Names in Russian Empire, Soviet Union and CIS countries
|
|
This article gives the general understanding of naming convention in the Russian language as well as in languages (countries) 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 (like an English middle name) is sometimes omitted.
| Contents |
Given first name
As with most Western cultures, a person has a first name chosen by his or her parents. The first name is used before the last name (surname) in most cases and is given so into the main European languages. E.g. Владимир Путин (Vladimir Putin), where "Vladimir" is a first name and "Putin" is a family name. (Compare reverse order in Hungarian or Korean names.) In listing cases (such as a persons' list or a library catalogue), the naming order is reversed like in English, e.g. Bush G.W., Putin V. Such order is sometimes used in cases of formal or command language.
First names in East-Slavic languages mostly origin from two sources: Orthodox church tradition and native pre-Christian (pagan) lexicons.
Common male first names
- Николай (Nikolay, equivalent to Nicholas)
- Борис (Boris)
- Владимир (Vladimir, a pre-Christian Slavic name meaning "the Lord of the World")
- Пётр (Pyotr, equivalent to Peter)
- Андрей (Andrey, equivalent to Andrew)
- Александр (Alexandr, equivalent to Alexander)
Common female first names
- Ольга (Ol'ga, a pre-Christian name derived from Varangian Helga)
- Александра (Alexandra)
- Оксана (Oksana, the most widespread Ukrainian female name, also of pre-Christian origin)
- Ксения (Kseniya, a Russian equivalent of Oksana, from Greek Xenia)
- Екатерина (Yekaterina, equivalent to Catherine)
Patronymic
The patronymic of a person is based on the first name of his or her father and is written in all documents. It always succeeds the first name. A suffix (meaning either "son of" or "daughter of") is added to the father's given name—males generally use -ович -ovich, while females generally use -овна -ovna. If the suffix is being appended to a name ending in a soft consonant, the initial o becomes a ye (-евич -yevich and -евна -yevna). Suffix pronunciation varies with the ending of the name and the exact language.
As an example, the patronymic name of Soviet leader Никита Сергеевич Хрущев (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 is usually used in formal or respective forms of address. In the media, the respected persons (e.g. leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia) are sometimes mentioned using their full names (first name + patronymic + family name).
In most cases of local-to-English translation, using the patronymic is unnecessary and it is best to abbreviate it to an initial. E.g. "Viktor A. Yushchenko".
Family name (surname)
Surnames, like Путин (Putin), Ельцин (Yel'tsin) or Горбачёв (Gorbachov), 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. Most Russian surnames 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 East 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). 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).
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 of Japanese background, has a patronymic "Mitsuovna" (strangely-sounding in Russian) since her father's name was Mitsuo.
Bruno Pontecorvo, after he emigrated to USSR, was known as Бруно Максимович Понтекорво (Bruno Maksimovich Pontekorvo) in 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).
However, such conversion of foreign names is unofficial and optional in many cases of communication and translation.
Exceptions for some post-Soviet countries
In local languages of the non-Slavic CIS countries, Russian rules for patronymics were either never used or abandoned after gaining independence. However, surnames in all 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 "son of Nazar-bay" (where "bay" is an archaic native noble rank).
Note that foreign information regarding CIS states comes mostly in Russian (and translated from it to English) using the above-mentioned rules.