Geni naming conventions - Russia

Geni naming conventions - Russia

Formerly called “Naming conventions for Russian Empire and Tsardom”
Last updated 16 December 2023

• Use ordinary case. Name Preference Settings can be used to change how names are displayed to your personal preference.
• Name as close to original name as possible, language, geography and time period to be taken into consideration.
• Patronymics in the Middle Name field.
• Adjust First Name field to avoid misunderstandings or mistaken identity where necessary, by adding order/number or byname.
• All names a person is known by in any source listed in Nicknames: bynames (especially in English), additional titles, variations.
• Document name sources.

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https://www.geni.com/discussions/87807

Russian naming conventions, from a historical point of view, are difficult. There is quite a blur as to what the rules are and when they were applied. Plus there are always exceptions.

In general:

The first name is the given name, Christian or Russian. If the first name is Russian they will be given a Christian name when baptized, and that may replace the Russian given name.

The middle name would be a patronymic the male version meaning son of (adding in, yn, ov, ev) and the female versions meaning daughter of (adding ina, yna, ova, ovna, eva, evna). The ending vich was common among the upper classes with restrictions, and varies by location.

The middle names could also be a metronymic, based on the mother's name. Versions also exsist for grandparents. Also middle names could be formed from an occupation as opposed to a parent's name.

Historically the given and the patronymic were the only names used up until modern times.

As time went by, the patronymic evolved into a last name. The uses of this varies greatly, not becoming the standard until more recently.

Titles were, for the most part, a foreign concept and when used are usually derived from foreign words. Tsar meaning Caesar, etc.

The most important rule is that there are exceptions to all the rules. For the most part, people we remember from history, we remember by a certain name although, in reality, they may have been known by any of a number of a mixture of names.

Here is a link to an excellent, more detailed explanation:

http://heraldry.sca.org/paul/zgrammar.html

Examples

Maxim Gorky:
Aleksei Maximovich Peshkov Gorky is actually a pseudonym meaning "bitter".
First Name: Aleksei / Алексей
Middle Name: Maximovich / Максимович
Last Name: Peshkov / Пешков
Maiden Name: Blank
Display Name: Maxim Gorky
Suffix: Blank
Nickname: Aleksei Maximovich Peshkov, Алексей Максимович Пешков, Maxim Gorky, Bitter
Birth name: Алексей Максимович Пешков
Title: Blank
Prefix: Blank

Ivan "The Terrible":
First Name: Ivan IV / Иван IV
Middle Name: Blank
Last Name: Vasilyevich / Васи́льевич​
Maiden Name: Blank
Display Name: Ivan IV of Russia
Suffix: Blank
Nickname: Ivan the Terrible, Ива́н Четвёртый, Ivan Groznyi, Ива́н Грозный
Birth name: Ива́н Васи́льевич​
Title: Ivan IV Vasilyevich Grand Prince of Moscow
Prefix: Blank

Empress Catherine ll:
First Name: Catherine II / Екатерина II
Middle Name: Blank
Last Name Blank
Maiden Name: Blank
Display Name: Empress Catherine II of Russia
Suffix: Empress of Russia
Nickname: Catherine the Great, Екатерина Великая, Katharina die Große, Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, Figchen, Little Frederica
Birth name: Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg
Title: Her Serene Highness Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseievna of Russia, Her Imperial Majesty The Empress of all the Russias, Her Imperial Majesty The Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias
Prefix: Blank

Also it would be wonderful if we had a field for "Royal House" or "Dynasty", people keep trying to insert this information into the name fields.

Russian given name < Wikipedia >

Establishment of Russian naming tradition

Icon "Минеи на год" (Russian: Minei na god, Year calendar) picturing all saints organized by their respective days. This kind of icon was exhibited in a church, so that even the illiterate could consult them at any moment.

