Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Russian : alternative spelling of Romanov, a patronymic from the personal name Roman.
  • Jewish (American) : shortened form of Romanowski.
  • Jewish (Romanov; from Belarus) : habitational name from the town Romanovo, now in Belarus.
  • The Romanov dynasty began its rule of Russia in 1613 with Michael Romanov (d. 1645), and ended with the execution of Nicholas II and his family at Yekaterinburg in July 1918. The family were descended from a Muscovite boyar, Andrei Kobyla, who had emigrated in the 14th century from Prussia. They took the name from Roman Yurievich (d. 1543), whose daughter Anastasia Romanovna was the first wife of Ivan the Terrible. Her brother Nikita was regent after Ivan’s death, and after years of disorder Nikita’s grandson Michael Romanov was elected czar in 1613.