For this post, I went looking for more Russian family names. My favourite Russian name is Besmertney, which I hopefully now spell correctly. It means immortal which I think is nice. Unfortunately, I do not know more about the background of the name. Eventually, I might find out.
My liking for Besmertney started me on "B" in Hank's and Hodge's book. I was soon rewarded. First there was Babin- derived from "Baba" - grandmother. It was explained that this name was given to the son of an old woman or to a fussy person. The next was Baibakov. It comes from the nick-name "Baibak", meaning marmot. Since the marmot was considered sluggish, the name was given to lazy people. Then came Baklanov, deduced from "Baklan" - Cormorant. The name indicates greed.
The last one, not to make this post to long, was Bakunin. The name is somehow well known in Russian history. It started as the nick-name "Bakuna", having its roots in "bakat", to chatter or to gossip. So, except for an immortal, we have a fussy person, a lazy, a greedy and a gossiping one. Quite colourful, I'd say.
PS Photo from Shutterpoint re-used.
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