Russian Empire Naming Customs

Introduction
Traditional Russian names consist of three parts - the surname (фамилия), given name (имя) and patronymic (oтчество). The patronymic is a middle name derived from the given name of the father.

Surnames
Many Slavic surnames are created by adding possessive and other suffixes to given names, occupations, descriptions, residences, and other words.

Surnames came into use in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, but did not become common until the 18th century. In some cases, you'll have to rely only on given names and patronymics in research.

Given Names

 * The names of popular saints are known as "calendar names" from their occurrence in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar. A common custom is to name the baby for the saint who is the patron over their birthday. Such names include Ivan (Иван, "John"), Andrei (Андрей, "Andrew"), Yakov (Яков, "Jacob"), Yuri (Юрий, "George"), Tatyana (Татьяна, "Tatiana"), Maria (Мария, "Mary"), Avdotia (Авдотья, "Eudocia"), Elizaveta (Елизавета, "Elizabeth"), etc. The group of calendar names includes traditional names that used to be listed in orthodox menologia prior to the October Revolution and in popular calendars of the Soviet era that had been printed since the second half of the 19th century. 95% of the Russian-speaking population in the Soviet Union in the 1980s had calendar names.


 * Ancient Slavic names include Stanislav (Станислав), Rada (Рада) and Radomir (Радомир), and Dobromila. Old Russian names include Zhdan (Ждан), Peresvet (Пересвет), Lada (Лада), and Lyubava (Любава). Soviet-era names include Vilen (Вилен), Avangard (Авангард), Ninel (Нинель), and Era (Эра). Names borrowed from other languages include Albert (Альберт), Ruslan (Руслан), Zhanna (Жанна), and Leyla (Лейла).

Patronymics
The oтчество is a patronymic middle name derived from the name of the father. Male patronymics end in “oв/ov” or “oвич/ovich” while female patronymics end in “oвa/ova” or “oвна/ovna.” These endings literally mean son or daughter of. Thus, the patronymic allows us to determine the name of an individual’s father. Keep in mind that this is a traditional Russian naming practice, but other ethnic groups (Jews, Germans from Russia, etc.) living in the former Russian empire may have patronymics recorded in their records. These will help you to determine the name of the father.

For Further Reading
Many countries that were formerly a part of the Russian Empire have their own naming customs. See the articles below.


 * Lithuania Personal Names