Surname Stankevich - Meaning and Origin
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Stankevich: What does the surname Stankevich mean?
The last name Stankevich is derived from the Polish phrase 'stanek,' meaning 'small yard or stand'. This last name is most commonly found among those of Polish, Belarusian, or Ukrainian descent.
The first recorded use of this surname dates back to 1541, when the Stankevich family was documented in the House of Nobility of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Stankevich family is thought to have originated in the area around what is now Poland, and its members have spread over Europe and beyond.
The Stankevich name is closely associated with nobility, and its members have long been admirers of Poland’s culture and traditions. Stankevich families cherish their heritage and can trace their ancestry to some of Poland’s oldest and most prominent families. This last name may also be found among those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
The Stankevich surname stands for pride, family, and culture. It is a symbol of history, and a reminder of lessons past that must be valued and passed down through the generations.
Order DNA origin analysisStankevich: Where does the name Stankevich come from?
The last name Stankevich is most commonly found in Belarus and Ukraine.
In Ukraine, distinct populations of Stankevich can be found in regions such as Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Drohobych, Lviv, Odessa, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Sumy. Odessa is the largest city in the region with the largest concentration of Stankevich families.
In Belarus, the highest concentration of Stankevichs are found in Brest, Grodno, and Minsk regions.
The name is also present in other countries with large diasporas, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The Russian Federation also has a concentration of Stankevichs in Russian communities.
Changes in the immigration of Ukrainians to the West over the last decades have led to a large number of Stankevich families settling in countries of the European Union as well.
In demographic studies, the spelling of the last name was established as Stankevich, although sometimes it can be found in alternate variants such as Stankiewicz, Stankevych, Stanko, and Stankoe.
Most Stankevichs are descended from families that originated from Belarus, although some families trace their ancestry from Ukraine. The name Stankevich is derived from the word "stan" which means "land" in the Belarusian language, and is thought to be derived from the old Belarusian expression "stan-kevich", which is an ancient phrase meaning "Landsman" or "Friend of the Land" and indicates that the holder of this last name was a resident of a particular land.
Variations of the surname Stankevich
The surname Stankevich is a noble Russian name of Slavic origin. Its variants, spellings, and surnames of the same origin include Stankewitsch, Stankevitch, Stankevitch-Moschalevsky, Stankewitch, Stankevitsh, Stankevic, Stankevich-Moschalevsky, Stankievich, Stankewitsch-Moschalevsky, Stankov, Stankovic, Stanikiewicz, Stanickiewicz, Stanikovics, and Stankewitz.
The surname Stankevich is derived from the Russian word stan, meaning "authority" or "rule," and the ism kev, meaning "son of" or "descendant of." It is believed that its origins can be traced to the medieval Russian Boyar family of Stankevich, known by this name in Russia since 1358. They were influential members of the old Russian court and owned vast estates in Galicia.
The spelling Stankewitsch was borne by several Russian and Ukrainian noble families in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, prior to the Polevian-Ukrainian spelling Stankewitsch-Moschalevsky. The surname Stankovic was borne by a senior officer in the service of the Russian Tsar Nicholas I in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The surname Stanickiewicz was brought to Russia by Ukrainian aristocrats and is found much more frequently in Ukraine than in Russia today. The Stanikovics surname is also found in Serbia and Bosnia, and is believed to have evolved from the original Ukrainian name.
Stankewitz is the rarest of these names, being accounting for less than 1 percent of the estimated number of persons in the world bearing the surname Stankevich. This spelling is mainly found in German-speaking countries and is believed to have been adopted by German-speaking emigrants who brought this name with them to Germany in the early twentieth century.
Famous people with the name Stankevich
- Sergey Stankevich: a Russian politician and economist; served as Senior Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Russia.
- Yuri Stankevich: a prominent Russian sportsman, who participated in the 1960 Olympic Games as a cyclist.
- Ihor Stankevich: a Ukrainian politician and diplomat; a current Member of Parliament for the Petrykivka constituency in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Yevgeny Stankevich: a Ukrainian ice hockey player.
- Artem Stankevich: a Ukrainian Track and Field athlete.
- Maksim Stankevich: a Belarusian mixed martial artist and kickboxer.
- Demyan Stankevich: a Belarusian bobsledder who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- Sergei Stankevich: a Russian wrestler who represented Russia in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
- Natallia Stankevich: a Belarusian pole vaulter who competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
- Ryhor Stankevich: a Belarusian sport shooter who participated in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.