Bagniuk

This Ukrainian - Slavonic surname is in fact of Old French origins, which itself was a "borrow" from the Roman (Latin) "balnea." The word meant originally a public bath, and the surname was a metonymic for a keeper of the baths. The surname is found in many countries in the form of Bain, Baynes, (Scottish) Bein, Beyn, (German) Bagni, (Italy) Banos, (Spain) etc. In the case of Bagniuk we have a characteristic "slavonic" suffix usually "ak" but often "uk" which can be diminutive i.e. Son of Bagni or Little Bagni, but in this case the name being job descriptive the suffix has the more general meaning of " who is associated with Bagni." One of the interesting points in regard to this name is that it is usual today to regard people of the pre medieval period as being dirty and unwashed. This was clearly not so, as is forecibly demonstrated by the comparative popularity of this surname of many variants. It is true that some name holders will have developed from the pre 9th century "beinn" - a nickname for a happy and cheerful person, whether this would apply to the Ukraine "Bagniuk" is arguable. Examples include the following all of the same family and from the same town - David Bagnyuk, son of Ilya Vasiliev Bagnyuk, christened at Ovadno, Ukraine in 1838, (we regret actual dates are not recorded) and on December 11th 1841, Anna, the daughter of Ilya Vasiliev and Petrova (maiden name not recorded) was also christened at the same place. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ilya Bagnyuk, which was dated July 1st 1806, christened at Ovadno, Ukraine, during the reign of Czar Alexander 1 of Russia 1801 - 1825. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.