What surnames were given to employees or officials in Ukraine: a list

Surnames derived from an ancestor's profession are the second largest group of family names in the Ukrainian language. Linguists divide them into subgroups, in particular, according to the field in which the person worked.

Thus, not the most numerous, but expressive group here are surnames derived from official positions or names of various kinds of employees. OBOZ.UA tells about them in more detail.

Voyt was a position of a local official who was in charge of community affairs in a certain territory. Voytes were engaged in general administration, managed city property, and had influence on judicial proceedings. Over time, many surnames derived from this position emerged: Viytiv, Viytyshyn, Viytyuk; Pustoviyt/Pustovit; Voytyuk, Voitenko, Voitchenko/Voichenko, Voitchyshyn/Voichyshyn, Voitovych, Pustovoitenko, Starovoit.

Starostas were representatives of the lower level of local administration. The word was derived from the adjective "old, senior" and meant an experienced person who could be entrusted with certain responsibilities. Starostas were entrusted with managing the affairs of a small community, mostly rural, or a collective. Surnames derived from this name include variants of Starostenko, Starostiak, Starostiuk, and others.

Soltys means something similar to starosta, but the word is of German origin. In the Middle Ages, soltis managed village life and collected taxes for the king. Since this name was not very common in Ukraine, it did not give rise to many forms of surnames. Mostly, the name of the position - Soltys - is used as a patronymic, but there are also variants of Soltysiuk/Soltysyk, Soltysyk, and Soltysky.

The juror was an assistant to the village headman, and this name was and still is used for persons who participate in court proceedings under oath, helping the judge to pass a fair verdict. In Ukraine, you can find derivatives of the surnames Prysyazhnyi, Prysyazhnyuk, Prysyazhnychenko, Prysyazhnevych.

A town hall official is an official who worked in the town hall, i.e. in a local government. The duties of such officials included, among other things, the collection and redistribution of local taxes, record keeping, etc. In surnames, this position can be found both directly - Ratushnyi - and with the use of suffixes - Ratushniak, Ratushniuk, Ratushenko, Ratushko, etc.

Scribes were people who knew how to read and write various documents well. In particular, their role was important in the army, where they were in charge of the office and helped to keep all supply cases organized. From this position, we have such variants of the surnames as Pysarenko, Pysarchuk, Pysarev, Pysaruk, Pysarevych, Pysarchenko.

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