Russia

Russia – General

Dictionnaire des noms de famille du Russie. Egv-Editions.

Amburger, E. (1993). Erfundene familiennamen für illegitime kinder insbesondere in den baltischen provinzen und in Russland. Jahrbncher Für Geschichte Osteuropas , 41(4), 562-577.
Notes: [Surnames created for illegitimate children, in particular in the Baltic provinces and Russia]. 18c-19c.
Abstract: Publisher’s abstract author abstract "Surnames given to illegitimate offspring, in particular to those of the upper classes in the Baltic provinces and Russia, followed a number of patterns including: a variation of the father’s name (Derschau to Gerschau, Manteuffel to Mandevil); a combination of the father and mother’s name (Igelstr÷m and Meyer to Meyerstr÷m, Bibikov and Bariatinski to Bibitinski); place names (for example, Menzendorf, after Menzen, an estate in Livonia, for the two children of Paul von Krndener and Elise Moller); and allegory (Liubimov from Liubov’ [love] and Herzen [heart]). Illegitimate daughters frequently married into the nobility while the parental objective for sons was that they be raised to the nobility and enjoy its privileges."

Auswaks, A. (1985). What Mrs Garnett never told us (Russian surnames). Verbatim, 11(3), 10-11.

Baecklund, A. (1959-). Personal names in medieval Velikij Novgorod (Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis No. 9). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
Notes: Bibliography: v. 1, p. [9]-16
Contents: 1. Common names

Beider, A. (1993). A dictionary of Jewish surnames from the Russian Empire. Teaneck : New Jersey: Avotaynu Inc.

Benson, M. (1964). The stress of Russian surnames. Slavic and East European Journal, (8), 42-53.
Abstract: Lawson1: "Systematically discusses the patterns of stress in Rusian surnames. Although there are many exceptions, most names have a penultimate stress. 11 refs."

Benson, M. (1967). Dictionary of Russian personal names with a guide to stress and morphology (2d ed., rev. ed.). (University of Pennsylvania studies in East European languages and literatures . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Notes: Bibliography: p. 173-175
Added Title: Russian personal names

Benson, M. (1992). Dictionary of Russian personal names : with a revised guide to stress and morphology. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Notes: published Pennsylvania U.P./Oxford U.P. in 1964
Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-174)
Abstract: Lawson1: "Covers 23,000 surnames and includes proper accentuation. Builds on the work of Unbegaun, Stankiewicz, and St Clair Sobell. 35 refs, most in Russian"

Benson, M. f. o. c. (1964). Dictionary of Russian personal names with a guide to stress and morphology (University of Pennsylvania studies in East European languages and literatures. [from old catalog] . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Notes: Added Title: Russian personal names

Boxer, D., & Gritsenko, E. (2005). Women and surnames across cultures: reconstituting identity in marriage. Women and Language, 28(2 (Fall)), 1-11.
Notes: Refs. Tables
Abstract: This study assesses the current state of affairs in women’s naming choices across two speech communities in two languages. Through questionnaire and ethnographic data we study how women in the US and Russia address the surname issue when faced with marriage or partnership. The analysis is carried out from the perspective of cross-cultural anthropological linguistics. Our data lend insights into how naming choices affect one’s individual, social and professional identity; moreover, our findings indicate that even more critical than the identity issue is the question of what such social labeling choices mean in terms of reflecting and perpetuating the gendered power hierarchy of a society

Bæcklund, A. (1986). The names of women in medieval Novgorod. in: M. Halle, H. G. Lunt, H. McLean, & C. H. v. Schooneveld For Roman Jakobson: Essays on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday (pp. 19-24). The Hague: Holland : Mouton, R.

Central Intelligence Agency. (1968). Russian personal names. Washington.

Central Intelligence Agency. (1971). Comprehensive listing of Russian surnames with transliterated English forms. s.l: s.n.
Notes: Contents: pt. 1. Russian Cyrillic alphabetical order.–pt. 2. English alphabetical order

Davis, P. A. (1968). Soviet Russian given names. Names, 16, 95-104.

Deatherage, M. E. (1962). Soviet surnames : a handbook. Oberammergau, Germany: U.S. Army Foreign Area Specialist Training Program (Russian).
Notes: In 2 parts. Part 1-56 pages : Part 2 -333 pages
Abstract: Lawson1: "Part 1 contains an extensive introduction to patterns of surnaming among the peoples of Russia and the Baltic areas. This includes Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian, Jewish, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian, as well as Russian. Part 2 is a listing of 30,000 surnames in Cyrillic script in alphabetical order showing the pronunciation stress. The naes are just listed. No meanings or derivations are shown. 13 refs."

