"real Russian" names. Always be in the mood

16.04.2019

Characteristics of the hero from the comedy "Minor" D

Pyotr Andreevich Grinev, the main character of the story

The image and characteristics of svidrigailov in the novel crime and punishment dostoevsky composition

The image and characteristics of Mitrofanushka in Fonvizin's "The Minor": the description of Mitrofan Prostakov

), as well as among Bulgarians, Greeks and Icelanders (the latter have practically no surnames). The adaptation of the names of other peoples by Russians is usually accompanied by one or another phonetic change, and often the appearance of a middle name.

Names, patronymics and nicknames have been known since ancient times. At the same time, ancient sources do not always help to clearly distinguish between pre-Christian names (given from birth) and nicknames (acquired in more late age). Surnames appeared in Russia quite late and, as a rule, they were formed from the names and nicknames of ancestors. The first in the XIV-XV centuries. acquired the names of princes and boyars. However, in the 16th century, the inheritance of non-princely boyar surnames was very unstable. Then the names of merchants and clergy began to acquire. In the middle of the 19th century, especially after the abolition of serfdom in the city, the names of the peasants were formed. The process of acquiring surnames was mainly completed by the 30s of the 20th century.

Nominal formula

Composition

There are the following traditionally used components of the Russian anthroponym, from which various models of a person's naming can be formed:

Name- the personal name given at birth is usually one, but in ancient times several names could be given. Diminutive (hypocoristic) name - an unofficial form of a name, formed from a personal one with the help of certain suffixes or truncation (Maria - Masha - Mashka - Manya - Musya, etc., Alexander - Sasha - Sasha - Shura - Sanya - Shurik - Sanyok; Nikolai - Kolya - Kolusik - Kolyan, etc.). In modern times, such formations, bordering on nicknames, are also produced from surnames (Kislov - Kisly, Panov - Pan), which is a process historically opposite to the formation of surnames.
middle name- patronymic, an indication of the father's name. Has an ending - (in) ich, - (in) on; in ancient times also -ov, -in similarly modern surnames(in Bulgarian it is preserved).
Surname- inherited from generation to generation through the male line (or female). Usually the original Russian surname ends in -ov / -ev / -ёv (from the stems of the second declension: Petrov, Konev, Zhuravlev) or -in / -yn (from the stems of the first declension: Fomin, Sinitsyn); -skiy / -tskiy (Rozhdestvensky, Vysotsky); -oi (Tolstoy, Yarovoy, Lanovoy); less often-their / -x (Russians, Petrovs); less typical for Russians (unlike others Eastern Slavs) surnames with zero ending (Beaver, Sparrow, etc.).
Nickname- an individual name that is not given at birth and is associated with one or another characteristic features or events. For ancient times, a very stable and almost official use of many nicknames is characteristic (for example, Ivan Kalita, Vasily Esifovich Nos - Novgorod mayor), but even now nicknames are informally widely used, especially among youth social groups, where they can act as actually the main means of nominating a person.

Models

In the most full form(FULL NAME) Russian name like full names other peoples, is not used in oral speech, but is used in official documents. In Russia, for its citizens (not only ethnic Russians), these three elements of the anthroponym in mandatory are indicated in official documents. For residents, the patronymic is not indicated (if there is none), and in the column name both personal and middle names are indicated. In most cases, a two-component model is used. Different shapes show varying degrees of respect when communicating:

The previous options refer to people you know (with the exception of nicknames, for example, Dima Bilan, Natasha Koroleva). The following are more commonly used when it comes about third parties:

name + nickname + surname- the American version, popularized by the Comedy Club show and the way of writing the nickname VKontakte ( Timur Kashtan Batrudinov, Dmitry Goblin Puchkov)
name + patronymic + surname- Respectfully names a person not previously mentioned (for example, introduces him to an audience) ( Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn, Sergei Yurievich Belyakov)
surname + name + patronymic- similar to the previous version, but sounds more formal and is used mainly in official documents and alphabetical lists (for example, telephone directories or encyclopedias)

Personal name

The name that is assigned to a person at birth and by which he is known in society. V ancient Russia canonical and non-canonical names were distinguished.

In the pre-Christian era, that is, almost until the end of the 10th century, among the Eastern Slavs (the ancestors of modern Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians), only personal names were used that were given to children at birth.

The correct naming was given great importance... Wrong or derogatory spelling of "someone's name or nickname" could lead to an accusation of inflicting "dishonor". In 1675, a royal decree clarified that a mistake in the spelling of names due to ignorance of "the nature of those peoples in which they were born" is not a crime, and therefore "do not give or seek courts in that", however, the guilty could not avoid punishment: for this they were subjected to "commercial execution".

middle name

The patronymic as part of the nominal formula performed a triple function: it supplemented the name, distinguishing its owner (in addition to the surname) from the namesake, clarified the relationship in the family circle (father - son) and expressed respect (a form of politeness).

The name and patronymic arose as a sign of respect, worthy veneration; first in relation to the princes (in the chronicles from the XI century), then to the eminent boyars, nobles, and under Peter I - and distinguished merchants. In the 19th century, representatives of the upper strata of society acquired a uniform for -vich... Middle names in "ev", "ov", "in" were received by merchants, on "ets" - the youngest in the family. Along with this, there are records of the type: "gunman Timoshka Kuzmin's son Strelkin", "sitter Ivashka Grigoriev", "walking Timoshka Ivanov"; where are the forms Grigoriev and Ivanov- not yet surnames (the so-called semi-patronymic).

