User-submitted Reference

Origin of Popov surname

The owner of the surname Popov can rightfully be proud of his ancestors, information about which is contained in various documents confirming the trace left by them in the history of Russia.

The basis of the name Popov was the mundane name of the founder of Pop. This naming was joined by the child's parents to the name that he received at baptism. This name was used more often than the baptismal one and was assigned to a person for life.

The presence of a second, secular, name was a kind of tribute to the ancient Slavic tradition of dual-name. Its purpose was to hide the main, church name from 'evil spirits' and 'evil spirits.'

Surname Popov - one of the most common Russian family names. She is in the top ten in terms of consumption, ranking ninth in the list of the most popular surnames. This surname could go back not only to the common noun 'pop', but also to the very common non-Christian personal name Pop, from which the possessive 'priests' formed. This naming, in turn, was used both to designate the son of a priest or the son of a person named Pop, and for the name of the priest of the worker, farm laborer.

This is one of the oldest church titles began to be used in Russia almost immediately after the adoption of Christianity and was first mentioned as early as 1047 in the 'Song of the Prophets.' The personal name Pop appeared much later, its first fixation dates back to the 15th century: Nikita Popko, peasant 1495, Novgorod; Popko, Farmer, 1400; Ofonasius Pop, peasant, 1495; Zhdan Popka, Mozyr boyar man, 1552; Pop Fedor Ivanovich, Sverchkov, Saburov, the first half of the XVI century; Ofonka Larionov is the son of the nickname Pop, a stanitsik on the Don, 1684, and many others.

The surname Popov is especially common in the Russian North. The calculation of surnames in the Arkhangelsk province (for 1897) showed an unprecedented high frequency - 20 Popovs per thousand people. In Moscow (1964) - 30 thousand Popovs. As the reason for the prevalence of this surname in the north of Russia, it is possible to admit the election of the clergy in these areas: until the 18th century, priests were not appointed there, but residents themselves elected from their midst. In the XVII century, this surname 'populates' the steppes south of Tula and Ryazan, the Don and Lower Volga. It is absent in the western regions and among the Western Slavs, but it is very common among Bulgarians.

Among the famous carriers of this family name is Alexander Stepanovich Popov (1859–1905 / 06), a Russian physicist and electrical engineer, inventor of cordless electric communications (radio communications), creator of the world's first radio receiver and device for registering lightning discharges.

Since the process of forming surnames was quite long, it is difficult to talk about the exact place and time of the appearance of the generic name Popov. However, we can say with confidence that it belongs to the number of the oldest Russian family names.

Popov/Popoff (masculine) or Popova (feminine) is a common Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian last name. Derived from a Slavonic word, pop, meaning 'priest' and -ov, meaning 'pertaining to'. It therefore means 'of the priest', or rather 'son of the priest' or 'daughter of the priest'.