Hagedorn, J. (2001). Die entwicklung Russischer und Südwestrussischer systeme männlicher personennamen im 14-16 jahrhundert. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen.
Notes: fulltext: [link no longer available]

Kaiser, D. H. (1995). Naming cultures in early modern Russia. Harvard Ukrainian Studies, 19, 271-291.
Notes: 17c-18c.
Abstract: Publisher’s abstract "Traces patterns in the usage of proper names in early modern Russia. Despite the Christianization of Rus’ in the 10th century, names tended to reflect personal characteristics, geographic location, birth order, and likeness to animals and objects. Not until the end of the 17th century did Muscovite children exclusively bear names based on the Christian calendar. A dynamic process throughout the centuries, the naming system ultimately evolved to reflect social distinctions as well as differences in urban-rural cultural values."

Kalakutskaya, L. P. Declension Of Surnames And Personal Names In The Russian Literary Language.
Notes: check ref

Kolonitski, B. I., & Smith, S. A. (1993). Revolutionary names: Russian personal names and political consciousness in the 1920s and 1930s. Revolutionary Russia, 6(2), 210-228.
Notes: 1917-30’s.
Abstract: Publisher’s abstract "Looks at the names given to Russian children in the period following the Russian Revolution in an attempt to determine the political consciousness of the parents."

Kolonitskii, B. I. (1993). ‘Revolutionary names’: Russian personal names and political consciousness in the 1920s and 1930s. Revolutionary Russia, 6(2), 210-228.

Kon, K. (1998). Russian and Serbian Anthroponymy in terms of Linguoculturology. Slavica Slovaca, 33(1), 18-25.
Abstract: Author abstract: "The Orthodox civilization model has exerted a powerful influence on most of the anthroponymic fields of the Russian and Serbian language. This paper analyses that influence in the sphere of anthroponymy (individual and group personal names). The author shows identical features, similarities and differences between the Russian and Serbian anthroponymic systems with respect to their qualitative structure (the relation between canonic and noncanonic personal names, the status of common names and the names which are characteristic for other confessions), to their statistical structure, social characteristics and their associative and phonic qualities."

Lawson, E., & Nevo, N. (2005). "Russian given names : their pronunciation, meaning & frequency". Names, 53(1/2), 49-76.

Lawson, E. D. Religious, patriotic, ethnic factors and names. in: A. I. Boullón (editor), Novi te ex nomine : estudos filolóxicos ofrecidos ao Prof. Dr. Dieter Kremer (pp. 203-212). Santiago de Compestela, Galicia (Spain): Biblioteca Filolóxica Galega.
Abstract: "Names from Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Azerbaijan reflect political changes since the Czars. Russian occupation produced more patriotic names in the Baltics" source of abstract : ed lawson

Naylor, K. E. (1975). Russian Surnames. General Linguistics, 15(2 (Summer)), 127-131.

Nikonov, V. A. (1983). The Geography of Russian Surnames. Voprosy Yazykoznaniya, 32(2 (Mar-Apr)), 90-101.

Novitskaia, A. P. (1991). Vybor familii russkimi pri vstuplenii v brak. Sovetskaia Etnografiia , (6), 98-105.
Notes: : [Choice of surnames by Russians at marriage].
Abstract: Publisher’s abstract "Records of weddings concluded between 1950 and 1983 in Moscow, the Ruzskii Raion of the Moscow Oblast’, Kishinev, Tbilisi, Tallinn, and Tashkent revealed that most Russian women took their husbands’ surnames, while a negligible number of men adopted their wives’ surnames. Comparatively high percentages of Russian brides retained their maiden names by the 1980’s in Moscow, Tashkent, and Tbilisi, particularly when the groom was not Russian."

Pakszys, T. Russian surnames of the 15th Century through the 17th Century.
Notes: check ref

Pauls, J. P. (1960). Surnames of Soviet Russian and other communist celebrities. Names, (8), 220-239.
Abstract: Lawson1: "Gives surname meanings of 240 Eastern bloc leaders who appear frequently in the press. Countries included are Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Examples include: Brezhnev (‘cautious’), Shostakovich (‘sixth male child’ or ‘one who has fingers’), and Lysenko ‘bald-headed’."

