly originated in the 15th–16th centuries with the start of the Cossack movement.
Among Cossacks were also much simplified nature-derived last names such as Hohol, Orel, Bakai/Bakay/Bakaj, Horobets, Syromakha, Rosomakha, Vedmid', Moroz, Kulish, Mara, Skovoroda, Harbuz, Vovk, Chaika and many more that are common nouns of the Ukrainian language. Other Cossack last names were based on personality characteristics, e.g. Babii, Dovhopiat, Dryhalo, Kovtun, Malyuk, Nechuy, Nudylo, Plaksa, Pribluda, Prilipko, Sverbylo, Vereshchaka, Vytrishchaka, etc.
Most common surnames in Ukraine
| # | Name | Ukrainian | Meaning | Number | Predominant in regions |
| 1 | Melnyk | Мельник | Miller | 107878 | Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, Vinnytsia |
| 2 | Shevchenko | Шевченко | Shoemaker's son | 106340 | Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Zaporizhia |
| 3 | Kovalenko | Коваленко | Smith's son | 88632 | Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Kyiv, Poltava, Cherkasy |
| 4 | Bondarenko | Бондаренко | Cooper's son | 88133 | Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhia |
| 5 | Ivanov | Іванов | John's | 84096 | Crimea, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sevastopol, Zaporizhia |
| 6 | Boyko | Бойко | Boyko or from бій | 83195 | Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil |
| 7 | Tkachenko | Ткаченко | Weaver's son | 82270 | Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy |
| 8 | Kravchenko | Кравченко | Tailor's son | 75456 | Chernihiv, Kherson |
| 9 | Kovalchuk | Ковальчук | Smith's son | 70410 | Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Volyn, Zhytomyr |
| 10 | Koval | Коваль | Smith | 62232 | Lviv |
Source: "Ridni.org" Ukrainian genealogical portal