Middle names, formed from both Russian and non-Russian names, were found in the most ancient Russian written monuments - cf. Burchevich. "With numerous censuses, it was required to write down everyone" by name with fathers and nicknames. "

Historically, the patronymic was divided into several categories. Serfs did not have it at all. Simply noble people received a semi-patronymic: "Pyotr Osipov Vasiliev." As for the patronymic in -ich, it became, as it were, a sign that the person wearing it belonged to the class, aristocratic elite. Thus, -ich stood out from the patronymic, ceased to be a full suffix and began to be used independently, turning into a special term for privilege, gentility of persons or estates. -ich began to be perceived as a title, as indicating the generosity of the word "de" (in French), "Background" (in German), "van" (in Dutch). In accordance with this provision, it was possible to reward with a witch, which was what the Russian tsars did.

Since the reign of Peter I - the "Patronymic" column becomes mandatory in all documents.

However, in the 19th century, patronymic forms in -ov / -ev were used only in clerical speech, in official documents. In unofficial situations, in everyday life, Russian people called each other by names and patronymics in the form that is familiar to us now: glorification in -ovich, -evich, -ovna, -evna, -ych, -ich, -inichna not was limited. Sometimes it was even used instead of a name (as sometimes it is now), when the speaker wanted to emphasize special respect for a person, to show a shade of affection, love.

An archaic feature that persists to this day are patronymics formed by the direct addition of the suffix -ych / -ich ( Silych, Titich etc.). The same form is present in the colloquial simplified version ( Nikolaich, Mikhalych). Similarly, in the spoken version, they can simplify female middle names: Nikolavna, And bath (Mary Ivanna).

Surname

Russian surnames are inherited official names indicating that a person belongs to a certain genus.

The surname, undoubtedly, was the main component of the nominal formula, since it served, in particular, a clearer awareness of the genus, its expression. As a rule, Russian surnames were single and were transmitted only through the male line (although there were exceptions).

Surnames were usually formed using suffixes from their own and common nouns, and most of them were from possessive adjectives with suffixes -ov (-ev, -ёv), -in (Ivan - Ivanov, Sergey - Sergeev, Kuzma - Kuzmin etc.).

In Russia, surnames were formed from the name of the ancestor and patronymic (Ivanov, Petrov); from the place or from the epithet at the place of residence of the ancestor ( Zadorozhny, Zarechny); from the name of the city or area from which the person originated ( Moskvitin, Tveritin, Permitin); from the occupation or position of the ancestor ( Sapozhnikov, Laptev, Clerks, Bondarev); from the birth order of the ancestor ( Druzhinin , Tretyakov, Shestakov); from ethnic origin ancestor ( Khokhlov, Litvinov, Polyakov, Tatarinov, Moskalev). Most often, the surnames at their base had the nickname or patronymic of some member of the clan, who distinguished himself in some way, who moved to another area, who became the owner of the estate or the head of an especially large family.

In various social strata, surnames appeared in different time... The first in the XIV-XV centuries acquired the names of princes and boyars. Usually they were given by the names of their estates: Tverskoy, Zvenigorodsky, Vyazemsky... Among them there are many surnames of a foreigner, especially oriental origin, since many nobles came to serve the king from foreign lands. Methods of education noble families(surnames of the ancients noble families and families that served the nobility as ranks after the introduction of the Table of Ranks) were diverse. A small group consisted of the surnames of ancient princely families, derived from the names of their reigns. Before late XIX centuries from among such clans, leading their origin from Rurik, five survived: Mosalsky, Eletsky, Zvenigorodsky, Rostov (the latter usually had double surnames) and Vyazemskys. The names of the estates gave rise to the names of Baryatinsky, Beloselsky, Volkonsky, Obolensky, Prozorovsky, Ukhtomsky and some others.

V XVIII-XIX centuries surnames began to appear among servicemen and merchants. They often reflected geographic concepts upon birth. The clergy began to acquire surnames only since mid XVIII centuries, usually formed from the names of parishes ( Preobrazhensky, Nikolsky, Pokrovsky etc.).

However, in currently people can get a semi-official nickname, or invent one for themselves.

Sometimes the nickname is still used officially today, becoming a surname (for example, Alexander Pankratov-Bely and Alexander Pankratov-Cherny).

Literature

Bondaletov V.D. Russian name list, its composition, statistical structure and features of change (male and female names) / V. D. Bondaletov // Onomastics and norm. - M.: Nauka, 1976 .-- S. 12-46.
Yu. A. Rylov. Romanesque and Russian anthroponymics
N.I.Sheiko. Russian names and surnames
V.P. Berkov. 2005. Russian names, patronymics and surnames. Usage rules.
N. I. Formanovskaya. Sociocultural space of the Russian personal name and modern facilities mass media.
N. M. Tupikov.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
N. M. Tupikov. Dictionary of Old Russian proper names. - SPb, 1903.
A. V. Superanskaya. Dictionary of Russian names.
M. Moroshkin. Slavic name dictionary or a collection of Slavic personal names in alphabetical order... - SPb., 1867.
B.O. Unbegaun. Russian surnames / Per. from English / Common ed. B. A. Uspensky. - M., 1989; 2nd ed. 1995; the same: Unbegaun B. O. Russian surnames. Oxford, 1972.

Names, patronymics and nicknames have been known since ancient times. At the same time, ancient sources do not always help to clearly distinguish between pre-Christian names (given from birth) and nicknames (acquired at a later age). Surnames appeared in Russia quite late and, as a rule, they were formed from the names and nicknames of ancestors. The first in the XIV-XV centuries. acquired the names of princes and boyars. However, in the 16th century, the inheritance of non-princely boyar surnames was very unstable. Then the names of merchants and clergy began to acquire. In the middle of the 19th century, especially after the abolition of serfdom in the city, the names of the peasants were formed. The process of acquiring surnames was mainly completed by the 30s of the 20th century.

