Eastern Slavic naming customs

This article gives the general understanding of naming conventions in the Russian language as well as in languages affected by Russian linguistic tradition. First of all, this regards modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. For exact rules, differences and historical changes, see respective languages and linguistics-related articles.

It is obligatory for people to have three names: a given name, a patronymic, and a family name (surname). They are generally presented in that order, although the patronymic is sometimes omitted, just as English middle name or names are usually omitted. This ordering is not as strict as in other languages, and in certain formal cases (especially when the names are to be sorted, which is almost universally done in surname first order) the surname comes first.

Given first name

As with most Western cultures, a person has a given name chosen by the parents. The given name comes first, the surname last, e.g. Владимир Путин (Vladimir Putin), where "Vladimir" is a first name and "Putin" is a family name.

First names in East-Slavic languages mostly originate from two sources: Orthodox church tradition and native pre-Christian (pagan) lexicons.

Common male first names

Иван (Ivan, equivalent to John)
Николай (Nikolay or Nicolai, equivalent to Nicholas)
Борис (Boris, a pre-Christian Slavic diminutive of Borislav, meaning "Fighter for Glory")
Владимир (Vladimir, a pre-Christian Slavic name meaning "the Lord of the World")
Пётр (Petr, equivalent to Peter)
Андрей (Andrey or Andrei, equivalent to Andrew)
Александр (Aleksandr, equivalent to Alexander)
Дмитрий (Dmitry or Dmitriy, of Greek origin)
Сергей (Sergey or Sergei, of Latin origin)
Алексей (Aleksey or Alexei, of Greek origin)
Виктор (Viktor or Victor, of Latin origin)
Юрий (Yuri, equivalent to George)
Павел (Pavel, equivalent to Paul)
Константин (Konstantin, of Latin origin)

Common female first names

Елена (Yelena, equivalent to Helen)
Наталья (Natalya, equivalent to Natalie)
Мария (Mariya, equivalent to Mary)
Ольга (Ol'ga, a pre-Christian name derived from Varangian Helga)
Александра (Aleksandra, equivalent to Alexandra)
Оксана (Oksana, the most widespread Ukrainian female name)
Ксения (Kseniya, from Greek Xenia)
Екатерина (Yekaterina, equivalent to Catherine)
Татьяна (Tatyana or Tatiana)
Анастасия (Anastasiya, of Greek origin)
Светлана (Svetlana, a pre-Christian Slavic name meaning "Shining One")
Юлия (Yulia, equivalent to Julia or Julie)

Diminutive forms

Diminutive forms (e.g. Tony for Anthony in English) exist for almost every popular name. Some common names and their diminutive forms are:

Aleksandr (Александр) - Sasha (Саша), Sanya (Саня), Shura (Шура), Alik (Алик)
Aleksandra (Александрa) - Sasha (Саша), Sanya (Саня), Shura (Шура)
Aleksey (Алексей) - Alyosha (Алёша), Lyosha (Лёша), Lyokha (Лёха)
Anastasiya (Анастасия) - Nastya (Настя), Asya (Ася), Stasya (Стася)
Anatoliy (Анатолий) - Tolya (Толя)
Anna (Анна) - Anya (Аня)
Boris (Борис) - Borya (Боря)
Dar'ya (Дарья) - Dasha (Даша)
Dmitriy (Дмитрий) - Dima (Дима), Mitya (Митя)
Galina (Галина) - Galya (Галя)
Gennadiy (Геннадий) - Gena (Гена)
Grigoriy (Григорий) - Grisha (Гриша)
Irina (Ирина) - Ira (Ира)
Ivan (Иван) - Vanya (Ваня)
Konstantin (Константин) - Kostya (Костя)
Kseniya (Ксения) - Ksyusha (Ксюша)
Larisa (Лариса) - Lara (Лара)
Leonid (Леонид) - Lyonya (Лёня)
Lev (Лев) - Lyova (Лёва)
Lidiya (Лидия) - Lida (Лида)
Lyubov' (Любовь) - Lyuba (Люба)
Lyudmila (Людмила) - Lyuda (Люда), Lyusya (Люся)
Mariya (Мария) - Masha (Маша)
Mikhail (Михаил) - Misha (Миша)
Nadezhda (Надежда) - Nadya (Надя)
Natal'ya (Наталья) - Natasha (Наташа)
Nikolay (Николай) - Kolya (Коля)
Ol'ga (Ольга) - Olya (Оля)
Oleg (Олег) - Alik (Алик)
Pavel (Павел) - Pasha (Паша)
Polina (Полина) - Polya (Поля)
Pyotr (Пётр) - Petya (Петя)
Roman (Роман) - Roma (Рома)
Sergey (Сергей) - Seryozha (Серёжа)
Sof'ya (Софья) - Sonya (Соня)
Svetlana (Светлана) - Sveta (Света)
Tamara (Тамара) - Toma (Тома)
Tat'yana (Татьяна) - Tanya (Таня)
Valentin/Valentina (Валентин/Валентина) - Valya (Валя)
Vasiliy (Василий) - Vasya (Вася)
Viktor (Виктор) - Vitya (Витя)
Viktoriya (Виктория) - Vika (Вика)
Vladimir (Владимир) - Volodya (Володя), Vova (Вова)
Vyacheslav (Вячеслав) - Slava (Слава)
Yakov (Яков) - Yasha (Яша)
Yelena (Елена) - Lena (Лена)
Yelizaveta (Елизавета) - Liza (Лиза)
Yekaterina (Екатерина) - Katya (Катя), Katyusha (Катюша)
Yevdokiya (Евдокия) - Dusya (Дуся)
Yevgeniy/Yevgeniya (Евгений/Евгения) - Zhenya (Женя)
Yuliya (Юлия) - Yulya (Юля)
Yuriy (Юрий) - Yura (Юра)

