Abashev

Abashev (Russian: Аба́шев; masculine) or Abasheva (Аба́шева; feminine) is a Russian last name.[1] Variants of this last name include Abashenko (Абаше́нко), Abashin/Abashina (Аба́шин/Аба́шина), Abashkin/Abashkina (Аба́шкин/Аба́шкина), Abashichev/Abashicheva (Аба́шичев/Аба́шичева), Abashkov/Abashkova (Аба́шков/Аба́шкова), and Abashurov/Abashurova (Абашу́ров/Абашу́рова).[1]

There are two theories regarding the origins of these last names.[1] The first one relates them to nicknames "Абаш" (Abash) and "Абаша" (Abasha), the diminutive forms of which are "Абашка" (Abashka), "Абашко" (Abashko), and "Абашур" (Abashur).[1] Patronymic "Абашич" (Abashich) is also derived from these nicknames.[1] The nickname itself has either Russian or Turkic origins.[1] In Russian, it could have been given to people who overused the dialectal Russian word "або" (abo; meaning or, if only, so that)—in this case the suffix "-аш-" (-ash-) is a standard means of forming a name.[1] The Turkic origin theory is more plausible and traces the nickname to the Turkic root "aba" (meaning an uncle on the father's side), to which diminutive suffix "-š" was added.[1]

The other theory traces these last names, in particular Abashin and Abashkin,[2] to the Christian male first name Avvakum.[1]

People with the last name

• Natalya Abasheva, wife of Boris Stark, Russian missionary and priest
• Timur Abashev, member of the Russian team participating in Men's 4x7.5 km relay during the Biathlon European Championships 2007
• Vladimir Abashev (b. 1954), Russian philologist