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ArchivesWhat is the origin and meaning of this last name?
Hi.
I've recently come across the seemingly-unusual and interesting-looking last name "Sytch", and was wondering what it meant and where it came from. I first heard of it as the last name of some wrestling figure, and then as the name of Maxim Sytch, a professor at the University of Michigan. Following up the second lead led me to their CV, which showed they attended a Russian university as their first university, seeming to suggest that maybe this name is Russian in origin. I also found out there's a road in England called Sytch Lane, which suggests an English origin for the name. I then found a limited Google Book snippet preview of a book titled "The place-names of Shropshire", suggesting this is/was used as the place-name of a stream, but the nearby U. library where I live at does not carry this book, so I'm not able to read the complete entry in the book now (I suppose I could have it loaned from another library, though). Nor do I know if the surname and the place-name listed there are the same, though it seems feasible.
Do any of you have any ideas? Thanks.
I've recently come across the seemingly-unusual and interesting-looking last name "Sytch", and was wondering what it meant and where it came from. I first heard of it as the last name of some wrestling figure, and then as the name of Maxim Sytch, a professor at the University of Michigan. Following up the second lead led me to their CV, which showed they attended a Russian university as their first university, seeming to suggest that maybe this name is Russian in origin. I also found out there's a road in England called Sytch Lane, which suggests an English origin for the name. I then found a limited Google Book snippet preview of a book titled "The place-names of Shropshire", suggesting this is/was used as the place-name of a stream, but the nearby U. library where I live at does not carry this book, so I'm not able to read the complete entry in the book now (I suppose I could have it loaned from another library, though). Nor do I know if the surname and the place-name listed there are the same, though it seems feasible.
Do any of you have any ideas? Thanks.
This message was edited 9/3/2013, 4:54 AM
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Replies
The forename Maxim suggests a Russian origin.
There is a Russian word in the dictionary, сыч, which I think would be pronounced Syitch. It's meaning is given as "horned owl" in one dictionary, as "little owl" in another. Perhaps a surname from a nickname, if it is a surname?
On the other hand Reaney's "Dictionary of English Surnames" lists Sitch as a surname with the meaning you give, a word for a stream.
There is a Russian word in the dictionary, сыч, which I think would be pronounced Syitch. It's meaning is given as "horned owl" in one dictionary, as "little owl" in another. Perhaps a surname from a nickname, if it is a surname?
On the other hand Reaney's "Dictionary of English Surnames" lists Sitch as a surname with the meaning you give, a word for a stream.
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