Russia
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A full Russian name consists of personal (given) name, patronymic, and family name (surname).
Most Russian family names originated from patronymics, that is, father's name usually formed by adding the adjective suffix -ov(a) or -ev(a)). Contemporary patronymics, however, have a substantive suffix -ich for masculine and the adjective suffix -na for feminine.
For example, the proverbial triad of most common Russian surnames follows:
- Ivanov (son of Ivan),
- Petrov (son of Petr),
- Sidorov (son of Sidor).
Feminine forms of these surnames have the ending -a:
- Ivanova (daughter of Ivan),
- Petrova (daughter of Petr),
- Sidorova (daughter of Sidor).
Such a pattern of name formation is not unique to Russia or even to the Eastern and Southern Slavs in general; quite common are also names derived from professions, places of origin, and personal characteristics, with various suffixes (e.g. -in(a) and -sky (-skaia)).
Professions:
- kuznets (smith) → Kuznetsov—Kuznetsova
- portnoi (tailor) → Portnov—Portnova
- pastukh (shepherd) → Pastukhov—Pastukhova
Places of origin:
- Moskva (Moscow) → Moskvin—Moskvina,
- Smolensk → Smolensky—Smolenskaia,
- Riazan → Riazanov—Riazanova,
Personal characteristics:
- tolsty (stout, fat) → Tolstov—Tolstova, Tolstoy—Tolstaya,
- nos (nose) → Nosov—Nosova,
- sedoi (grey-haired or -headed) → Sedov—Sedova.
A considerable number of “artificial” names exists, for example, those given to seminary graduates; such names were based on Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church or Christian virtues.
Great Orthodox Feasts:
- rozhdestvo (Christmas) → Rozhdestvensky—Rozhdestvenskaia,
- voskresenie (Resurrection) → Voskresensky—Voskresenskaia,
- uspenie (Assumption) → Uspensky—Uspenskaia,
Christian virtues:
- philagathos (one who loves goodness) → Dobrolubov—Dobrolubova, Dobrolubsky—Dobrolubskaia,
- philosophos (one who loves wisdom) → Lubomudrov—Lubomudrova,
- theophilos (one who loves God) → Bogolubov—Bogolubova.
Many freed serfs were given surnames after those of their former owners. For example, a serf of the Demidov family might be named Demidovsky, which translates roughly as "belonging to Demidov" or "one of Demidov's bunch".
Grammatically, Russian family names follow the same rules as other nouns or adjectives (names ending with -oy, -aya are grammatically adjectives), with exceptions: some names do not change in different cases and have the same form in both genders (for example, Sedykh).
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