The names of the ancient Slavs, according to the ideas of the world around them, were designated by the names of animals or plants, which, like man, were part of nature.
Naming a baby, the ancient Slavs asked Mother Nature to endow the child with all the best qualities of an animal whose name he bore.
Kozlov is a surname whose origin is considered to bemodern researchers associated with the non-church (pre-Christian) name Kozel. On the territory of pagan Rus, such names did not surprise anyone, since they were an integral part of the traditions of the cult of idolatry.
Our ancient pagan ancestors revered as a goatpersonification of masculinity, excess vitality, creative activity and superiority. Excellence was attributed to the goat as a conqueror of mountain peaks and difficult mountain trails. Therefore, a child who has received a name that is consonant with the name of this animal should have grown up brave, tireless, strong and wise.
Everything changed after the baptism of Russia by the princeVladimir in 988 (or 987) year. Despite the fact that the pagan Slavs, although they respected the freedom of choice and human sovereignty, were mostly not ready to accept other religions, global changes affected each of them. How is this historical fact related to the last name Kozlov? The origin of the surname is probably connected with the conversion of the Old Believers to Christianity.
After the arrival of the Christian faith the goat wasdeclared animal devil, a symbol of sin, curse and impermanence. The name Kozel was gradually transformed into the surname Kozlov, and the expression “scapegoat” had a new meaning: “Christ, who had atoned for world sins”.
In ancient times, the very concept of "absolution"existed only in the framework of the Jewish ritual "Day of Atonement". On the appointed day, by spells, all the sins of people were laid on two goats, one of which — the one on whom the lot fell — served as an atoning sacrifice for the Jewish god Yahweh, and the other, called the “scapegoat”, for Azazel. The scapegoat was set free in a deserted place and released.
In this regard, there was a custom:the lonely wandering no-goat was bypassed the tenth road — he, perhaps, was the property of the Prince of Darkness, and the man who took the animal for himself took away the sins of the entire Jewish people ... But, be that as it may, the Kozlov name means - descendants of the ancient Slavic nobles and have no relation to the above historical reference.
Отчество, произошедшее от нецерковного имени Goat was very common at the beginning of the 15th century. This is not surprising, given the popularity of a similar personal male name. According to the calculations made by B. Unbegaun, in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the 20th century, the nickname Kozlov was in 36th place in terms of demand.
It was also established that among the boyars the surnameKozlov (the origin of the surname is associated with the period preceding the birth of the Christian faith) was formed during the delimitation of the overgrown noble ancient clans.
By the middle of the XV century, the son of the boyar Morozov, GrigoryKozel was listed as the founder of the Kozlov family, and the other Kozlov went from the descendant of Lev in the seventh generation, Ignatius G. Kozel-Beklemishev, whose sons in the 16th century were called Türkic names (Karachura, Saltyk and Shadra Kozlov) and were given a piece in a county of 1573, and they received the cost of a piece.
Later, the Kozlovs appeared among the peasants,bearing the corresponding middle name or nickname. According to the assumptions of N. A. Baskakov, the surname Kozlov is derived from the Turkic-Nogai "goat" ("three-year-old sheep"). When the prestige of the aristocracy from the nobility reached its peak, in Poland began to appear in large numbers last names ending in suffixes -sky, -tsky, -ovich, -evich ... The new-fashioned endings were especially popular among representatives of the social classes.
An alternative method was to doubleconsonant sounds (mostly - "s", "l", "p" and "t"), thanks to which familiar surnames turned into original and unique: Kozel, Kozello ... So "Kozlov" is a surname whose origin came from names of the fearless animal, - turned into an element of prestige.
Today, a man with the surname Kozel, Kozlanuk,Kozlyuk, Kozlyonok can be found on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. As for the name Kozlov (the frequency of use of which today allowed her to move on the 7th place on the scale of popularity) - she, as before, is the descendants of the ancient Russian boyars and peasants.
Scandinavians worshiped a goat as a symbolvitality and considered him the animal of the god Thor. The ancient Greeks also respected goats (the origin of the surname is not associated with either the Greek or the Scandinavian culture), worshiping the goat-like god Pan.
"Goat" theme is one of the componentsthe symbolism of Dionysus (by the way, he also liked to turn into a goat at leisure), whose invariable retinue consisted of goat-footed satyrs. Even the well-known expression “cornucopia,” as it turned out, is related to this animal: Jupiter drank from a goat's horn, who, as you know, was nourished with goat's milk.
Considering all the above, a person by the name of Kozlov can be by nationality both Russian, and Ukrainian, and Byelorussian, and Polish.
Last name Kozlov, according to scientists, in 50%cases occur from Russian, in 5% from Ukrainian, in 10% from Belarusian, in 30% from Tatar, Mordovian, Bashkir, Buryat and in 5% of cases from Bulgarian and Serbian names, nicknames, types of occupations and names of populated points.
In the most fascinating extanthistorical diaries said that the namesakes of the modern Kozlovs were very significant historical figures and came from the Slavic clergy (XV-XVI centuries), were endowed with power and enjoyed respect. The antiquity of the roots of the Kozlov family (the origin of the family name, we repeat, is related to the period preceding the birth of the Christian faith) is confirmed by the census registry of All Russia that existed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The sovereign in custody had a special list of table and sweet surnames, which were "issued" to especially distinguished themselves as rewards. Researchers consider the Kozlov surname to be unique, retaining an individual, original beginning.
