Potemkin (Russian: Потёмкин, Potyomkin; or Potyomkina/Potemkina Feminine; Потёмкина) is a Russian surname which derives from the word Потёмка Potyomka meaning "dark"[citation needed]. Persons bearing the name Potemkin rose to prominence in Muscovy from the 16th century onwards. Notable people with the surname include:
- Alexander Potemkin (1675–1746), Russian nobleman, father of Grigory.
- Alexandr Mikhailovich Potemkin (1787—1872), Russian nobleman and army officer.
- Grigory Potemkin (1739–1791), statesman and paramour of Czarina Catherina.
- Károly Potemkin (born 1977), Hungarian football player.
- Pavel Potemkin (1743–1796), Russian diplomat and military commander, cousin of Grigory Potemkin.
- Peter Potemkin (1886–1926), Russian chess master.
- Pyotr Potemkin (1617–1700), Russian diplomat and voivode.
- Tatiana Borisovna Potemkina (1797—1869), Russian noblewoman and philanthropist.
- Valeriya Reznik (born Valeriya Potemkina during 1985), Russian short-track speed-skater.
- Vladimir Potemkin (1874–1946), Soviet Russian diplomatic and academic