The name 'Zhuk' has ancient Ukrainian origins and is a personal household name that arose from the name of a hard-shelled insect. It can also be used metaphorically to mean 'sly person.' The earliest mentions of this name date back to the 15th century. For example, in archival documents, one can find records such as: - Zhuk Fedorovych, Zhuk Kuryinets (Archive of the South-Western Region, XVII/4, pages 277, 353);- 1453: Nicolaus alias Żuk (AGZ XIV, 2989);- 1552: Żuk a Czapik Kowalewicz (OLZ, 180);- 1552: Zhuk Matrun (OKZ, 116);- 1564: Zhuk Kunyts (LLS, 362);- 1564: Żuk Kochan, Żuk Bobrownik (LLS, 337, 546);- 1649: Vasyl Zhuk (R, 267). From the 16th century in Ukraine, patronyms also began to form from the name Zhuk, for example, the Cossack of the Uman regiment in 1649 Fedor Zhukovych (RVZ, 220). Other records include:- 1565: Żuczkowicz (OKZR III, 15);- 1596: Zhuchonko (Archive of the South-Western Region III/1, 90);- 1649: Ivan Zhuchok (R, 97). Since 1417, there has also been a village named Zhukovo located near the city of Mukachevo in Transcarpathia. In the 16th century, the name Zhuk was also common in the southern regions of Belarus, particularly in the city of Mozyr, where such instances are recorded:- Zhuk Fenyevich (OMZ, 638);- 1528: Deshko a Zhuk Nesterovichi;- 1539: Zhuk Ivanovich;- 1540: Zhuk Yatsutich Kobtsevich;- 1564: Zhuk Senyutich, Savko a Zhuk Rasevich;- 1570: Zhuk Korchmytovich (Bir, 214).