Nominal formula [ | ]

Composition [ | ]

There are the following traditionally used components of the Russian anthroponym, from which various models of a person's naming can be formed:

Name- the personal name given at birth is usually one, but in ancient times several names could be given. Diminutive (hypocoristic) name - an unofficial form of a name, formed from a personal one with the help of certain suffixes or truncation (Maria - Masha - Mashka - Manya - Musya, etc., Alexander - Sasha - Sasha - Shura - Sanya - Shurik - Sanyok; Nikolai - Kolya - Kolusik - Kolyan, etc.). In modern times, such formations, bordering on nicknames, are also produced from surnames (Kislov - Kisly, Panov - Pan), which is a process historically opposite to the formation of surnames.
middle name- patronymic, an indication of the father's name. Has an ending - (in) ich, - (in) on; in antiquity also -ov, -in similar to modern surnames (in the Bulgarian language it has been preserved).
Surname- inherited from generation to generation through the male line (or female). Usually the original Russian surname ends in -ov / -ev / -ёv (from the stems of the second declension: Petrov, Konev, Zhuravlev) or -in / -yn (from the stems of the first declension: Fomin, Sinitsyn); -skiy / -tskiy (Rozhdestvensky, Vysotsky); -oi (Tolstoy, Yarovoy, Lanovoy); less often-their / -x (Russians, Petrovs); less typical for Russians (unlike other Eastern Slavs) surnames with a zero ending (Bober, Sparrow, etc.).
Nickname- an individual name that is not given at birth and is associated with certain characteristic features or events. For ancient times, a very stable and almost official use of many nicknames is characteristic (for example, Ivan Kalita, Vasily Esifovich Nos - Novgorod mayor), but even now nicknames are informally widely used, especially in youth social groups, where they can act as, in fact, the main means of nominating a person.

Models [ | ]

In its fullest form (full name), the Russian name, like the full names of other peoples, is not used in oral speech, but is used in official documents. In Russia, for its citizens (not only ethnic Russians), these three elements of the anthroponym are mandatory indicated in official documents. For residents, the patronymic is not indicated (if there is none), and in the column name both personal and middle names are indicated. In most cases, a two-component model is used. Different forms show different degrees of respect when communicating:

The previous options refer to people you know (with the exception of nicknames, for example, Dima Bilan, Natasha Koroleva). The following are more commonly used when referring to third parties:

name + nickname + surname- the American version, popularized by the Comedy Club show and the way of writing the nickname VKontakte ( Timur Kashtan Batrudinov, Dmitry Goblin Puchkov)
name + patronymic + surname- Respectfully names a person not previously mentioned (for example, introduces him to an audience) ( Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn, Sergei Yurievich Belyakov)
surname + name + patronymic- similar to the previous version, but sounds more formal and is used mainly in official documents and alphabetical lists (for example, telephone directories or encyclopedias)

Personal name [ | ]

The name that is assigned to a person at birth and by which he is known in society. In ancient Russia, canonical and non-canonical names were distinguished.

Great importance was attached to the correct naming. Wrong or derogatory spelling of "someone's name or nickname" could lead to an accusation of inflicting "dishonor". In 1675, a royal decree clarified that a mistake in the spelling of names due to ignorance of "the nature of those peoples in which they were born" is not a crime, and therefore "do not give or seek courts in that", however, the guilty could not avoid punishment: for this they were subjected to "commercial execution".

middle name [ | ]

Historically, the patronymic was divided into several categories. Serfs did not have it at all. Simply noble people received a semi-patronymic: "Pyotr Osipov Vasiliev." As for the patronymic in -ich, it became, as it were, a sign that the person wearing it belonged to the class, aristocratic elite. Thus, -ich stood out from the patronymic, ceased to be a full suffix and began to be used independently, turning into a special term for privilege, gentility of persons or estates. -ich began to be perceived as a title, as the words "de" (in French), "von" (in German), "van" (in Dutch), indicating the gentility. In accordance with this provision, it was possible to reward with a witch, which was what the Russian tsars did.

Since the reign of Peter I - the "Patronymic" column becomes mandatory in all documents.

An archaic feature that persists to this day are patronymics formed by the direct addition of the suffix -ych / -ich ( Silych, Titich etc.). The same form is present in the colloquial simplified version ( Nikolaich, Mikhalych). Similarly, in the colloquial version, female patronymics can be simplified: Nikolavna, And bath (Mary Ivanna).

Surname [ | ]

Russian surnames are inherited official names indicating that a person belongs to a certain genus.

Surnames were usually formed with the help of suffixes from proper and common nouns, and most of them from possessive adjectives with suffixes -ow (-ev, -ёv), -in (Ivan - Ivanov, Sergey - Sergeev, Kuzma - Kuzmin etc.).

In Russia, surnames were formed from the name of the ancestor and patronymic (Ivanov, Petrov); from the place or from the epithet at the place of residence of the ancestor ( Zadorozhny, Zarechny); from the name of the city or area from which the person originated ( Moskvitin, Tveritin, Permitin); from the occupation or position of the ancestor ( Sapozhnikov, Laptev, Clerks, Bondarev); from the birth order of the ancestor ( Druzhinin , Tretyakov, Shestakov); from the ethnic origin of the ancestor ( Khokhlov, Litvinov, Polyakov, Tatarinov, Moskalev). Most often, the surnames at their base had the nickname or patronymic of some member of the clan, who distinguished himself in some way, who moved to another area, who became the owner of the estate or the head of an especially large family.

