On the Origin of the Surname Korelskiy (Karelskiy)

The surname Korelsky (Karelsky) is particularly common in settlements in the central and northwestern parts of the Arkhangelsk region (Primorsky and Kholmogory districts). Several thousand people have this surname. Traditionally, the origin of the surname is associated with the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery, located at the mouth of the Northern Dvina. However, an analysis of the surname’s distribution points primarily to the monastic villages of the Siya Monastery of St Antonius. The surname’s most densely populated area is the lower Northern Dvina region (an area of fishing grounds, saltworks and monastery estates). It is here, according to historical sources from the 17th c., that Korelians — refugees from the Korelsky district — are recorded. The surname arose independently in various settlements of the Arkhangelsk region, beginning in the 16th c., to designate the descendants of recent settlers from the Korelsky district. Consequently, the surname did not indicate that its bearers were peasants belonging to the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery or that they had migrated from any more western territories, as had been previously assumed. Karelians arrived in the same areas in various waves of migration, from the 13th to the late 18th c. The Korelian settlers spoke the Karelian language (specifically, Karelian Proper), as clearly demonstrated by toponyms of Karelian origin. The places from which these Karelians originated — Korelsky Uyezd and Lopsky Pogosts (Voynitsa, Reboly, Liperi) — can be identified from written sources and based on the transfer of place names. The transition to Russian was gradual (as evidenced by semi-calques) and was not completed until the first half of the 18th century. The memory of Karelian origins may have persisted until the late 19th c. in areas of compact settlement, and the phonetic features of Russian dialectal speech, influenced by the Karelian language, persisted until the early 20th c.