Plakans, A., & Wetherell, C. (2000). Patrilines, surnames, and family identity: a case study from the Russian Baltic provinces in the nineteenth century. History of the Family, 5(2), 199-214.
Abstract: Publisher’s abstract "The imperial decrees emancipating the serfs of the Russian Baltic provinces (1816-20) included the requirement that serfs, who would now become free peasants and obtain legal standing, have both a first name and a surname, the latter of their own choosing. The article examines the process through which Baltic peasants obtained surnames and analyzes the choices they made. On the Pinkenhof estate in Livonia, emancipated serfs most often chose surnames that reflected their place of residence but also frequently chose names from the natural world, occupations, and other similar sources. The acquisition of surnames helped to consolidate family and lineage identity, which had been difficult in the preemancipation period when individuals bore only a first name plus the name of the place in which they were currently residing, the latter changing as they moved."

Room, A. (1983). Russian personal names since the Revolution. Journal of Russian Studies, (45 : 46), 19-24 : 13-18.
Notes: across 2 issues

Selishchev, A. M. (1979). Changes in surnames and given names. Soviet Anthropology and Archeology, 17(4), 46-60.
Abstract: Lawson1: "A number of Russians have been changing their pre-Revolutionary surnames. Many of these are considered insulting or ridiculing. Some are changing to new surnames such as leninski and Stal’. 2 refs."

Stankiewicz, E. (1957). The expression of affection in Russian proper names. Slavic and East European Journal, 1.

Stieger, C. (1980). The relationship between the oligarchy of the Novgorod aristocracy and the formation of surnames. Jahrbucher Fur Geschichte Osteuropas, 28(3), 355-367.

Struminskkyj, B. (1977). Surnames in -kevic, -xevic, -gevic. Names, 25, 119-123.
Abstract: Lawson1: "Consideration of the presence of surnames ending in -kevic in Lithuania, White Russia, Lithuanian Ukraine, and Polish settlements in the 15th and 16th centuries"

Struminskyj, B. (1977). Surnames in —kevic//—xevic//—gevic. Names, 25(3), 119-123.
Notes: 15c-18c.
Abstract: Publisher’s abstract "Examines the origins of Polish-Lithuanian surnames from Russia, 15th-18th centuries, which contained the phonemes –kevic, –xevic, and –gevic."

Superanskoj, A. V. (1970). Spravochnik lichnykh imyon narody RSFSR. Moscow: Russkij Yazyk.
Notes: [A guide to personal names of the peoples of the Russian Soviet Federated SocialistRepublic.]

Unbegaun, B. O. (1972). Russian surnames. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Abstract: Lawson1: "Comprehensive description of thousands of Russian surnames. Includes non-Slavic and Jewish surnames. Indexing includes surname endings."

Unbegaun, B. O. (1995). Russkie familii. Moscow: Progress.
Notes: Title on added t.p.: Russian surnames

Wierzbicka, A. (1996). Russian Personal Names: The Semantics of Expressive Derivation. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics, (39-40), 313-354.
Notes: ?also published in: Folia Slavica 9: 314-354

Russia – Genetics

Balanovsky, O. P., Buzhilova. A.P., & Balanovskaya, E. V. (2001). The Russian Gene Pool: Gene Geography of Surnames. Russian Journal of Genetics, 37(7), 807-822.
Abstract: Ingenta: Surnames are traditionally used in population genetics as ‘quasi-genetic’ markers (i.e., analogs of genes) when studying the structure of the gene pool and the factors of its microevolution. In this study, spatial variation of Russian surnames was analyzed with the use of computer-based gene geography. Gene geography of surnames was demonstrated to be promising for population studies on the total Russian gene pool. Frequencies of surnames were studied in 64 sel’sovets (rural communities; a total of 33 thousand persons) of 52 raions (districts) of 22 oblasts (regions) of the European part of Russia. For each of 75 widespread surnames, an electronic map of its frequency was constructed. Summary maps of principal components were drawn based on all maps of individual surnames. The first 5 of 75 principal components accounted for half of the total variance, which indicates high resolving power of surnames. The map of the first principal component exhibits a trend directed from the northwestern to the eastern regions of the area studied. The trend of the second component was directed from the southwestern to the northern regions of the area studied, i.e., it was close to latitudinal. This trend almost coincided with the latitudinal trend of principal components for three sets of data (genetic, anthropological, and dermatoglyphical). Therefore, the latitudinal trend may be considered the main direction of variation of the Russian gene pool. The similarity between the main scenarios for the genetic and quasi-genetic markers demonstrates the effectiveness of the use of surnames for analysis of the Russian gene pool. In view of the dispute between R. Sokal and L.L. Cavalli-Sforza about the effects of false correlations, the maps of principal components of Russian surnames were constructed by two methods: through analysis of maps and through direct analysis of original data on the frequencies of surnames. An almost complete coincidence of these maps (correlation coefficient = 0.96) indicates that, taking into account the reliability of the data, the resultant maps of principal components have no errors of false correlations

