What is your name?
Alexandra Vasilievna Superanskaya
Doctor of Philologyuk
Let's talk about familiar Russian names. What do they mean? Where do they come from?
Most modern Russian names were borrowed in the 10th century AD from Byzantium along with the Christian religion. These names were legalized, recorded in special books - "saints" and declared "real", "correct". After the introduction of Christianity in Russia, it was allowed to give names only through the church (at baptism). The "calendar" also included some names of common Slavic origin, which arose long before the baptism of Rus, in the era when the Slavic community did not split into tribal groups, from which separate Slavic peoples were subsequently formed. These common Slavic names (Vladimir, Yaroslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod ...) and some Scandinavian names (Igor, Oleg ...) were usually not given to ordinary people and were considered "princely" names. Only at the end of the last century these names were revived by the Russian intelligentsia. Their use expanded significantly after the revolution. At the same time, such ancient common Slavic names as Stanislav, Mstislav, Bronislav, adopted from other Slavic peoples, entered into life.
The names Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov occupy a special place in their origin. The Greeks did not have such names. Nevertheless, in Greek legends, there were symbolic figures of Vera (Pistis), Nadezhda (Elpis) and Love (Agape), but they were not given to people as names. Obviously, when compiling the Russian church namebook, the names of these symbolic figures served as the basis for the creation of the name Vera, Nadezhda, Love from the verbal material of the Russian language. This type of borrowing, when a word is created in another language from its linguistic material based on the model of one language, is called tracing in linguistics, and the very process of such borrowing is tracing.
Where did the Byzantine names originate from, which formed the basis of the Russian "saints"? The Byzantine Greeks collected the best, of course, from their point of view, the names of all those peoples with whom they maintained trade and cultural relations. Along with the names of ancient Greek origin, they used ancient Roman and Hebrew. As separate inclusions in the list of Byzantine names, there are ancient Persian, ancient Egyptian, Chaldean, Syrian, Babylonian ...
If we begin to consider the canonical names according to the meaning of the words from which they originated, we will immediately notice their own peculiarities in them. So, for example, almost all names of ancient Greek origin emphasize good moral and physical qualities in people. Here are the meanings of some of them: Andrey - courageous; Nikifor is victorious; Tikhon is happy; Agatha is beautiful; Sophia is wise. Most Roman names also mark the good in people: Victor is the winner; Valentin, Valery - healthy; Pulchernya is beautiful. Hebrew names differ sharply from Greek and Latin names. Most of them include an element with the meaning god (il, io): Gabriel is a warrior of God; Ilya is the power of God; John is God's grace.
Despite the fact that the names drawn from the "saints" were given to the Russians for a whole millennium, they still remain two-thirds alien to the Russian people: after all, they arose on foreign soil and were artificially transplanted into Russia.
The names of Evelina or Eleanor among our contemporaries look less strange and unusual than the names of Theodore or Aquilin from their distant great-great-grandmothers of the 10th century. The difference is that the names Evelina or Eleanor are familiar to us from literary works; we meet them in the newspapers and can easily pronounce them, while the poor illiterate great-great-grandmothers did not even turn their tongues to pronounce the names that were given to them at baptism, and by hearing they did not hear such outlandish words and how and why these words came to Russia, they really could not comprehend. However, canonization is canonization, and they diligently pronounced their "outlandish" names, distorting them beyond recognition, turning Aquilina into Akulina, Theodore into Fedor, Dionysius into Denis, Diomides into Demida, Juliania into Ulyana. This is how the process of Russification of non-Russian names took place, the process of transforming foreign and difficult to pronounce words into our own, familiar, close and easy to pronounce.
However, despite the fact that all canonical names without exception underwent such changes, many of them remained alien to the Russian people and the Russian language.
"Science and Life", No. 8, 1964.
The article is abbreviated
About the list of names posted on this site
The list provides various spellings of names ( Adrian - Adrian), their folk forms ( Adrian,Andriyan,Andreyan), diminutive and short forms, Church Slavonic variants for the names present in the Orthodox calendar ( Sergei-Sergius), romanized forms for names included in the Catholic calendar ( Sergius), as well as information about the meaning and origin of the name.
Abbreviations used:
decrease. - diminutive
manuf. - derivative
medieval. - medieval
modern - modern
ancient German. - ancient Germanic
Old Hebrew - Hebrew
lat. - Latin
celtic. - Celtic, which belongs to the Celtic group of languages
ancient Greek. - ancient greek
old scandal. - Old Norse
Norman - Norman
fr. - French
old man. - Old French
provence. - Provencal
OE - Old English
Abelard Peter (1079-1142) - French philosopher
Augustine Aurelius (354-430) - Bishop of Hippo, church writer
Agathius (530 / 6-579 / 82) - Byzantine historian, author of the essay "On the Emperor Justinian", as well as a number of epigrams
Agnes (Anna) - daughter of the French king Louis VII (see), wife of Alexei II (see) and Andronicus I (see)
Hayofeodorite John (XII century) - favorite of Manuel I, then governor of the province of Hellas and Peloponnese
Alexander - Emperor (912-913), sconce and successor of Leo VI 51 Alexei I Comnenus - Byzantine emperor (1081-1118)
Alexei II Komnenos - Byzantine emperor (1180-1183)
Alexei III Angel - Byzantine emperor (1195-1203)
Amud John (XI century) - Eparch of Constantinople, addressee of one of the epigrams of Christopher Mitylensky
Andrew of Crete (b. C. 660) - Byzantine church poet, author of the "Great Canon" (liturgical chants)
Andrew - monk (XI century)
Andronicus I Komnenos - cousin of Manuel I (see), usurper (1183-1185)
Antiochus Gregory (Fine Art? - after 1196) - Byzantine official and writer, author of speeches and letters
Arius (died 336) - Alexandrian priest, founder of the Arian doctrine
Attaliat Michael (XI century) - Byzantine historian and jurist
Athanasius of Alexandria (295-373) - Bishop of Alexandria, Byzantine theologian, opponent of Arius (see)
Benedict of Anian (c. 750-821) - church leader in the Frankish state, founder of the monastery in Anian
Balsamon Theodore (died after 1195) - Patriarch of Antioch, Byzantine canonist jurist (commentator on ecclesiastical law) and poet
Basil I the Macedonian - Byzantine emperor (867-886)
Basil II the Bulgar fighter - Byzantine emperor (976-1025)
Vasily - the leader of the Bogomils, executed by Alexei I (see) at the beginning of the XII century.
