Abashev

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Abashev (Abasheva for females) is a Russian surname. Variants include Abashenko, Abashin/Abashina, Abashkin/Abashkina, Abashichev/Abashicheva, Abashkov/Abashkova, and Abashurov/Abashurova.

There are two main theories about its origins. One theory says the name comes from nicknames Abash or Abasha (with diminutives Abashka, Abashko, Abashur) and a patronymic Abashich. These nicknames may be of Russian or Turkic origin. In Russian, the nickname could be related to the dialect word abo (meaning “or/if only”) with the -ash- suffix. The Turkic origin is considered more plausible, from the root aba meaning “uncle on the father’s side,” plus a diminutive suffix -š.

A second theory links Abashin/Abashkin to the Christian male name Avvakum.