Surname Saturday: Tomelin

Luchenia (Tomelin) Demosky, centre, holding her son George, with her parents 

Nick and Maria (Terichow) Tomelin, sitting, about 1912.

My husband’s paternal grandmother was Luchenia Tomelin (1885-1960).

Luchenia, sometimes known as Lukeria or Lucy, was born in 1885 in the Russian Empire. As a young teenager, she, her parents, siblings and close relatives immigrated to Canada from Russia in 1899, travelling on the S.S. Lake Huron. [1] I recently wrote about this experience here.

The standard spelling for Tomelin is Tomilin. English spelling variations include Tamelin, Tameelin, Tamilin, Tomelin, and Tomlin. [2]

Tomilin is a patronymic surname, derived from Tomila, a man’s name. [3]

According to the Doukhobor Genealogy Website, Doukhobors surnamed Tomilin “originated from the province of Tambov, Russia in the 18th century”. [4]

By 1905 in Canada, Tomilin families lived in Doukhobor villages in the South Colony in Kamsack District, the Good Spirit Lake Annex in Buchanan District, and the Blaine Lake District in Saskatchewan District, all in the province of Saskatchewan. [5]

Sources:

1. “Passenger Lists for the Port of Quebec City, 1865-1900”, digital images, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/passenger-lists/passenger-lists-quebec-port-1865-1900/Pages/introduction.aspx : accessed 28 March 2014), manifest, S.S. Lake Huron, 21 June 1899, p. 24 (penned), entry no. 1445, Lukeria Tomilin [sic], age 13.

2. “Origin and Meaning of Doukhobor Surnames”, Doukhobor Genealogy Website (http://www.doukhobor.org/Surnames.htm : accessed 2 June 2014), entry for Tomilin.

3. “Origin and Meaning of Doukhobor Surnames”, Doukhobor Genealogy Website, entry for Tomilin.

4. “Origin and Meaning of Doukhobor Surnames”, Doukhobor Genealogy Website, entry for Tomilin.

5. “Village-Surname Index for the 1905 Doukhobor Census”, Doukhobor Genealogy Website (http://www.doukhobor.org/SK-Villages-Families.htm : accessed 2 June 2014).

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.