Is this a russian or an estonian surname?

[linnea]

The surname is Laev.

When I've googled I only get estonian matches, although I know that my relatives (they were estonians) had some russian ancestors. It's also ending with -ev, which is common among russian surnames.

[takoja]

Propably Estonian. Souds similar to Finnish laiva -> ship, boat.

[Polako]

Sounds like lion in Slavic (Lew in Polish, for instance).

[Mary]

The surname is Laev.

When I've googled I only get estonian matches, although I know that my relatives (they were estonians) had some russian ancestors. It's also ending with -ev, which is common among russian surnames.

I would say it's a Russian name. You are correct in that -ev is a Russian construction. For example: "lebed" means "swan". "lebedev means roughly "of the swan".

I think "Laev" might come from the word "laet" which means "to bark" like a dog. This would be roughly translated as "the one who barks" or "of the bark".

I don't think that any Estonian would have that name. So your ancestors might be ethnic Russians from Estonia. Try googling in Cyrillic: Лаев. You only get Russian names.

[Tuohikirje]

It shows 100% to Estonia in MyHeritage, in Geni.com 62 people locations like Siiksaare, Riimu Estonia etc from the 18th century. Laev means a boat in Estonian, like Takoja mentioned allready.

---------- Post added 2011-11-16 at 12:44 ----------


The surname is Laev.

When I've googled I only get estonian matches, although I know that my relatives (they were estonians) had some russian ancestors. It's also ending with -ev, which is common among russian surnames.

Linnea, you do not happen to be in 23andMe with a nickname starting with L by any chance? :)

[linnea]

Thanks for the answers!

And Tuohikirje, no I'm not on 23andMe:(

[Jaska]

This is a difficult surname, because it could be both:
1. Laev <-- Estonian laev 'ship' (< Proto-Finnic *laiva)
2. Laev [Lajev] <-- Russian; eg. laj 'bark (by dog)' + -ev (surname ending) = Barker. ;)
(Or some yet other Russian word.)

You should find some etymological book/study about Estonian and Russian surnames. If the name is only found among the Russians in Estonia, then it probably is of Estonian origin; if it is found widely in Russia, too, it probably is of Russian origin.

[Jei2a]

it is Estonian it means ship