Word Lust

GUIDE TO RUSSIAN NAMES

Ah Russian novels! What a glorious tradition! The names—Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekov, Sholokov, Pasternak, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn—they roll off our tongues, like drumbeats under a stormy sky.

But to properly appreciate Russian novels, you must know the following:

Russian names have 3 parts: First name, Patronymic, Last name / Surname

So Ivan Yurievic Kolarov is a guy called Ivan, who is the son of someone called Yuri, who both have a surname called Kolarov.

The female patronymic would be Yurievna (Natalia Yurievna), sister of Ivan, daughter of old Yuri.

First names have dimunitives (nicknames, short, used with affection). Ivan could be at some point Vanya, Vanyusha, Vanka. Alexander could be Sasha, Sanya, Shurik, Shura…

Shasha could refer to a man, Aleksandr or a woman, Aleksandra.

When people address each other, they could do so by just the surname, just the first name, or by first name and patronymic. “Ivan Yurievic, can you get me a cup of tea?’

So Yuri, Yura, Yurochka, Yuri Andreyevich and Zhivago are all the same person.

One other thing – 19th century Russia had a strong French influence, so sometimes they could use foreign (non-Russian) names. So Elena might shed her delicate Odenburg shawl, wear a Parisian dress, and become Helen at some point. Elisaveta could be Elisabeth, or even Betsy!

So our if friend Ivan, (son of Yuri) himself has a son called Yuri, then the boy would be called Yuri Ivanovic Kolarov, son of Ivan Yurievic Kolarov. Pay close attention, because one of them is going to kill the other at some point, and you want to know which vic did away with the other.

Russian novels usually have a long cast of characters and family tree etc. right at the beginning. Bookmark this page, for you’re going to need it!