Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2018 May 15

= May 15 =

Etymology of the name Potemkin?
It is the name of a famous Russian. The name may have derived from a locality. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:2FC0:F:1E6:A4D0:891B:E602 (talk) 11:08, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Is there something at the Wikipedia article titled Potemkin (surname) that needs further explanation? -- Jayron 32 11:44, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
 * The Potyomkins were a Russian noble family. The Russian-language article says they claimed descent from the Polish Pankiewicz noble family but further down it mentions (confusingly) one Jan-Hans Potępski as the (fictional) founder. Here are some other putative etymologies of the name (also in Russian.) None seem to involve the name of a locality. 78.51.143.228 (talk) 15:27, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
 * The Pankiewicz thing in the RuWiki article is unsourced and I can't google it up outside it. 78.51.143.228 (talk) 15:52, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
 * It was added there a year ago as an unregistered user's one and only edit, and was likely a prank. I've now reverted his edit. --My another account (talk) 06:49, 16 May 2018 (UTC)

I don't read Russian, so thank you. The wiki article (which simply says "dark") also helped, thanks.2604:2000:2FC0:F:1E6:A4D0:891B:E602 (talk) 23:42, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I think Potemkin is from Потёмкин, from потёмки (darkness), from по- (a comparative or delimitative prefix) + тёмный (dark), from Proto-Slavic *tьmьnъ, + -ка (diminutive suffix) + -ин (possessive suffix). The word тёмный is somewhat tentative, because it could possibly be the closely related темень instead. —Stephen (talk) 01:24, 17 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You are entirely correct, but I don't understand one part: what does "somewhat tentative" means? Both тёмный and темень are from the same root *tьma (Rus. тьма). Maybe you meant something else?--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk)

A citation from Ганжина И. М. Словарь современных русских фамилий (~Dictionary of contemporary Russian surnames): Потёмин, Потёмкин. В основе фамилий лежат прозвища или нехристианские имена Потёма, Потёмка. Такое имя могли дать ребёнку, родившемуся ночью (от нарицательного потёмок — «ночь, поздние сумерки, темнота»). Прозвища могли происходить и от диалектного потёма — «скрытный человек». That roughly means the surname came from the nicknames Potyoma, Potyomka that were given to a child born at twilight or at night. Or they may mean "a secretive man".--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 13:14, 18 May 2018 (UTC)