Most of names have several diminutive forms (e.g. Aleksey - Alyosha or Lyosha). Some diminutive forms can include colloquial variants (e.g.: Vanya - Van'ka, Alyosha - Lyokha or Alyoshka, Sasha - Sashka, etc.). Diminutive forms of feminine names mainly have either an "a" or "я" ("ya") ending (e.g.: Kseniya - Ksyusha, Mariya - Masha, Yekaterina - Katya, Ol'ga - Olya). The distinguishing feature of diminutive forms of Russian names is superlative, which represents the "-еньк" " ("-yen'k") suffix (e.g. Kolya - Kolen'ka, Sasha - Sashen'ka, Masha - Mashen'ka)

Patronymic

The patronymic of a person is based on the first name of his or her father and is written in all documents. If it is mentioned, it always follows the first name. A suffix (meaning either "son of" or "daughter of") is added to the father's given name—in modern times, males use -ович -ovich, while females use -овна -ovna. If the suffix is being appended to a name ending in й (y) or a soft consonant, the initial o becomes a ye (-евич -yevich and -евна -yevna). There are also a few exceptions to this pattern; for example, the son of Ilya is always Ilyich, not Ilyevich.

Historically, the -ovich (-ovna) form was reserved for the Russian aristocracy, while commoners had to use -in, -yn, -ov, -ev, etc. (for a son; e.g., Boris Alekseev, Dmitri Kuzmin) and -eva, -ova, -ina, etc. (for a daughter; e.g., Sofiya Alekseeva, Anastasiya Kuzmina). Over time, the -ovich (-ovna) form spread to commoners favored by the tsar, high-ranking bureaucrats, and during the 19th century, to all segments of Russian society.

As an example, the patronymic name of Soviet leader Никита Сергеевич Хрущёв (Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev) indicates that his father was named Сергей (Sergey). Similarly, the patronymic name of Светлана Иосифовна Сталина (Svetlana Iosifovna Stalina) indicates that her father was named Иосиф (Iosif) (in this case, Iosif (Joseph) Stalin).

The first name followed by the patronymic, without the family name, is used as a formal or respectful form of address. In the media, highly respected persons (e.g. leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia) are sometimes mentioned using their full names (first name + patronymic + family name).

There is also a special "patronymic-only" form of address used only among very close friends. In this form, a diminutive variant of the patronymic is usually used, with -ovich becoming -ych. For example, if Vasiliy Ivanovich Chapayev is a good friend of ours, we can call him just "Иваныч" (Ivan[ov]ich).

When translating Russian-style names into English, it is important to remember that the patronymic is not equivalent to an English middle name, and follows different abbreviation conventions. The patronymic can be omitted (e.g. Vladimir Putin or V. Putin); both the first name and the patronymic can be written out in full (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin); or both the first name and the patronymic can be abbreviated (V. V. Putin). However, writing out the first name and abbreviating the patronymic (e.g. Vladimir V. Putin) is not correct.[1]

Family name (surname)

Surnames, like Путин (Putin), Ельцин (Yel'tsin) or Горбачёв (Gorbachyov), generally function in the same way that English surnames do. They are generally inherited from one's parents, although (as with English names) women may adopt the surname of their husband or (very rarely) vice versa. Another uncommon practice is creating a double surname (for example, Mr. Ivanov and Ms. Petrova in their marriage may take surnames Ivanov-Petrov and Ivanova-Petrova, respectively). Grammatically, most Russian surnames are possessive adjectives; the surnames-nouns (Lebed' - literally "the swan") or attributive adjectives (Tolstoy - literally "thick" in an archaic form) are infrequent, they are mainly adopted from other languages. The surnames ended with -ov, -ev, -in are short forms of possessive adjectives, the ones ended with -sky are full forms. As all Russian adjectives, they have different forms depending on gender—for example, the wife of Борис Ельцин (Boris Yel'tsin) is Наина Ельцина (Naina Yel'tsina). Note that this change of grammatical gender is a characteristic of Slavic languages, and is not considered to be changing the name received from a woman's father or husband (compare the equivalent rule in Czech or Polish). The correct transliteration of such feminine names in English is debated: sometimes women's names are given in their original form, sometimes in the masculine form (technically incorrect, but more widely recognized).

