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Origin of Sokolov name

The owner of the surname Sokolov 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 Sokolov surname was the secular name. Such a name was joined by the parents of the child to the name received by him at baptism. This name was used more often than the baptismal one and was assigned to a person for life.

The surname Sokolov is one of the ten most frequently encountered Russian surnames. It is formed from the worldly non-Christian name Falcon. According to the calculations of B.-O. Unbegaun, in 1910 the surname of the Sokolovs occupied the seventh place in frequency in St. Petersburg, and of all the surnames formed from non-canonical names, they were second only to the Smirnovs. The unusually high frequency of Russian surnames based on the names of birds was noted by a prominent foreign Slavist V.R. Kiparsky, proving in his articles that this was dictated by the cult of birds among ancient Russians.

The fact is that before the introduction of Christianity in Russia, the name of a child by the name representing the name of an animal or plant was a very common tradition. This corresponded to the pagan ideas of man about the world. Old Russian man, living according to the laws of nature, himself represented himself as part of it. Giving the baby such names as, for example, Wolf, Squirrel, Nightingale, Kalina, Sokol, the parents wanted the nature to perceive the child as their own, so that the useful qualities that the selected representative of the animal or plant world would pass to him.

As you know, from ancient times the falcon was considered a symbol of courage, courage and desperate courage. Usually these qualities were associated primarily with military prowess, and therefore the falcon became the personification of military power. Until now, it serves as an image for the emblems of a number of units and subunits of modern European armies. In addition, the falcon is a symbol of valor and nobility. The saying also included the expression 'keen as a falcon', 'clear falcon' and others, indicating the distinctive characteristics of this bird. The falcon is also an invariable attribute of hunting fun. Falconry was very popular in Russia. In the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, every princely court even had a special position - a falconer.

All this explains why the name Sokolov has become one of the most popular Russian surnames.

It is known that some Sokolovs are an untitled Russian noble family, the coat of arms of which is located in part 7 of the 'General Tombstone of the noble families of the Russian Empire'.

Since the process of forming surnames was quite lengthy, it is difficult to talk about the exact place and time of the origin of the Sokolov surname. However, we can confidently say that it belongs to the ranks of the oldest Russian family names and can tell a lot about the life and life of our distant ancestors.