Kazakh Surnames

Kazakh surnames need to be read within the full personal name and the record that preserves it. A familiar ending can explain a naming pattern without establishing a person’s ethnicity or connecting two families.

Personal Names and Surname Formation

Madieva and Tayeva’s study distinguishes older identifications through ancestors, clans, and places from twentieth-century surname practice. It describes Russian-style surnames alongside Kazakh forms using -uly, -qyzy, -tegi, or no suffix, and examines changes during 1990–2012. These are historical patterns, not a rule that every family followed the same sequence. See sections 2.2–2.3.

The individual entry for Nazarbayev examines a surname derived from the personal name Nazarbay. When investigating your own family, establish which generation used a name as a given name and which passed it on as a surname. An isolated occurrence cannot answer both questions.

Endings and Transcription

Ivar Utne describes masculine -ov, -ev, -in and feminine -ova, -eva, -ina surname forms, alongside patronymics in -uly and -qyzy. Latin transcriptions can differ, including -ev/-yev/-jev. Preserve the source spelling before normalizing an index entry. See the University of Bergen naming guide.

Following a Family Through Records

Record the complete name, date, locality, relatives, and name-field labels from each document. Compare these together before deciding that different spellings represent the same person. A change in a surname field deserves investigation even when the rest of the name looks familiar.

For an archival inquiry, identify the event or institution as precisely as possible. Kazakhstan’s official portal describes requests for archival certificates, copies, and extracts, including possible referral to another archive or a finding that documents are not held. Consult the archival service page.

The guide to distinguishing given names from surnames and surname evidence checklist help organize that comparison. Keep a family tradition as a research lead until records substantiate the relationships it describes.

References

• Madieva, Gulmira B., and Roza M. Tayeva. “The Evolution of the Kazakh Surnames: ‘For’ and ‘Against’”. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 116 (2014): 4798–4802, sections 2.2–2.3. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1027.
• Utne, Ivar. “Navn i Kasakhstan”. University of Bergen, first posted 6 May 2007; webpage dated 10 June 2022, surname and transcription sections.
• Electronic Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. “Архивтік анықтамаларын беру” [Issuance of Archival Certificates]. Undated; accessed 7 September 2026.