Rod (Slovenian, Croatian: Rod, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian Cyrillic: Род, Ukrainian Cyrillic: Рід), in the pre-Christian religion of Eastern and Southern Slavs, is the god of the family, ancestors and fate, perhaps as the supreme god. Among Southern Slavs, he is also known as Sud ("(the) Judge"). He is usually mentioned together with Rožanice deities (among Southern Slavs, the Sudzenitsy). One's first haircut (postriziny) was dedicated to him, in a celebration in which he and the rozhanitsy were given a meal and the cut hair. His cult lost its importance through time, and in the ninth or tenth century he was replaced by Perun, Svarog and/or Svantovit, which explains his absence in the pantheon of Vladimir the Great.Rod's name is confirmed in Old Church Slavonic and Old East Slavic sources about pre-Christian Slavic religion. The name is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *Rodъ, meaning "family", "birth", "origin", "clan", but also "yield", "harvest", and this word is in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wréh₂ds "root".[5] Aleksander Brückner also notes the similarity of the name to the Avestan word rada-, meaning "guardian", "keeper".
Rod's name is confirmed in Old Church Slavonic and Old East Slavic sources about pre-Christian Slavic religion. The name is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *Rodъ, meaning "family", "birth", "origin", "clan", but also "yield", "harvest", and this word is in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wréh₂ds "root".[5] Aleksander Brückner also notes the similarity of the name to the Avestan word rada-, meaning "guardian", "keeper".