What's Up with the Sky?

So far we have encountered a lot of Russian names ending in "sky." Dostoevsky, Chernyshevsky, Petrashevsky, etc. I felt the need to research the origins of this iconic ending. Unfortunately, I was unable to find very much concrete information. What I did find was that "sky" is more like an adjective suffix. The ending can also be interpreted as a possessive marker. Names with the "sky" ending are more associated with the Western parts of European Russia, Polish heritage, and to some extent, higher social class background. I also read that it is commonly believed "sky" is a Jewish surname. It turns out that Dostoevsky stood up for the rights of Jews and supported equal rights for the Russian Jewish population--considered to be an unpopular position in Russia. I just thought this was kind of an interesting connection!