Surnames appeared in different social strata at different times. The first in the XIV-XV centuries acquired the names of princes and boyars. Usually they were given by the names of their estates: Tverskoy, Zvenigorodsky, Vyazemsky... Among them there are many surnames of foreign, especially Eastern origin, since many nobles came to serve the king from foreign lands. The methods of formation of noble families (surnames of ancient noble families and families that served the nobility as ranks after the introduction of the Table of Ranks) were diverse. A small group consisted of the surnames of ancient princely families, derived from the names of their reigns. Until the end of the 19th century, five of such clans, which originated from Rurik, survived: Mosalsky, Eletsky, Zvenigorodsky, Rostov (the latter usually had double surnames) and Vyazemsky. The names of the estates gave rise to the names of Baryatinsky, Beloselsky, Volkonsky, Obolensky, Prozorovsky, Ukhtomsky and some others.

In the 18th-19th centuries, surnames began to appear among servicemen and merchants. They often reflected geographic concepts of birth. The clergy began to acquire surnames only from the middle of the 18th century, usually formed from the names of parishes ( Preobrazhensky, Nikolsky, Pokrovsky etc.).

Nevertheless, at the moment, people can get a semi-official nickname, or come up with one for themselves.

Sometimes the nickname is still used officially today, becoming a surname (for example, Alexander Pankratov-Bely and Alexander Pankratov-Cherny).

Literature [ | ]

Bondaletov V.D. Russian name list, its composition, statistical structure and features of change (male and female names) / V. D. Bondaletov // Onomastics and norm. - M.: Nauka, 1976 .-- S. 12-46.
Yu. A. Rylov. Romanesque and Russian anthroponymics
N.I.Sheiko. Russian names and surnames
V.P. Berkov. 2005. Russian names, patronymics and surnames. Usage rules.
N. I. Formanovskaya. Socio-cultural space of the Russian personal name and modern mass media.
N. M. Tupikov.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
N. M. Tupikov. Dictionary of Old Russian proper names. - SPb, 1903.
A. V. Superanskaya. Dictionary of Russian names.
M. Moroshkin. Slavic name book or collection of Slavic personal names in alphabetical order. - SPb., 1867.
B.O. Unbegaun. Russian surnames / Per. from English / Common ed. B. A. Uspensky. - M., 1989; 2nd ed. 1995; the same: Unbegaun B. O. Russian surnames. Oxford, 1972.

The history of the formation of Russian naming traditions

Old Russian anthroponymy initially consisted only of a personal name in a narrow sense; most of the names initially "repeated" common nouns (Volk, Zhdan, Dobrynya).

Among the Old Russian names there were many borrowings from the Finno-Ugric, Turkic and other languages. The first written monuments testify to the social divergence of anthroponymy: the names of the ruling elite stood out, among which the names of Scandinavian origin (Oleg, Olga, Igor), but especially characteristic were those composed of two bases; the chronicle directly calls them princely; as their second component, the most frequent are -slav, -mir (Svyatoslav, Mstislav, Vladimir; in republican Novgorod, mayor Tverdislav, Ostromir). The origin of this model remains controversial. Suffixal names developed, for example, s -ilo (Tomilo, Tverdilo, Putilo), -yata (Guests, Putyata. Very few female names came down; the woman was more often called by the name of her father (most famous heroine of the Old Russian epic - Yaroslavna) or by the name of her husband (Novgorod Zavizhaya, Polyuzhaya - the wives of Zavid, Polyuda), from the surviving female names - Krasava.

Christianity, borrowed by the Russians from Byzantium, brought the names canonized by the Orthodox Church - these are the names of the "saints" of the first centuries of Christianity, originating from the languages of the peoples of the Roman Empire; especially many of these names are ancient Greek (Andrei, Alexander, Vasily, Elena, Irina), Latin (Sergei, Constantine, Tatiana, Matryona), as well as names from the languages of Western Asia - Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac. (Ivan, Thomas, Maria, Anna). Since such names came to Russia through the Middle Greek language of Byzantium, they carried many of its signs (for example, Barbara, Lawrence, and not Barbara, Lawrence). Significant changes were made by the adaptation of foreign-language names to the Russian language: the Greek and Latin formants were discarded (Nikolaos, Paulos were transformed into Nikolai, Pavel), sound combinations unusual for the Russian language were simplified (Akim, Ustinya instead of Joachim, Justinia). On the other hand, the invasion of the mass of anthroponyms-borrowings expanded the phonetic means of the Russian language, for example, contributed to the appearance of the sound "f" Greek names sounds conveyed in Greek by the letters "theta" (Fedor, Timothy, Thekla) and "fi" (Philip, Tryphon, Sophia). Over the centuries, the everyday forms of many names sharply differed from the canonical ones, which were used only by the church, for example (in each pair the first form is everyday, the second is canonical): Avdotya - Evdokia, Aksinya - Xenia, Arina - Irina, Akulina - Akilina, Yegor - George, Osip - Joseph, Tavrilo - Gabriel, even in literary language“Won” non-canonical forms: Ivan, Matryona instead of John, Matrona.

For centuries, the church could not exterminate Russian names: a stubborn struggle lasted from the 10th to the 17th century. Although baptism became mandatory for all Russians, in which they gave a name (only from the list of Orthodox "saints"), but in life they used non-church names for a long time. So, such names as Zhdan, Nezhdan, Istoma, Tomilo, female Milava are very common.

Official documents in the XV-XVII centuries are replete with non-church names, including the Scoundrel, the Fool, probably data for deception " evil spirits"; even the monastery minister Constantine the son of the Devil and a priest with pagan name Languor. V this respect the list of landowners of the Kineshemsky district of 1612 is indicative: Zhuk Sofonov, Tomilo Novoprihodets, Neporodko Osipov, Bessonko Frolov. In the scribal book of the Tula district of 1578, more than 18% of all landowners are recorded under non-church names.

Only at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, during the reign of Peter I, did the government manage to ban non-church names (later, single ones slipped through).

The splitting of the Russian principalities into many small estates gave rise to the designation of the princes by the names of the territories belonging to them (Shuiskie, Kurbskie); these designations became generic names.

Russian anthroponymy of the 16th-17th centuries is sharply demarcated socially. The boyar was named in three terms: “ individual name(ecclesiastical or non-ecclesiastical) + full middle name(with -vich) + generic name "; each of the three components could be accompanied by a parallel one, for example, the branching of boyar clans was reflected in the generic names: Velyaminov-Zernov, Velyaminov-Saburov; any of the three components could be supplemented by dedication. For the middle strata (landowners and wealthy merchants) the following naming formula prevailed: “individual name (church or non-church) + patronymic in the form of a short adjective in -ov (-ev), -it.

The creation of a large centralized state, the emergence of a large stratum of servicemen with their land holdings necessitated the need for a naming surname, denoting all family members and passing on to subsequent generations. More often the surname arose from dedication or from the second name of the father, less often it had a different origin. TO late XVII centuries, surnames covered almost all nobles. The rest of the population was called an individual name with the obligatory derogatory formant -ka (Vaska, Anka), often with the addition of a designation of some attribute (occupation, place of birth, a short possessive adjective from the father's name). The complication of naming in order to clarify the identity of the named increased the inconsistency in naming. In the census of Yaroslavl, 30 different combinations of naming men were used; still motley picture of naming women.
The reforms of Peter I, streamlining the entire state apparatus, also clarified and consolidated anthroponymic class norms: universal official obligation church name, three-member naming for the privileged, including a patronymic in -vin only for the highest ranks (at the end of the 18th century, this type of patronymic was extended to all nobility).

TO mid XIX centuries the surnames covered completely the clergy, merchants, raznochintsy. State peasants (especially in the North and Siberia) have known surnames from the 18th century (and some from the 17th century); the entire mass of serfs, who constituted the majority of the country's population, were not entitled to surnames; although the serfs had “street” surnames, they were not officially recognized and not recorded, for the most part they were not stable.

Only after the fall of serfdom, surnames were given to almost everyone, but even later, many documents did not recognize peasant surnames. Of the law establishing the obligatory surname for all, in tsarist Russia did not have; only administrative orders were in effect. Until the very collapse of tsarism, it was not possible to achieve full coverage of the names of the entire Russian population. Fugitives remained without surnames, who were recorded in the documents "not remembering kinship", numerous "illegitimate".

Name as a sign of a social group

Isolated groups of the population had their own closed types of names, which served as a sign of belonging to this group, they are completely different - thieves, monks, etc. Nicknames were especially widespread among young people - gymnasium, student. Writers, artists and other representatives creative intelligentsia often chose a pseudonym for themselves; he replaced the last name: A.M. Peshkov - the famous writer Maxim Gorky, K.S.Alekseev - an outstanding theatrical figure Stanislavsky.

The Soviet government abolished the obligatory nature of church names. The population received the right to choose any names at its discretion. In the 1920s, a stream of new names poured into Russian anthroponymy.

These were mainly:

1.names known among other peoples (Edward, Albert, Alla, Zhanna);

2. appellatives - foreign language borrowings (Avant-garde, Genius, Idea, Poem), even subject (Traktor);

3. abbreviations (Vladlen - Vladimir Lenin, Revmira - world revolution, even Pyatvchet - five-year plan in four years);

4. names taken for new, but in fact old, but almost forgotten (Oleg, Igor);

5. names of derivatives, close in form to the usual names (Oktyabrina, Svetlana);

6. diminutive names taken for full (Dima, Olya, Lena). At huge amount their frequency of new names remained insignificant even in cities, and in the countryside did not exceed 1%. The search was blind and led to many failures. In the mid-1930s, the number of new names decreased (although individual names continue to appear now); not many have taken root - Vladlen, Oktyabrina, Svetlana, Snezhana and some others.

A very compact list of 40-50 male and 50-55 female names was established. Most of the names in it are the same, but the name-list is not at all similar to the pre-revolutionary one, or to the name-list of the 30s - the most frequent names of the past either fell out of use or became rare. In the cities, few associate them with "saints"; in the village, the connection of names with the church calendar is still noticeable. Their etymological meanings are known to the population only in very rare cases. The concentration of names is huge: in almost every locality, the 10 most common names cover 80% of newborns, both boys and girls. In 1960-1961, the most frequent names of boys: in cities - Andrey, Sergey, Yuri, Igor, Oleg, Vladimir, in rural areas- Alexander, Sergey, Vladimir, Nikolay. The most common names of girls: in cities - Elena, Irina, Marina, Svetlana, Natalya, Olga, in rural areas - Tatiana, Valentina, Galina, Olga.
Complete composition official name, historically developed among Russians, was first enshrined in the law: "Fundamentals of the legislation of the USSR on marriage and family" established the obligatory three-term naming:

1.an individual name (in the narrow sense),

2. middle name,

3. surname.

The right to choose a personal (individual) name for a newborn child belongs to the parents. In case of disagreement between the parents, the issue is decided by the guardianship and guardianship authorities. The patronymic is assigned by the name of the father, and when a child is born out of wedlock, the patronymic is given at the direction of the mother. The child receives the parents' surname; if the parents different surnames, parents give him the surname of his father or mother, in case of disagreement between them, the issue is decided by the guardianship and guardianship authorities.

Those getting married can choose the surname of the groom or the bride as their common surname, they can keep their former separate surnames; it is not allowed to duplicate both surnames in Russia. The three opportunities provided by the law of Russia in everyday life are still very unevenly used; the new is making its way so far only in large centers

Change of names, patronymics, surnames is allowed only upon reaching the age of 18 and in the presence of compelling, valid reasons.

The full three-term naming is used only in the most important official acts, on solemn occasions, in voter lists, in legal documents. In all current official documentation, only the surname with the initials of the first and patronymic is common.
Derivative diminutive forms of individual names dominate in friendly or kinship relations: Volodya instead of Vladimir, Lena instead of Elena, which are unacceptable in other, more official relations. These diminutive forms often have an emotional and affectionate coloration (Volodenka, Lena) or a dismissive connotation (Volodka, Lenka); the set of suffixes of such forms in Russian anthroponymy is extremely diverse, for example, from the male name Ivan there are more than a hundred derivative forms: Vanya, Vanechka, Vanyusya, Vanka, Vanyatka, Vanyukha, Vanyuk, Vanek, Ivash, Ivashka, Ivantey, Ivanice, Ivanets. In addition, in the family and other close groups, especially among students, there are often all kinds of nicknames - intimate, friendly, ironic, contemptuous or completely neutral; they are formed differently: from common nouns, by "altering" the first or last name, based on a random set of sounds. Some writers or artists have pseudonyms.

The Russian language belongs to the group of Slavic languages. However, many Russian names are not originally Russian in origin. They are borrowed from Greek together with the Orthodox religion. Before that, Russians had names reflecting various characteristics and qualities of people, their physical disabilities, names reflecting the order of birth of children in a family. Such names as Wolf, Cat, Sparrow, Birch, Pervoy, Tretyak, Bolshoi, Leshoy, Zhdan were common. Reflection of these names is observed in modern Russian surnames Tretyakov, Nezhdanov, Menshov, etc.

With the introduction of Christianity in Russia, all the old names were gradually supplanted by the church names that came to Russia from Byzantium. Among them, in addition to proper Greek names, there were ancient Roman, Hebrew, Syrian, Egyptian names, each of which in its own native language reflected a certain meaning, but when borrowing was used only as a proper name, and not as a word denoting something.

By the 18-19 centuries Old Russian names were already completely forgotten, and Christian names largely changed their appearance, adapting to the peculiarities of Russian pronunciation. So, the name Diomedes was transformed into the name Demid, Jeremiah - Eremey, etc.

After the October Socialist Revolution, names associated with the new ideology became widespread: Revmira (peace revolution), Diamara (dialectical materialism); names reflecting the first stages of industrialization: Electrina, Elevator, Diesel, Rem, (revolution, electrification, mechanization); names deducted in foreign novels: Alfred, Rudolph, Arnold; names by flower names: Lily, Rose, Astra.

Since the 1930s, names such as Masha, Vladimir, Seryozha, i.e. the names that are closest to the Russian people are used. But this return to old names does not at all mean a return to all names. church calendar, most of which remained unacceptable to the Russian nation.

(the latter have practically no surnames). The adaptation of the names of other peoples by Russians is usually accompanied by one or another phonetic change, and often the appearance of a middle name.

Names, patronymics and nicknames have been known since ancient times. At the same time, ancient sources do not always help to clearly distinguish between pre-Christian names (given from birth) and nicknames (acquired at a later age). Surnames appeared in Russia quite late and, as a rule, they were formed from the names and nicknames of ancestors. The first in the XIV-XV centuries. acquired the names of princes and boyars. However, in the 16th century, the inheritance of non-princely boyar families was very unstable. Then the names of merchants and clergy began to acquire. In the middle of the 19th century, especially after the abolition of serfdom in the city, the names of the peasants were formed. The process of acquiring surnames was mainly completed by the 30s of the 20th century.

Nominal formula

Composition

There are the following traditionally used components of the Russian anthroponym, from which various models of a person's naming can be formed:

Name- the personal name given at birth is usually one, but in ancient times several names could be given. Diminutive (hypocoristic) name - an unofficial form of a name, formed from a personal one with the help of certain suffixes or truncation (Maria - Masha - Mashka - Manya - Musya, etc., Alexander - Sasha - Sashka - Shura - Sanya - Shurik - Iskander; Nikolai - Kolya - Kolusik - Kolyan, etc.). In modern times, such formations, bordering on nicknames, are also produced from surnames (Kislov - Kisly, Panov - Pan), which is a process historically opposite to the formation of surnames.
middle name- patronymic, an indication of the father's name. Has an ending - (in) ich, - (in) on; in antiquity also -ov, -in similar to modern surnames (in the Bulgarian language it has been preserved).
Surname- inherited from generation to generation through the male line. Usually the original Russian surname ends in -ov / -ev / -ёv (from the stems of the second declension: Petrov, Konev) or -in / -yn (from the stems of the first declension: Fomin, Sinitsyn); -skiy / -tskiy (Rozhdestvensky, Vysotsky); th (Tolstoy); less often-their / -s (Russians, Petrovs); less typical for Russians (unlike other Eastern Slavs) surnames with a zero ending (Bober, Sparrow, etc.).
Nickname- an individual name that is not given at birth and is associated with certain characteristic features or events. For ancient times, a very stable and almost official use of many nicknames is characteristic (for example, Ivan Kalita, Vasily Esifovich Nos - Novgorod mayor), but even now nicknames are informally widely used, especially in youth social groups, where they can act as, in fact, the main means of nominating a person.

Models

The previous options refer to people you know (with the exception of nicknames, for example, Dima Bilan, Natasha Koroleva). The following are more commonly used when referring to third parties:

name + nickname + surname- the American version, popularized by the Comedy Club show and the way of writing the nickname VKontakte ( Timur Kashtan Batrudinov, Dmitry Goblin Puchkov)
name + patronymic + surname- Respectfully names a person not previously mentioned (for example, introduces him to an audience) ( Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn, Sergei Yurievich Belyakov)
surname + name + patronymic- similar to the previous version, but sounds more formal and is used mainly in official documents and alphabetical lists (for example, telephone directories or encyclopedias)

Personal name

The name that is assigned to a person at birth and by which he is known in society. In ancient Russia, canonical and non-canonical names were distinguished.