Elchinova, G. I., Kadoshnikova, M. Y., & Mamedova, R. A. (1991). Revealing the peculiarities of population genetic structures by the descriptive method of genetic landscape. Genetika, 27(11), 1994-2001.
Abstract: It was found that using surnames as genetical markers in rural Russian populations gives adequate results under conditions of working on the area not extending over the territory of 2 or 3 adjacent regions

Elchinova, G. I., Kadoshnikova, M. Y., Mamedova, R. A., Bookina, A. M., Petrova, N. V., & Startseva, E. A. (1991). On frequency criterion of surnames choice for the study of genetic structure of populations. Genetika, 27(2), 358-360.
Abstract: On the example of 7 populations of the regional level allowability of using surnames with frequencies exceeding 0.001 in adequate estimation of the population structure indeces is shown.

Elchinova, G. I., Kadoshnikova, M. Y., Mamedova, R. A., & Brusintseva, O. V. (1992). Calculating inbreeding through surname repetition in marriages in populations of Russian Nechernozemie. Genetika, 28(2), 157-159.
Notes: In Russian

Elchinova, G. I., Kravchuk, O. I., Startseva, E. A., & Moshkina, I. S. (1996). Lugovye maris: genes, surnames, and migrations. Genetika, 32(10), 1421-1422.
Abstract: The matrices of genetic distances, calculated from the frequencies of surnames and the ABO, TF, CC, PI, HP, ACP1, and PGM1 genes, were compared with one another and with the migration matrix

Revazov, A. A., Paradeeva, G. A., & Rusakova, G. I. (1986). Usefulness of Russian surnames as a quasi-genetic marker. Genetika, 22(4), 699-704.

Startseva, E. A., Elchinova, G. I., Mamedova, R. A., & Ginter, E. K. (1994). The use of the migration index, the parameter of surname diversity, and the values of entropy and redundancy of surname distribution for description of population structure. Genetika, 30(7), 978-981.
Abstract: The index of migration, the parameter of surname diversity, andthe values of entropy and redundancy of the distribution of surnames, proposed by Barrai et al. [1], were determined for populations of Kirovskaya and Kostromskaya oblasts

Russia – Finno-Ugric

Sebeok, T. A. (1950). Concerning Cheremis Names . Language, 26(2), 276-278.
Abstract: Cheremis = a rural Finnish people living in eastern Russia

Russian Federation – Siberia

Butanayev, V. (not dated). Xooray attarì. Abakan: Poligrafpredpriyatiya ‘Xakasia’.
Notes: [Xakas names]

Dedyk, V. R. (2006). Koryak Personal Names . Sibirica, 5(1), 117-140.
Abstract: This article analyzes the morphological and semantic patterns of personal names found among Koryak-speaking people in the village of Middle Pakhachi (Oliutor Raion, Koryak Autonomous Okrug) in northern Kamchatka. Names are connected to the essence of a person, and are thus connected with beliefs about personhood, reincarnation, spirit attack, and sickness. Names are typically from nouns, but can also come from verbs or modifiers. They are often nominalized. Many names come from compounding roots, which is common to distinguish two individuals with the same name in the same village. Most names are gendered. Feminine gender is overtly marked, but masculine is not. Not all names have analyzable meanings apparent to ordinary speakers of the language, but names are thought to reflect the inner essence or character of a person.

Harrison, K. D. (1999). Naming practices and ethnic identity in Tuva. Proceedings of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 35(2).
Notes: link to article
authors webpage: link to webpage

Perekhval’skaja, E. (1989). Sovremennaja udegejskaja antroponimija. Vostok: prosloe i buduscee narodov. Tezisy VI Vsesojuznoj konferencii vostokovedov (Vol. 1pp. 104-107).
Notes: Modern Udihe anthroponymy. Udihe is a language of the Russian Far East

[page last updated: July 25, 2008]