By the 18th century almost all Ukrainians had family names. Most Ukrainian surnames (and surnames in Slavic languages in general) are formed by adding possessive and other suffixes to given names, place names, professions and other words.
Surnames were developed for official documents or business record keeping to differentiate the parties who might have the same first name. By the 15th century, surnames were used by the upper class, nobles and large land owners. In cities and towns, surnames became necessary in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1632, Orthodox Metropolitan Petro Mohyla ordered priests to include a surname in all records of birth, marriage and death.
After the partitions of Poland (1772–1795), Western Ukraine came under the Austrian Empire, where peasants needed surnames for taxation purposes and military service and churches were required to keep records of all births, deaths and marriages.
The surnames with the suffix -enko are the most known and common Ukrainian surnames. Due to migration and deportations of Ukrainians during the history, it's also present in Belarus and Russia, especially in the Kuban region, where many ethnic Ukrainians historically lived.
Suffixes
Common suffixes in Ukrainian names are: (Шевченко, Гордієнко, Коваленко, Зінченко, Симоненко, Кравченко, Войтенко, Ткаченко), distinctively Ukrainian, first recorded in the 15th century. or (Поліщук, Паламарчук, Баланчук, Максимчак) or its simplified versions or and (Палагнюк, Мочуляк, Романюк). The suffixes are considered to be patronymic. (Панчишин, Костишин, Романишин). Such suffixes are simply added to Ukrainian given names. (Тарновський, Зеленський), originally from aristocratic usage but then generalized. Common in Western Ukraine. (Шухевич, Петрушевич, Андрушевич, Шушкевич, Горлукович). , a diminutive ending often with patronymic meaning (Сірко, Павличко, Бойко). Less common suffixes that may identify Ukrainian origin are , or , , , , or (Ванжура, Вервега, Андрух, Ковтун, Кайдаш), series of , , and , also (Плюш) and (Вертій).
Some names have differing masculine and feminine forms, meaning a brother and sister's surname will be inflected with different suffixes (such as Zelenskyi/Зеленський vs. Zelenska/Зеленська). Others (such as the distinctively Ukrainian names ending in ) do not change with grammatical gender.
First elements
The first elements of Ukrainian surnames are most commonly given names (patronymics and matronymics), place names (toponyms), and professions.
Patronymic surnames
From the first name Ivan (John in English), over 100 different surnames can be formed. The most common variations of Ivan in Ukrainian are Ivas, Jan, Vakhno, and Vanko. The surnames based on Ivan include: Ivaniv, Ivankiv, Ivasiv, Ivashchenko, Ivankhiv, Janiv, Jankiv, and Ivaniuk. More examples of surnames based on a first name: Andrii (Andrew): Andriiash, Andriiets, Andrusyshyn and Andrukhovych Hryhorii (Gregory): Hryniuk, Hryniv, Hryhoruk Mykhailo (Michael): Mykhailuk Pavlo (Paul): Pavlovych, Pavliuk, Pailiuk, Pavluk Stepan (Steven): Stefaniuk, Stefanyk When a woman married, she was known by a form of her husband's first name or her father's. From the name Petro, she was Petrykha, (wife of Petro). From these forms, matronymic surnames ending in were created. Petryshyn came from Petrykha, Romanyshyn from Romanykha and Ivanyshyn from Ivanykha. Surnames based on women's names are rare (Marunchak from Marunia, a form of Maria).
Toponymic surnames
Some Ukrainian toponymic surnames can be identified as from the Galicia region. Those surnames often contain the suffixes or (Kolomiets, Korniets, Romanets, Baranets).
Profession-based surnames
Bondar (Bodnar, Bondaruk) — barrel maker, cooper
Honchar (Honcharenko, Honcharuk) — potter, ceramist
Kolisnyk (Kolisnychenko) — wheelwright
Kravets (Kravchenko, Kravchuk) — tailor
Kushnir (Kushnirenko, Kushniruk) — furrier
Oliinyk — vegetable oil-manufacturer
Ponomarenko (Ponomarchuk) – clergyman
Skliar — glazier
Chumak — salt-trader
Ethnic surnames
Names that show ethnic, national or tribal origins other than Ukrainian. Nimchuk, from Germany ( means German in Ukrainian). Tataryn, from Tatar, the Turkic people of the "Golden Horde". Voloshyn, from Volokh, an ancient tribe that originally lived in Romania and Moldova.