User-submitted Reference

The history of the origin of the surname Korolev.

The basis of the surname Korolev was the worldly name King. The worldly name King originates from a similar common noun. There have never been kings in Russia, ordinary people knew about them mainly from fairy tales, and later thanks to playing cards. Ordinary people imagined the king as a happy and rich man. Therefore, the name King could be given to a child with a wish for a carefree and comfortable life. The practice of giving the child, in addition to the official baptismal name, one more, non-baptismal, was held until the 17th century. and led to the fact that surnames formed from worldly names accounted for a significant part of the total number of Russian surnames. According to another version, the name Korolev is based on the nickname King. It can be assumed that this was the name of a prominent, imperious person. In this case, the nickname indicated the particular appearance and character of the ancestor. In addition, the nickname King could give one of the peasants who fled from estates belonging to the Polish crown in Ukraine. King, eventually got the name Korolev. The family name Korolev is very ancient - the first mention of family names refer to the 15th century: the peasant of the Gorodensky graveyard Matfeyko Korol, 1495; peasant Petrushka Korolev, 1495; the peasant of the Tygod district King Timokhin, 1609; Belarusian peasant Ivan Korolev, 1656. Some Korolevs may have a noble origin. So, the nobles of Korolev are mentioned in the lists of noble families of the Volyn and Kiev provinces. Among the well-known representatives of the surname are Sergey Alexandrovich Korolev (1874-1932), professor of microbiology, creator of technical microbiology; Sergey Pavlovich Korolev (1906-1966), Soviet scientist-designer, founder of practical cosmonautics; Denis Alexandrovich Korolev (b. 1938), soloist of the opera of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia.