Eastern Slavic naming customs

Being highly synthetic languages, Eastern Slavic treats personal names as grammatical nouns and apply the same rules of inflection and derivation to them as for other nouns. So one can create many forms with different degrees of affection and familiarity by adding the corresponding suffixes to the auxiliary stem derived from the original name. The auxiliary stem may be identical to the word stem of the full name (the full name Жанна Zhanna can have the suffixes added directly to the stem Жанн- Zhann- like Жанночка Zhannochka), and most names have the auxiliary stem derived unproductively (the Russian name Михаил Mikhail has the auxiliary stem Миш- Mish-, which produces such name-forms as Миша Misha, Мишенька Mishenka, Мишуня Mishunya etc., not *Михаилушка Mikhailushka).

Unlike English, in which the use of diminutive forms is optional even between close friends, in East Slavonic languages such forms are obligatory in certain contexts because of the strong T–V distinction: the T-form of address usually requires the short form of the counterpart's name. Also, unlike other languages with prominent use of name suffixes, such as Japanese, the use of derived name forms is mostly limited to the T-addressing: there is no way to make the name more formal than the plain unsuffixed full form, and no suffixes can be added to the family name.

Most commonly, Russian philologists distinguish the following forms of given names:

Marina Tsvetaeva, a Russian poet. The name "Marina" traditionally has no short form.

Руслан (Ruslan), a character in Alexander Pushkin's poem Ruslan and Ludmila. The short form for Руслан (Ruslan) is Руся (Rusya).

Николай II (Nicholas II), the last Russian emperor. In private, his wife addressed him as Nicki, in the German manner, rather than Коля (Kolya), which is the East Slavic short form of his name.

The "short name" (Russian: краткое имя kratkoye imya), historically also "half-name" (Russian: полуимя poluimya), is the simplest and most common name derivative. Bearing no suffix, it is produced suppletively and always has the declension noun ending for both males and females, thus making short forms of certain unisex names indistinguishable: for example, Sasha (Russian: Саша) is the short name for both the masculine name Aleksandr (Alexander) and the feminine form Aleksandra (Alexandra).

Some names, such as Zhanna (Jeana) and Mark have no short forms, and others may have two (or more) different forms. In the latter case, one form is usually more informal than the other.

Veruschka, a German model, actress and artist. The name "Vera" is Slavic and literally means "Faith". "Veruschka" is the German spelling of one of the typical diminutive variants of this name.

Diminutive forms are produced from the "short name" by means of various suffixes; for example, Михаил Mikhail (full) — Миша Misha (short) — Мишенька Mishenka (affectionate) — Мишка Mishka (colloquial). If no "short name" exists, then diminutive forms are produced from the full form of the respective first name; for example, Марина Marina (full) — Мариночка Marinochka (affectionate) — Маринка Marinka (colloquial). Unlike the full name, a diminutive name carries a particular emotional attitude and may be unacceptable in certain contexts. Depending on the nature of the attitude, diminutive nameforms can be subdivided in three broad groups: affectionate, familiar and slang.

Typically formed by suffixes -еньк- (-yenk-), -оньк- (-onk-), -ечк- (-yechk-), -ушк (-ushk), as illustrated by the examples below. It generally emphasises a tender, affectionate attitude and is roughly analogous to German suffixes -chen, -lein, Japanese -chan and -tan and affectionate name-derived nicknames in other languages. It is often used to address children or intimate friends.

Within a more official context, this form may be combined with the honorific plural to address a younger female colleague.

In the Soviet film Чапаев (Chapayev) Анка-Пулемётчица (Anka the Machine Gunner) is depicted as a bold, active, and resolute girl who takes part in the Russian Civil War, shoulder-to-shoulder with her male comrades-in-arms. In this case, Анка (Anka) is a colloquial diminutive of the name Anna, emphasizing that she is "one of the guys".

Colloquial diminutives are derived from short names by the -к- ("-k-") suffix. Expressing a highly familiar attitude, the use may be considered rude or even pejorative outside a friendly context.

Колян (Kolyan), a character in the sitcom Реальные пацаны (Realnye patsany, Real Guys). Kolyan shows viewers the ridiculous side of the life of gopniks, a social group similar in many ways to British chavs.

Slang forms exist for male names and, since a few decades ago, female names. They are formed with the suffixes -ян (-yan), -он (-on), and -ок/ёк (-ok/yok). The suffixes give the sense of "male brotherhood" that was once expressed by the patronymic-only form of address in the Soviet Union. Originating in criminal communities, such forms came into wide usage in Russia in the 1990s.

During the days of the October Revolution, as part of the campaign to rid Russia of bourgeois culture, there was a drive to invent new, revolutionary names. As a result, many Soviet children were given unusual or atypical names, often being acronyms/initialisms besides many other names above.

Ksenya Kimovna Borodina, presenter of the TV reality show Dom-2. Her patronymic, "Kimovna", refers to the name of her father, "Kim", which is atypical for East European languages and is an acronym of Коммунистический интернационал молодёжи (Kommunistichesky Internatsional Molodyozhi, "Young Communist International").

Patronymic name is obligatory when addressing a person of higher social stance and/or on special occasions such as business meetings; for example, when pupil addresses a teacher, he is obliged to use both first and patronymic names – Russian: Марья Ивановна, могу я спросить..., lit. 'Marya Ivanovna, may I ask...'. Not using patronymic names in such situations is considered offensive.[1]

Addressing a person by patronymic name only is widespread among older generations (more often – "blue collar"-male coworkers) and serves as a display of close relationship based on not only sympathy but also mutual responsibility.[2]

The patronymic is formed by a combination of the father's name and suffixes. The suffix is -ович (-ovich) for a son, -овна (-ovna) – for a daughter. For example, if the father's name was Иван (Ivan), the patronymic will be Иванович (Ivanovich) for a son and Ивановна (Ivanovna) for a daughter.

If the suffix is being appended to a name ending in a й ("y") or a soft consonant, the initial o in the suffixes -ович (-ovich) and -овна (-ovna) becomes a е ("ye") and the suffixes change to -евич (-yevich) and -евна (-yevna). For example, if the father is Дмитрий (Dmitry), the patronymic is Дмитриевич (Dmitrievich) for a son and Дмитриевна (Dmitrievna) for a daughter. It is not Дмитрович (Dmitrovich) or Дмитровна (Dmitrovna) because the name Дмитрий (Dmitry) ends on "й" ("y");

For some names ending in a vowel, the suffix is -ич (-ich) for a son and -ична (-ichna) or -инична (-inichna) for a daughter; for example, Фока Foka (father's first name) — Фокич Fokich (male patronymic) — Фокична Fokichna (female patronymic); Кузьма Kuzma (father's first name) — Кузьмич Kuzmich (male patronymic) — Кузьминична Kuzminichna (female patronymic).

The name Rurik on a Viking Age runestone. All the kings of Kievan Rus had the patronymic Ruerikovichi.

Historical Russian naming conventions did not include surnames. A person's name included that of his father: e.g. Иван Петров сын (Ivan Petrov syn) which means "Ivan, son of Peter". That is the origin of most Russian -ov surnames.

Modern -ovich- patronyms were originally a feature of the royal dynasty (Рюриковичи, Ruerikovichi, Rurikids), which makes the Russian patronym in its original meaning being similar to German von. From the 17th century, the second name with suffix -ович (-ovich) was the privilege given by tsar to commoners. For example, in 1610, Tsar Vasili IV gave to the Stroganovs, who were merchants, the privilege to use patronyms. As a tribute for developing the salt industry in Siberia, Pyotr Stroganov and all his issue were allowed to have a name with -ovich. The tsar wrote in the chart dated on May 29, "... to write him with ovich, to try [him] in Moscow only, not to fee [him] by other fees, not to kiss a cross by himself [which means not to swear during any processions]"[3] In the 18th century, it was the family of merchants to have patronyms. By the 19th century, the -ovich form eventually became the default form of a patronymic.

Everyone in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus is supposed to have a tripartite name. Single mothers may give their children any patronym and this does not have any legal consequences. Foreigners who adopt Russian citizenship are exempted from having a patronym. Now, an adult person is entitled to change patronyms if necessary[4] such as to alienate themselves from the biological father (or to show respect for the adopted one) as well as to decide the same for an underage child.

In Russian, some common suffixes are -ов (-ov), -ев (-yev), meaning "belonging to" or "of the clan of/descendant of", e.g. Petrov = of the clan of/descendant of Petr (Peter), usually used for patronymic surnames or -ский (-sky), an adjectival form meaning "associated with" and usually used for toponymic surnames. Historically toponymic surnames may have been granted as a token of nobility, for example, the princely surname Shuysky is indicative of the princedom based on the ownership of Shuya. Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tavricheski, had the victory title 'Tavricheski' as part of his surname granted to him for the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire.

In the 19th and the early 20th centuries, -off was a common transliteration of -ov for Russian family names in foreign languages such as French and German (like for the Smirnoff and the Davidoff brands).

Surnames of Ukrainian and Belarusian origin use the suffixes -ко (-ko), -ук (-uk), and -ич (-ych). For example, the family name Писаренко (Pisarenko) is derived from the word for a scribe, and Ковальчук (Kovalchuk) refers to a smith.

Less often, some versions of family names will have no suffix, e.g. Lebed, meaning swan, and Zhuk, meaning beetle (but see also Lebedev and Zhukov).

Hyphenated surnames like Petrov-Vodkin are possible.

The Coat of Arms of the Романовы (Romanovs), the last Russian royal dynasty. The family name Романов (Romanov) means "pertaining to (the name) Roman".

Eastern Slavic languages are synthetic languages and have grammatical cases and grammatical gender. Unlike analytic languages like English, which use prepositions ("to", "at", "on" etc.) to show the links and relations between words in a sentence, Eastern Slavic suffixes are used much more broadly than prepositions. Words need the help of some suffix to integrate them into the sentence and to build a grammatically-correct sentence. That includes names, unlike in German. Family names are declined based on the Slavic case system.

As with Slavic adjectives, family names have different forms depending on gender. For example, the wife of Борис Ельцин (Boris Yel'tsin) was Наина Ельцина (Naina Yel'tsina). Only family names with neutral grammatical gender stay the same (such as those ending with -енко (-yenko)).

That change of grammatical gender is not considered to be changing the name that comes from a woman's father or husband (compare the equivalent rule in Polish, for example). The correct transliteration of such feminine names in English is debated: the names technically should be in their original form, but they sometimes appear in the masculine form.

The example of Иванов (Ivanov), a family name, will be used:

Family names are generally inherited from one's parents. As in English, on marriage, women usually adopt the family name of the husband, as in English; the opposite very rarely occurs. Rarely, both spouses keep their family name.

• The full three-name form (for instance, Иван Иванович Петров Ivan Ivanovich Petrov) is used mostly for official documents. Everyone in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus is supposed to have three names. This form is also used on some very formal occasions and for introducing oneself to a person who is likely to write down the full name, like a police officer. Then, the family name is often placed first (Петров Иван Иванович, Petrov Ivan Ivanovich).
• the form "first name + patronymic" (for instance, Иван Иванович, Ivan Ivanovich):
  • is the feature of official communication (for instance, students in schools and universities call their teachers in the form of "first name + patronymic" only);
  • may convey the speaker's respect for the recipient. Historically, patronymics were reserved for the royal dynasty (Рюриковичи, Ruerikovichi)
• The family name alone (Петров, Petrov) is used, much more rarely, in formal communications. It is commonly used by school teachers to address their students. Informally, Russians are starting to call people by their surnames alone for irony.
• For informal communication, only the first name is used: Иван Ivan. Even more informally, diminutives (several can be formed from one name) are often used.
• In rural areas, the patronymic name alone (Петрович Petrovich, Ивановна Ivanovna) is used by old people among themselves, but young people sometimes use the form for irony. Also, younger people can use the form for much older people for both respect and informality. For example, a much younger man with a very good relationship with his elder colleague may use a patronymic and the "ty" form, but using first name alone is generally inappropriate. Using a diminutive (like in most informal communication) would nearly always be very impolite.

The choice of addressing format is closely linked to the choice of second-person pronoun. Russian language distinguishes:

• informal ты (ty, "you", "thou" in old English);
• formal вы (vy, "you"); respectful Вы ("Vy", "You") may be capitalized, but plural вы ("vy", "you") is not.

Вы ("Vy") is the plural of both forms to address a pair or group. Historically, it comes from German, under Peter the Great, which uses "du and Sie" similarly.

Other than the use of patronymics, Russian forms of address in Russian are very similar to English ones.

Also, the meaning of form of address strongly depends on the choice of a V-T form:

Using a "ty" form with a person who dislikes it or on inappropriate occasions can be an insult, especially the surname alone.

Other Eastern Slavic languages use the same adjectives of their literal translation if they differ from Russian analogue. All Eastern Slavic languages are synthetic languages and grammatical genders are used. Thus, the suffix of an adjective changes with the sex of the recipient.

In Russian, adjectives before names are generally restricted to written forms of communication. Adjectives like Любимый / Любимая (lyubimiy / lyubimaya, "beloved") and Милый / Милая (miliy / milaya, "sweetheart") are informal, and Уважаемый / Уважаемая (uvazhayemiy / uvazhayemaya, literally "respected") is highly formal. Some adjectives, like Дорогой / Дорогая (dorogoy / dorogaya, "dear"), can be used in both formal and informal letters.