A Ukrainian surname may indicate Jewish, Polish, German, or Ukrainian roots of your ancestors.

The surname can suggest a direction for research, but rarely gives a direct answer about origin. In some cases, it records a place, in others — a profession or social group. To determine roots accurately, archives, genealogies, and sometimes DNA studies are needed. Historical layers have been superimposed for centuries, and they are not always read linearly.

National nuances in surname endings are also not as straightforward as commonly believed. Historian and heraldist Andriy Grechylo explains: the suffixes “-sk” and “-sk” are found among Poles, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Macedonians, and even some Jewish surnames when the place of origin was specifically recorded. Meanwhile, Polish surnames ending in “-uk”, “-yuk” are an example of how an outwardly Ukrainian form can be entirely Polish.

After the mass relocations of the mid-20th century, these lines mixed even more. People changed regions, and surnames continued to travel with them. Thus, there were cases when a surname formally looks Ukrainian but contains a Polish word not present in the Ukrainian language. Examples like Sikora or Wrubel illustrate this well.

The Ukrainian system itself is diverse. In the Dnieper region, the ending “-enko” traditionally dominates. In Polesia and Galicia, “-uk”, “-chuk”, “-yuk” are common. These are stable anthroponymic zones, but even within them, exceptions are possible — again due to migrations.

Distinguishing a Jewish surname from a German one is often difficult. Especially when the surname is related to a profession — such forms are found in both groups. However, surnames like Kogan, Rabinovich, or Levin emphasize religious affiliation. During the war, many Jews changed their surnames to Ukrainian ones, further blurring the boundaries.

German surnames in Galicia are often two-rooted — Goldberg, Rosenberg, and similar forms are also found among Jews. In Scandinavian countries, the logic is different: patronymic surnames like Johansson or Andersen were formed by the father’s name and changed every century.

Migrations and assimilation in recent decades have made the surname an even less reliable marker of national origin. Today it is more a part of family history than a tool for accurately determining ethnicity. Grechylo, who has been working since 1993 at the Institute of Archaeography and Source Studies of the NASU, emphasizes: only genealogy and archives allow for a complete picture.

We continue to cover such topics for readers who value family history and roots — this direction remains part of the editorial mission of NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency.