Recorded in several forms including Telega, Teliga,Teligin and Telezhkin, this is an Eastern European (mainly Russian and Ukraine) surname of possibly Roman (Latin) origins. The base form is 'teliga' meaning a waggon, and as such it was originally job descriptive either for a carter or transport contractor, or possibly for a maker of waggons and carts. Curiously the surname was also used in ancient times as a personal or baptismal name, as the diminutive spelling of 'Telezhkin' translates as 'Little Waggon' or 'Son of Waggon'. Occupational surnames were amongst the first to used in the 12th century and later. They did not however become hereditary until or in the event of, the son or sometimes the grandson, continuing the fathers trade. We have great difficulty in providing recordings for Eastern European surnames, particulary in those countries which suffered from seventy years of a Communist Regime. Firstly almost all the original church registers of births, deaths and marriages, were lost or deliberately destroyed along with the churches themselves, and as yet the civil registers that (sometimes) replaced them have not been properly researched. Secondly the majority of registers are in anycase written in Cyrillic script, and require in addition, translation to Romanish before they can be made generally available in the West.

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