Great importance was attached to the correct naming. Wrong or derogatory spelling of "someone's name or nickname" could lead to an accusation of inflicting "dishonor". In the city of the tsar's decree, it was explained that a mistake in the spelling of names due to ignorance of "the nature of those peoples in which they were born" is not a crime, and therefore "do not give or seek courts in this matter."

middle name

Main article: Russian patronymic

Middle names, formed from both Russian and non-Russian names, were found in the most ancient Russian written monuments - cf. Burchevich, Berendeich(from the Türkic family name Burchi and from the tribal name of Berendeya). With numerous censuses, it was required to write down everyone "by name with fathers and nicknames."

Historically, the patronymic was divided into several categories. Serfs did not have it at all. Simply noble people received a semi-patronymic: "Pyotr Osipov Vasiliev." As for the patronymic in -ich, it became, as it were, a sign that the person wearing it belonged to the class, aristocratic elite. Thus, -ich stood out from the patronymic, ceased to be a full suffix and began to be used independently, turning into a special term for privilege, gentility of persons or estates. -ich began to be perceived as a title, as the words "de" (in French), "von" (in German), "van" (in Dutch), indicating the gentility. In accordance with this provision, it was possible to reward with a witch, which was what the Russian tsars did.

Since the reign of Peter I - the "Patronymic" column becomes mandatory in all documents.

An archaic feature that persists to this day are patronymics formed by the direct addition of the suffix -ych / -ich ( Silych, Titich etc.). The same form is present in the colloquial simplified version ( Nikolaich, Mikhalych). Similarly, in the colloquial version, female patronymics can be simplified: Nikolavna, And bath (Mary Ivanna).

Surname

Russian surnames are inherited official names indicating that a person belongs to a certain genus.

Surnames were usually formed using suffixes from proper and common nouns, and most of them from possessive adjectives with suffixes -ow (-ev), -in (Ivan - Ivanov, Sergey - Sergeev, Kuzma - Kuzmin etc.).

In Russia, surnames were formed from the name of the ancestor and patronymic (Ivanov, Petrov); from the place or from the epithet at the place of residence of the ancestor ( Zadorozhny, Zarechny); from the name of the city or area from which the person originated ( Moskvitin, Tveritin, Permitin); from the occupation or position of the ancestor ( Sapozhnikov, Laptev, Clerks, Bondarev); from the birth order of the ancestor ( Tretyakov, Shestakov); from the ethnic origin of the ancestor ( Khokhlov, Litvinov, Polyakov, Tatarinov, Moskalev). Most often, the surnames at their base had the nickname or patronymic of some member of the clan, who distinguished himself in some way, who moved to another area, who became the owner of the estate or the head of an especially large family.

In the middle of the 19th century, especially after the abolition of serfdom, the names of peasants were formed (from the names of landowners, names settlements, nicknames, patronymics), but some of them only appeared in the 1930s.

Nickname

Nevertheless, at the moment, people can get a semi-official nickname, or come up with one for themselves.

Sometimes the nickname is still used officially today, becoming a surname (for example, Alexander Pankratov-Bely and Alexander Pankratov-Cherny).

Literature

Bondaletov V.D. Russian name list, its composition, statistical structure and features of change (male and female names) / V. D. Bondaletov // Onomastics and norm. - M .: Nauka, 1976 .-- S. 12-46.
Yu. A. Rylov Romanesque and Russian anthroponymics
N.I.Sheiko Russian names and surnames
VP Berkov 2005. Russian names, patronymics and surnames. Usage rules.
N. I. Formanovskaya Socio-cultural space of the Russian personal name and modern mass media
N. M. Tupikov Dictionary of Old Russian proper names. SPb, 1903.
A. V. Superanskaya Dictionary of Russian names
M. Moroshkin Slavic name book or collection of Slavic personal names in alphabetical order. SPb., 1867.
B.O. Unbegaun Russian surnames / Per. from English / Common ed. B. A. Uspensky. M., 1989; 2nd ed. 1995; ditto: Unbegaun B.O. Russian surnames. Oxford, 1972.

Notes (edit)

Links

Tupikov N.M. Dictionary of Old Russian personal names. - M .: Russian way, 2004.
Female names, male names. Complete Orthodox calendar.

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The Russian name is a complex formula, in the history of which not everything is unambiguous. How were the names given in Russia, what is the phenomenon of "half-name", and what were the real names of the Russian tsars? We'll figure out.

Nicknames

The tradition of naming names in Russia dates back to pre-Christian times. Any word related to custom, habits, appearance, environment, could "stick" to a person and become his name. There were several thousand such names-nicknames, but in widespread use there were no more than a hundred. Conventionally, they can be divided into ten groups.

Here is some of them. Numerical names - First, Vtorak, Tretyak. Associated with external signs - Chernyava, Belyak, Malyuta. With character traits - Molchan, Smeyana, Istoma. With wildlife - Bull, Pike, Oak. Or with a craft - Spoon, Blacksmith, Fur coat. However, with age, such names could be replaced by others - more suitable for a person.

As a special category of nicknames, it is worth highlighting defensive names. In order to avoid the harmful influence of evil spirits or other people, a person was often given a second name that everyone knew - Nekras, Malice, Kriv. Such an unprepossessing name, according to legend, protected its bearer from the evil eye or damage.

After the appearance of Christian names in Russia, nicknames did not disappear, but became an addition to the main name. They were used both among the low class and among noble people. Examples include Alexander Nevsky, Simeon of Polotsk or Ivan Kalita.
Nicknames in Russia were in circulation up to XVIII century until they were completely banned by Peter I. However, since the 15th century, another process was actively gaining momentum, in which nicknames began to be transformed into surnames.

