Learn all the basic facts about names in Russian
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Russian Teachers Answer Your Questions - Lesson #9 - How Do Russian Names Work? |
Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do Russian names work? |
| Saodat: And what is special about Russian names? |
| Michael: At RussianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Let's consider the following situation. Sasha Li was curious about her friend, Dobromir Denisenko's, full name, so she asked, |
| "What's your full name?" |
| Какое у тебя полное имя? (Kakoye u tebya polnoye imya?) |
| Dialogue |
| Саша Ли: Какое у тебя полное имя? (Kakoye u tebya polnoye imya?) |
| Добромир Денисенко: Добромир Димитриевич Денисенко. (Dobromir Dimitriyevich Denisenko.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Саша Ли: Какое у тебя полное имя? (Kakoye u tebya polnoye imya?) |
| Michael: "What's your full name?" |
| Добромир Денисенко: Добромир Димитриевич Денисенко. (Dobromir Dimitriyevich Denisenko.) |
| Michael: "Dobromir Dimitrievich Denisenko." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A person's name is the most important word in the world for that individual. It's the greatest connection that they have with their identity. Just as a name is unique to the person who bears it, so are naming practices different from culture to culture. In Russia, for instance, names, or |
| Saodat: имена (imena) |
| Michael: work a little bit differently from, let's say, English or Spanish. |
| In most cultures, full names consist of a first name, a second name—or even third name, sometimes—and a last name. In Russia, full names consist of a first name, |
| Saodat: имени (imeni) |
| Michale: a patronymic, |
| Saodat: отчества (otchestva) |
| Michael: and a last name, |
| Saodat: фамилии (Familii) |
| Michael: Russia is not the only culture that uses patronymics in names, but in this lesson, we'll take a look at how exactly they are used in Russian naming practices. In the simplest sense, a patronymic is a derivative from the name of the father, or |
| Saodat: отца (ottsa). |
| Michael: It is customary in Russia to use patronymics, particularly as middle names. They usually end with |
| Saodat: -ович (-ovich) |
| Michael: or |
| Saodat: евич (-evich) |
| Michael: for boy's names, and |
| Saodat: -овна (-ovna) |
| Michael: or |
| Saodat: -евна (-evna) |
| Michael: for girls' names. So, if my father's name is Ivan, for example, my patronymic would be |
| Saodat: Иванович (Ivanonich) |
| Michael: and if I have a sister, her patronymic would be |
| Saodat: Ивановна (Ivanova) |
| [Recall] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at our dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Dobromir Denisenko says "Dobromir Dimitrievich Denisenko"? |
| Saodat: Добромир Димитриевич Денисенко. (Dobromir Dimitriyevich Denisenko.) |
| Michael: Dobromir was asked what his full name was, and indeed he answered as every Russian would respond to this question, giving his first name, patronymic, and last name. Like what we've discussed, a male's patronymic ends in either |
| Saodat: -ович (-ovich) |
| Michael: or |
| Saodat: евич (-evich) |
| Michael: Here, Dobromir's patronymic is based on the name of his father, |
| Saodat: Димитрий (Dimitriy) |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that Russian names make use of patronymics, which is derived from the name of a person's father and used as that person's middle name. |
| Let's have a look at some Russian famous names and their patronymics. |
| First, we have the author of the book "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," |
| Saodat: Лев Николаевич Толстой (Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy) |
| Michael: You can extract from his full name that his father was named |
| Saodat: Николай (Nikolay) |
| Michael: Next is the Russian Cosmonaut and the first person in space, |
| Saodat: Юрий Алексеевич Гагарин (Yuriy Alekseyevich Gagarin) |
| Michael: whose father's name would be |
| Saodat: Алексей (Aleksey) |
| Michael: based on the patronymic. Let's have a look at one last example, the Russian composer known inter alia for "The Swan Lake," |
| Saodat: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский (Pyotr Il'ich Chaykovskiy) |
| Michael: And also here, you can read from his full name that his father's name was, |
| Saodat: Илья (Il'ya). |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Michael: Aside from patronymics, Russian names also make use of "short forms," or |
| Saodat: кратких форм (kratkikh form) |
| Michael: All Russian names have more than one short form or diminutive version. This can be confusing for some, but you'll get used to it the more you study the Russian culture. There are a few things to remember about short names. First, they don't always sound like the names from which they've been derived. The most common model for forming a short name is by adding |
| Saodat: -ша (-sha) |
| Michael: to the initial syllable. For instance, |
| Saodat: Мария (Mariya) |
| Michael: is usually called |
| Saodat: Маша (Masha) |
| Michael: and |
| Saodat: Павел (Pavel) |
| Michael: is also called |
| Saodat: Паша (Pasha). |
| Michael: In some cases, it's the beginning of the full name that is replaced and not the ending. For instance, Ivan becomes |
| Saodat: Ваня (Vanya). |
| Michael: There are even cases when only the middle bit of the name is retained, so that Alexander becomes |
| Saodat: Саша (Sasha). |
| Michael: The differences of the mechanisms may sometimes produce two versions for the same name, so that Dmitry can be shortened and become |
| Saodat: Дима (Dima) |
| Michael: or |
| Saodat: Митя (Mitya) |
| Michael: Some names may even have up to 30 forms! This may be difficult to comprehend at first, but how it works is that full forms are often used in formal settings. It's like when you meet a person for the first time. Initially, you refer to the person by their full name, but as you get to know each other better, you no longer do that and call them by their short name or nickname |
| Saodat: по прозвищу (po prozvishchu) |
| Michael: You may even use a diminutive as a term of endearment once you become very close with the person. In this case, a particular suffix is added to the short name. For example, Sasha becomes |
| Saodat: Сашенька (Sashen'ka) |
| Michael: Vanya becomes |
| Saodat: Ванечка (Vanechka) |
| Michael: and Masha becomes |
| Saodat: Машенька (Mashen'ka) |
| Michael: Such names are used affectionately, mostly by parents when addressing their children, or sometimes between two people who are romantically involved. A shortened version of these names, such as |
| Saodat: Сашка (Sashka) |
| Michael: or |
| Saodat: Машка (Mashka), |
| Michael: is often used between close friends or family members. It's super informal and may even sound vulgar, so try to avoid it if you are not sure. Remember, full names are used in formal situations, while short forms or diminutives are used between close friends, relatives, or colleagues. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: We can't talk about Russian names without talking about Name Day, or in Russian |
| Saodat: именины (imeniny) |
| Michael: Name Day is a tradition observed in some European and American countries, particularly among the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox religions. It's similar to a birthday, or |
| Saodat: день рождения (den' rozhdeniya) |
| Michael: only that it's more of a celebration of a person's given name. For instance, if a Russian person is named after a Christian saint, that person will have the opportunity to celebrate during the feast day of that saint. The celebration begins with the family attending divine services, such as the Eastern Orthodox All-Night Vigil, or |
| Saodat: всенощное бдение (vsenoshchnoye bdeniye) |
| Michael: It is then followed by some festivities at home or another venue. Before the 1917 October Revolution, name days were regarded as important by most Russians. They were even regarded as more important than birthdays. When religious observance dwindled during Soviet times, the tradition was ignored and became less important. Nowadays, name days are not celebrated that much, especially since not a lot of Russians are named after Christian saints anymore. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Saodat: Пока! (Poka!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
Comments
Hide