Adoption of Christianity led to introduction of completely new, foreign names that were tightly connected to baptism ceremony: according to Christian tradition baptism presumes giving Christian name. Names were given according to special books – minei Месячные минеи, which described religious services, ceremonies for each day, including which saint to praise. Religious tradition dictated that children should be named in honor of a saint, praised on the day of baptism. Sometimes on birthday, sometimes any day between birth and baptism. Minei were extremely expensive, so some churches couldn't afford them. One possible solution was to use menologia (Месяцеслов, святцы) – calendars with brief listing of religious celebrations and Saints days.

Minei were among the first books to be translated into Russian from Greek. With a rare exceptions names were not translated, preserving their original pronunciation. Their meaning was completely obscure for vast majority of people and they were perceived as alien. This state of things led on the one hand to long coexistence of Christian and pagan names and to active assimilation and transformation of Christian names.

Coexistence of old and new names

Christian and pagan names coexisted up to the 17th century. One of the reasons is that parents could not choose a name for a child freely – a newborn was baptized according to the menologium. Sometimes several children in one family would bear one name. Furthermore, the total number of names in the menologium at the time didn't exceed 400. Pagan nicknames being more diverse and less restrictive provided a convenient way to distinguish people bearing one name.

A practice established in the 14th to 16th centuries supposed giving two names: a baptismal name (usually modified) and a nickname. For example: Trofimko Czar (Torpes the Czar), Fedka Knyazets, Karp Guba, Prokopiy Gorbun (Procopius the Humpback), Amvrosiy Kovyazin, Sidorko Litvin. This practice was widespread in all stratas. Boyar Andrei Kobyla (lit. Andrew the Mare) a progenitor of Romanov dynasty and some other boyar families man serve as an example as well his sons' names: Semyon Zherebets (Semyon the Stallion), Aleksandr Yolka (Alexandre the Spruce), Fyodor Koshka (Fyodor the Cat). Craftsmen did name their children in the same manner. For example, Ivan Fyodorov the first man to print a book often signed as Ivan Fyodorov, son of Moskvit (Иван Фёдоров сын Москвитин may also be translated as Ivan son of Fyodor, the moscovite).

Influence of Russian Orthodox church steadily grew in 11th–14th centuries, its influence as a consolidating religious force after Mongol invasion of Rus and during period of feudal fragmentation in Kiev Rus became especially important. Unification of Russian feudal states also contributed to raise of church's influence on policy and society. Under influence of the church many knyazes, descendants of Rurik, began to abandon their pagan names in favor of Christian names.

Separation of Baptismal, Popular and Literary forms

In XVII names divided in the three distinct forms: popular (spoken), literary and baptismal (church form). This process was boosted by Patriarch Nikon's reform. One of the ventures he undertook was to correct religious books, which had accumulated a lot of errors and misreading as they used to be copied by sometimes illiterate scribes. As a result, religious services differed in different parts of the country. Patriarch Nikon set goal to unify service in Russia and to correct errors in religious books (including menologia). New translations from Greek were made to achieve this goal. Corrected versions were printed in 1654.

Early Soviet Union

Since 1924 Gosizdat started issuing calendars similar to those that had existed prior to the Revolution. This new kind of calendars included traditional but rare names given without reference to saints as well as new names. New names comprised non-baptismal names, both Russian and Slavic, borrowed names and newly formed names. Calendars of 1920-30 being a good reference wasn't the only source of names. As mentioned above, parents were free to pick any name they wished, and this freedom led to active name formation, which later was dubbed "anthroponymic bang".

Icon of Chetyi-Minei (calendar of saints).In the very center is the Resurrection of Christ surrounded by scenes from Holy Week and the feasts of the Paschal cycle. Around them are twelve groupings of saints: one for each month of the calendar year. In the border are icons of the Theotokos (Mother of God), each of which has a feast day during the liturgical year.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheryi-minei.jpg (Public domain)

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References

• “Why do Russians need 3 names? And how are they used?” < link >
• “Russian Names” < link >
• “ Russian given name” < Wikipedia >