Russian surnames usually end with -ov (-ova for female); -ev (-eva); -in (-ina); -skiy (-skaya). Ukrainian surnames generally end with -enko, -ko, -uk, and -ych (these endings do not change based on gender). The ending -iy (-ya) is common in both Russia and Ukraine.

The majority of Russian surnames are produced from personal names (Sergeyev - Sergey's son; Vasilyev - Vasiliy's son etc.). Many surnames originate from names of animals and birds (Lebedev - Swan's Son; Korovin - Cow's Son etc.) which have long ago been used as additional personal names. Many other surnames have their origin in people's professions and crafts (Kuznetsov - Smith's son). In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries -off has been commonly used in place of -ov when spelling Russian surnames in foreign languages (Smirnoff).

A comparison between Russian and other names

In the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian languages, non-Slavic patronymics and surnames may also be changed according to the above-mentioned rules. This is widespread in naming people of ethnic minorities and citizens of Central Asian or Caucasian republics of the former Soviet Union, especially if a person is a permanent resident and speaks the local language. E.g. Irina Hakamada, a popular Russian politician whose father was Japanese, has a patronymic "Mutsuovna" (strange-sounding in Russian) since her father's first name was Mutsuo.

Bruno Pontecorvo, after he emigrated to the USSR, was known as Бруно Максимович Понтекорво (Bruno Maksimovich Pontekorvo) in the Russian scientific community, because his father's given name was Massimo (corresponding to Russian Максим (Maksim)). Pontecorvo's sons have been known by names Джиль Брунович Понтекорво, Антонио Брунович Понтекорво and Тито Брунович Понтекорво (Dzhil/Gil Brunovich, Antonio Brunovich, Tito Brunovich Pontekorvo).

In several Tom Clancy novels, Sergei Nicolayevich Golovko calls his American counterpart, John Patrick Ryan, "Ivan Emmetovich," because his father was Emmet Ryan: as an Irish-American, Ryan had not had a patronymic before. Golovko and Ryan had known each other since they were junior intelligence officers and had later become directors of their respective foreign intelligence agencies. Each respected the other as a "worthy adversary," who played their often-deadly game according to mutually-understood rules; after years, they became friends.

However, such conversion of foreign names is unofficial and optional in many cases of communication and translation.

Exceptions for some post-Soviet countries

In the local languages of the non-Slavic CIS countries, Russian rules for patronymics were either never used or abandoned after gaining independence. Some Turkic languages, however, also use patronimics, formed using the Turkic word meaning 'son' or 'daughter'. For example, Kazakh ұлы (ûlâ; transcribed into English as -uly, as in Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev) or Azeri oğlu (as in Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev); Kazakh қызы (transcribed into English as -qyzy, as in Dariga Nursultanqyzy Nazarbayeva).

Some surnames in those languages have been russified since the 19th century and remain so; e.g. the surname of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev has a Russian "-yev" suffix, which literally means "of Nazar-bay" (where "bay" is an archaic native noble rank). This surname russification practice is not common, varying greatly by country.

Some ethnic groups use more than one name, one official, another unofficial. Official names are made with Russian patronymics, unofficial names are noble or tribal names, which were prohibited after the revolution. After the fall of the Soviet Union, some people returned to using these tribal or noble names as surnames (e.g Sarah Naiman — a Kazakhstan singer, whose surname means that she is from Naimans). Some people changed their surnames to an Arabic style (e.g. Tungyshbay Zhamankulov — famous Kazakhstan actor who often plays role of Khans in movies, changed his name to Tungyshbay al-Tarazy).

Note that news and other information regarding CIS states is frequently written in Russian (and then translated to English) with names using the Russian patronymics, regardless of the person's preference or common usage.

Early Soviet Union

During the days of revolutionary enthusiasm, as part of the campaign to get rid of "bourgeois culture", there was a drive to invent new, "revolutionary" names. This produced a large number of Soviet people with bizarre names. Commonly the source were initialisms, as "Vil", "Vilen(a)", "Vladlen(a)" and "Vladilen(a)" for Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. A common suffix was -or, after the October Revolution as seen in "Vilor(a)" or "Melor(a)" (Marx Engels Lenin). Sometimes children were given names after aspects as Barikada ("barricade") or Revolutsiya ("revolution"). Some of these names have survived into the 21st century.

A number of books about this tendency mention some rather curious pearls, such as Dazdrapetrak (see The First Tractor), Revmir(a), for Revoluciya Mirovaya (World Revolution) and Oyushminald, for "Otto Yulyevich Shmidt na Ldine" ("Otto Shmidt on the icefloat (drift ice)").

Some parents called their children the German female name "Gertrud(a)" (Gertrude), assuming that it stood for "Geroy/Geroinya Truda" (Hero of Labour).

A number of Russians with the name "Kim", are not of Korean descent, but rather named after the "Kommunistichesky International Molodyozhi", or "Youth Communist International".

References

Paul Goldschmidt's Dictionary of Russian Names -- discussion of patronymics[2].