They initially denoted the differences between various people living in the same town or village and bearing the same name.
The conventions were similar to those of English surnames, using occupations, patronymic descent, geographic origins, or personal characteristics.
Belarusian surnames, like those in most of Europe, are hereditary and generally patrilineal, i.e., passed from the father on to his children.
One very large group of surnames end with the common Slavonic suffixes -vič (wicz) and -ič (icz) (Daškievič, Šuškievič, Vajciuškievič, Mackievič, Mickievič, Misilevič) or -cki and -ski (feminine form -ckaja and -skaja: Navicki, Kalinoŭski, Pilecki, Rusiecki, Sadoŭski, Caŭłoŭski, Bialaŭski).
One common suffix in surnames is -čuk (Ramančuk, Kačuk, Kavalčuk) or its simplified versions -iuk and -juk (Maliuk, Masiuk).