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As you have maybe noticed, all Russian names in their full form are composed of
three parts (names): a Given Name or First Name,
a Patronymic, a Surname or Second Name.
These three names are:
Given Name
The given name has the same function like in English speaking countries and in most other
European languages. Its a individual name which is usually given to a person by his
parents almost immediately after his birth.
Patronymic
The patronymic, i. e. the Father's Name is usualy on the
second position and always after the Given Name. It is composed from one's
father's name (sometimes abbreviated) with an addition of the suffix -vich,
-evich or -ovich in a male's name, and -vna,
-evna or -ovna in a female's one. Here you can find some examples of the
patronymics composition:
Male:
- Sergeyevich = Sergey + evich, i. e. son of Sergey;
- Pavlovich = Pav(e)l + ovich, i. e. son of Pavel;
- Ilyich = Ily(a) + (v)ich, i. e. son of Ilya.
Female:
- Alekseyevna = Aleksey + evna, i. e. daughter of Aleksey;
- Ivanovna = Ivan + ovna, i. e. daughter of Ivan;
- Lvovna = L(e)v + ovna, i. e. daughter of Lev.
Some Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Serbian or other Slavic surnames can be similar to the
patronymic (even if sometimes in English they are spelled in a different way),
but they are still surnames, i. e. Rostropovich, Marcykiewicz
(pronounced: Martsikevich), Milosevic (pronounced: Miloshevich), etc.
Surname
The surname has usually two forms: a male form and a female form. Most
of the Russian surnames are composed with the use of the following three suffixes:
-ov or -ev (in the male form) and
-ova and -eva (in the female form),
i. e. Gorbachov and Gorbachova,
Lushnikov and Lushnikova, Romanov and Romanova. In the
old transcription of these surnames with Latin letters you can also see the suffix -off in the
male form, i. e. Smirnoff;
-in and -yn (in the male form)
and -ina and -yna (in the female form),
i. e. Putin and Putina,
Ustiuzhanin and Ustiuzhanina, Solzhenitsyn and Solzhenitsyna;
-sky (in the male form) and -skaya (in the female form)
i. e. Kandinsky and Kandinskaya, Dostoyevsky and Dostoyevskaya,
Karetsky and Karetskaya.
The Russians put the three names in such orders:
- Given Name, Patronymic, Surname
- Surname, Given Name, Patronymic
In English text only the first order is used (except ABC lists, encyclopedias, etc.). The patronymic is used mostly in
formal writing and talks, in other conditions it is usualy ommited.
It is also a habit to address to one's superior (in age or in social position)
with his or her given name followed by the patronymic, i. e. Piotr Ivanovich, Mikhail Sergeyevich, etc.
Such addresses can be used by a schoolboy or a schoolgirl to his or her teacher,
by a employée to his or her boss, etc. They are less formal than a complete form
(given name, patronymic, surname) or Gospodin/Gospozha (Mr./Ms.)
followed by one's surname.
Related topic: The Origins of the Kandinsky Surname.
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