The book of the famous Slavic linguist B.O. Unbegaun analyzes the history of appearance, morphological structure and etymology of surnames. The study is of a reference nature, it contains detailed information not only about Russian surnames, but also about the surnames of other peoples living in the USSR, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Armenian, Georgian, etc. Written in a simple and clear language, the book has a high scientific level and will arouse interest not only among philological scientists, but also among the widest range of readers.