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Help[Surname] Farion
Iryna Farion (Ірина Фаріон) was a Ukrainian far-tight nationalist politician. The first time I heard of her, the last name confused me. It doesn't sound Eastern European at all. I looked it up on forebears, and it said most bearers live in France, though about the same in Poland. The next highest was Russia. It seems to be a rare last name. Where does this last name originate from, and what does it mean?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iryna_Farion
https://forebears.io/surnames/farion
Wikipedia article in Ukrainian
https://uk.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%96%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%86%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%94%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%80%D1%96%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iryna_Farion
https://forebears.io/surnames/farion
Wikipedia article in Ukrainian
https://uk.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%96%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%86%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%94%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%80%D1%96%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0
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Given its distribution, I would guess that it has different origins in multiple languages. The only highly reliable source I can find is in Polish where it seems to come from two different dialectal sources - a term meaning "lightning" and another one for a type of wedding rite. Source: https://nazwiska.ijp.pan.pl/haslo/print/name/FARION
The Polish name may share an etymology with the Ukrainian one. According to the Ukrainian Wikipedia page https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Фаріон_(прізвище)# there was a hamlet in the Lviv region called Fariony (Фаріони) which (based on its form) likely received its name from its inhabitants. The Forebears map also shows this surname mainly coming from the Lviv region as well. The Lviv region also borders the Subcarpathian and Lublin regions of Poland which are the main sources of the Polish surname.
Given Farion's dispersion on the Russian map on Forebears (with no single region having any significant numbers nor numbers significantly higher than the other), my theory is that it only spread to Russia from Ukraine or Poland during the various periods of Russian expansion.
As for the French surname, I could find no sources about it so I can only speculate. The most plausible origin I can come up with is that the ending -ion (which can be a variant of -on) signifies a diminutive or a demonym. While this opens up many different possibilities, one that stands out to me is the Germanic term 'fara' which means "family" or "family residence" and is the ultimate source of the Fare and La Fare surnames as well as several place names in France and possibly an ancient given name. See https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fare for more.
The Polish name may share an etymology with the Ukrainian one. According to the Ukrainian Wikipedia page https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Фаріон_(прізвище)# there was a hamlet in the Lviv region called Fariony (Фаріони) which (based on its form) likely received its name from its inhabitants. The Forebears map also shows this surname mainly coming from the Lviv region as well. The Lviv region also borders the Subcarpathian and Lublin regions of Poland which are the main sources of the Polish surname.
Given Farion's dispersion on the Russian map on Forebears (with no single region having any significant numbers nor numbers significantly higher than the other), my theory is that it only spread to Russia from Ukraine or Poland during the various periods of Russian expansion.
As for the French surname, I could find no sources about it so I can only speculate. The most plausible origin I can come up with is that the ending -ion (which can be a variant of -on) signifies a diminutive or a demonym. While this opens up many different possibilities, one that stands out to me is the Germanic term 'fara' which means "family" or "family residence" and is the ultimate source of the Fare and La Fare surnames as well as several place names in France and possibly an ancient given name. See https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fare for more.
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Thank you!
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I updated it. I split it into two surnames, Polish/Ukrainian usage and French usage since they're very likely unrelated. The Polish and Ukrainian one is also marked as Rusyn (?) since one of the possible derivations is from a Hutsul Rusyn dialectal word.
https://surnames.behindthename.com/name/farion/submitted
https://surnames.behindthename.com/name/farion/submitted
This message was edited 12/29/2024, 9:09 PM
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The surname Farion seems to have multiple possible influences but is not common in traditional Ukrainian onomastics. Its French connections might hint at a history of migration or cultural influence from Western Europe. It’s worth noting that surname origins can be complex and may not always conform to typical patterns in the culture where they are now found.
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