Direct name

In the XIV-XVI centuries in Russia, at birth, it was customary to give direct names in honor of the saint, whose memory was celebrated on that day. Unlike the public Christian name, the direct name was usually used in a narrow circle of close and dear people. So, Vasily III bore the direct name Gabriel, and his son Ivan the Terrible - Titus.

Sometimes a paradoxical situation arose when siblings could be full namesakes - to wear the same public and direct name. For example, senior and younger sons Ivan the Terrible were publicly called Dmitri, and in a close circle - Uarami.

The tradition of the direct name originates in the early Rurik lineage, when the Grand Dukes wore both pagan and christian name: Yaroslav-Georgy (Wise) or Vladimir-Vasily (Monomakh).

The names of the Rurikovich

In the Rurik dynasty there were two categories of names: Slavic two-basic - Yaropolk, Svyatoslav, Ostromir and Scandinavian - Olga, Gleb, Igor. The names were assigned a high status, and therefore they could belong exclusively to a grand ducal person. Only in the XIV century did such names come into general use.

It is interesting that the generic name could not remain free: if the grandfather died, the newborn grandson was named after him, but the appearance of simultaneously living brothers-namesakes in the pre-Mongol period was not allowed.
Later, after the canonization of the Russian Orthodox Church carriers of both Slavic and Scandinavian names, such names began to be considered Christian, for example, Vladimir or Gleb.

Christianization of names

As Christianity strengthened in Russia, gradually Slavic names went into the past. There were even special lists of forbidden names, in which a special ban was imposed on those associated with a pagan religion, for example, Yarilo or Lada.

The Rurikovichs had to gradually abandon dynastic preferences in favor of Christian names. Already Vladimir Svyatoslavovich at baptism was given the name Vasily, and Princess Olga - Elena. It is interesting that the sons of Vladimir Boris and Gleb, whose names were subsequently canonized, were named Roman and David, respectively, in baptism.

With the spread of book printing in Russia, great importance was attached to the spelling of names. Distorted spelling of the name could lead to accusations of dishonor. However, the Tsar's decree of 1675 clarified that mistakes in spelling of names due to ignorance of "the nature of the peoples in which they were born" are not a crime, and therefore "do not give or seek courts in this matter."

Half names

The official use of semi-names in a derogatory tone was common in Russia from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Often this was the name of state criminals - Stenka Razin or Emelka Pugachev. It was also obligatory to use a half-name when contacting higher authorities. So, for example, Gregory had to call himself "Grishka, the tsar's slave." It is known that during the "political masquerade" - the abdication of Ivan the Terrible from the throne - the "former" tsar appeared as "Ivanets Vasiliev".

The names of the Romanovs

During the reign of the Romanov dynasty, there are quite large chronological discrepancies between birthday and namesake - up to two months. This is due to the careful selection of the name of the saint, which was dictated by genealogical and dynastic preferences.

At the very "naming" the Romanovs were primarily guided by the customs of their ancestors. Associated with this, for example, is the ban on the names of Peter and Paul after the murder Peter III and Paul I. It was perfectly natural to give names after older relatives. Following this rule, Nicholas I gave his four sons the same names and in the same order as his father Paul I.
Renewal of the Romanov nomenclature takes place under Catherine II. She introduces new names into the dynastic succession, naming her grandchildren Nicholas (in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker), Constantine (in honor of Constantine the Great) and Alexander (in honor of Alexander Nevsky). True, over time, with the growth of the Romanov tree, half-forgotten dynastic names appear - Nikita, Olga, and even those absent in the calendar - Rostislav.

"Ivan, not remembering kinship"

The name Ivan has practically become a household name for a Russian, and for good reason: until 1917, every fourth peasant in Russian Empire... Moreover, passportless vagabonds who fell into the hands of the police often called themselves Ivans, which led to the emergence of the stable expression "Ivan, who does not remember kinship."

For a long time, the name Ivan, which has a Jewish origin, did not apply to ruling dynasty, however, starting with Ivan I (Kalita), they name four sovereigns from the Rurik family. The Romanovs also use this name, but after the death of Ivan VI in 1764, it is banned.

Paternal succession

The use of a patronymic in Russia as part of a generic name is a confirmation of a person's ties with his father. Noble and simple people called themselves, for example, "Mikhail, Petrov's son." It was considered a special privilege to add the ending "-ich" to the patronymic, which was allowed for people of high descent. That is how the Rurikovichs were called, for example, Svyatopolk Izyaslavich.

In the "table of ranks" under Peter I, and then in the "official list" under Catherine II, various forms of endings of patronymics (for example, "-ovich" or "-ov") were strictly fixed, depending on the person's belonging to a certain class.

From the 19th century, the nascent intelligentsia began to use the patronymic, and after the abolition of serfdom, it was allowed to be worn by the peasantry as well. Life modern man is no longer conceivable without a middle name, and this is not only the strength of traditions - an official respectful form of address, but also a practical necessity - to distinguish between people who have the same first and last name.

"real Russian" names. Always be in the mood

Read also

Nominal formula

Composition

Models

Personal name

middle name

Surname

see also

Literature

Nominal formula [ | ]

Composition [ | ]

Models [ | ]

Personal name [ | ]

middle name [ | ]

Surname [ | ]

see also [ | ]

Literature [ | ]

Nominal formula

Composition

Models

Personal name

middle name

Surname

Nickname

see also

Literature

Notes (edit)

Links

Nicknames

Direct name

The names of the Rurikovich

Christianization of names

Half names

The names of the Romanovs

"Ivan, not remembering kinship"

Paternal succession