Surname Novikow - Meaning and Origin
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Novikow: What does the surname Novikow mean?
The last name Novikow is a Russian surname and likely has roots in early Slavic history. Its earliest occurrence is 1227 AD in the north-western Russian area of Smolensk, but the name may have existed prior to that. The current spelling was likely introduced in the 17th or 18th centuries.
The literal meaning of the word Novikow is “new man” or “stranger”. In Medieval Russia, the term Novik, or Novikow, indicated a sharecropper or tenant on a landlord’s estate. This tenant was a “stranger”, because the estate was not his ancestral home. Since most villagers were bound to a landlord’s estate for life, these tenants were considered family outsiders.
By the 19th century, the term Novikow was no longer used as a legal term, but instead became an occupational surname indicating the family’s profession as a distant tenant of large estates. Through time, bearers of the Novikow surname would often use other variants like Novikoff and Novitsky depending on their part of the country and the language spoken.
Those who bear the Novikow surname today should embrace its unique meaning, its rich Slavic history, and its ties to generations of distant tenants on large estates. The modern-day “Novikow” no longer faces the same strict tenant rules or obligations of their ancestors, and now proudly use their ancestral last name as a part of their identity.
Order DNA origin analysisNovikow: Where does the name Novikow come from?
The surname Novikow is most commonly found today in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. It is a patronymic surname derived from the Russian male name ‘Novik’, which comes from the root ‘Nov’, meaning ‘new’. The Novikow family is thought to originate in Eastern Europe, with some records indicating that the family originated in Russia from as early as the 16th century. In Russia, the surname Novikow is most commonly found in Vladimir Oblast, located in the central part of the country. It is also a popular surname in neighboring Ukraine, primarily in the Lviv Oblast and other areas along the Ukrainian-Byelorussian border.
Novikow is also a popular surname in Lithuania. The surname is derived from the Lithuanian name Novikas, which has the same root as the Russian name, meaning ‘new’. In Belarus, the surname is typically found in the Minsk region, where there is a village called Novikovka, which was named after the Novikov family, who were an influential noble family in Russian history. In the United States, Novikow is a rather uncommon name, but is concentrated in states with large Russian and Eastern European populations, such as New York, California, and New Jersey.
Variations of the surname Novikow
The surname Novikow is most commonly seen spelled as Novikov, however there are other variants of this surname. The Russian spelling of the surname is usually written as Новиков and other variant spellings include Nowikow, Nowikov, Nowikof, Novikof, Novakov, Novokov, Novokoff, Novikoff, Novokhof, and Novikof. There are also other surnames of the same origin, such as Novik, Nowik, Nowicki, Novicki, Novecko, Novikas, Nowatos, Novotas, Novakas and Nowakowski.
The origin of the surname Novikow is believed to come from Slavic cultures and is thought to have derived from the word "nova," which translates to "new" in the English language. It is widely believed that this surname was most likely first adopted by someone who was originally from a new settlement or someone whose family had recently immigrated to a new area. The surname is also thought to be related to the word “Novik” which comes from Slavic, meaning “nobleman.” This would suggest that this surname was first used by members of an aristocratic family.
The surname Novikow is still used around the world today, with people carrying this surname residing in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. As this surname has spread over time, it has also been adapted into other languages, and varieties of this surname are also used in countries like Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
Famous people with the name Novikow
- Roman Novikov: Russian artist, sculptor, and designer.
- Yakov Novikov: Soviet theoretical physicist, mathematician, and applied mathematician, and one of the founders and directors of the Russian Institute of Mechanics.
- Evgeny Novikov: Russian rally driver.
- Danila Novikov: Russian footballer and defender on the Krylia Sovetov Samara.
- Assaf Novikov: Israeli actor, writer and director.
- Ilya Novikov: Soviet chess grandmaster.
- Kirill Novikov: Russian folk singer.
- Pavel Novikov: Russian footballer and defender currently playing for FC Kuban Krasnodar.
- Andrey Novikov: Soviet Russian painter, sculptor, and author.
- Jurij Novikov: Soviet Russian voice actor.