Basil the Great (Cappadocian or Caesarean) (c. 330-379) - Byzantine theologian
Basil the New (died in 944 or 952) - saint of the Byzantine church. Preserved his "Life", written by a certain Gregory, his student
"The Great Akathist" - a liturgical hymn, possibly belonging to Roman the Sweet Songwriter (see)
Briennius Nicephorus - Caesar (1062-1136?), Husband of Anna Komnina (see), Byzantine historian
Glika Michael (apparently identical with Sikidit) (died before 1204) - Byzantine poet, theologian and historian
Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen) (c. 329 - c. 390) - Byzantine church writer
Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 - c. 394) - brother of Basil the Great (see), Byzantine theologian and poet
Humbert (died 1061) - Bishop-Cardinal of Sylvia Candida, papal legate who headed the embassy to Constantinople in 1054.
Dalassina Anna - wife of John Comnenus, brother of Isaac I (see), mother of Alexei I (see)
Damascene John (c. 650 - c. 750) - Byzantine theologian, poet
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Digeyis Akrit is possibly a historical character who served as the prototype for the anonymous Byzantine epic ("Digenis Akrit"), written, most likely in the 11th century, but preserved only in later revisions
Demetrius of Thessaloniki - a saint of the Byzantine church, who was considered the patron saint of Thessaloniki. The surviving Miracles of St. Demetrius "are a valuable source for the history of Byzantium in the 7th century.
Dionysius the Areopagite - in the New Testament tradition, the name of the disciple of the Apostle Paul. It was adopted by an anonymous Byzantine theologian who lived around 500 BC.
Disinius is a Byzantine nobleman of the 10th century.
Eugenian Nikita (c. 1100 - after 1170?) - Byzantine poet, author of the novel "Drosilla and Charikl"
Eusebius Kegariysky (c. 250 -339) - church writer, author of theological writings, Chronicle, "Church history", words of praise to Constantine the Great
Eustathius Thessaloniki (c. 1115-1195) - Byzantine philologist, writer and church leader (Metropolitan Thessaloniki)
Eustratius of Angarsk - Byzantine saint of the VIII century.
Eustratius of Nicaea (XI-XII centuries) - Byzantine philosopher, student of John Ital
Euthymius - Patriarch of Constantinople (907-912). His anonymous "Life" ("Psamaphian Chronicle")
Zonara Ioann (first half of the 12th century) - Byzantine official, then tonsured as a monk, historian and canonist lawyer
Zoya (978-1050) is the niece of Vasily II, the wife of three emperors: Roman III Argir (1028-1034), Michael IV (1034-1041) and Constantine IX Monomakh (see). In 1042 he ruled independently, together with his sister Theodora
Idrisi - Arab geographer of the XII century.
John I Tzimiskes - Byzantine emperor (969-976)
John is a painter of the XII century.
John Chrysostom (c. 344-407) - Patriarch of Constantinople (398-404), church writer
John Climacus (died c. 670) - Byzantine church writer, author of "The Ladder of Paradise", instructions for self-improvement
Isaac I Comnenus - Byzantine emperor (1057-1059)
Isaac II Angel - Byzantine emperor (1185-1195 and a second time: 1203-1204, together with his son Alexei IV)
Ital John (born c. 1025) - Byzantine philosopher, author of the book "Aporias and Decisions", teacher of philosophy at the Constantinople Higher School
Italik Michael (XII century) - Metropolitan of Philippopolis, Byzantine philosopher and rhetorician
Kamatir John (XII century) - logofet droma under Manuel I
Cantacuzines - noble Byzantine family
Kekavmen (XI century) - Byzantine official, commander and writer, author of "Strategicon", otherwise called "Advice and Stories"
Kinnam John (after 1143 - c. 1203) - secretary of Manuel I (see), historian
The Comnenes are a Byzantine noble family, whose representatives occupied the imperial throne in 1057-1059 and 1081-1185
Komnipa Anna (1083 - after 1147) - daughter of Alexei I (see), Byzantine writer, author of "Alexiada", a book about the deeds of her father
Comnenus John the Tolstoy (died 1201) - the leader of an aristocratic rebellion in Constantinople in 1201.
Irina Komnina (XII century) - wife of the sevastocrator Andronicus Komnenos, older brother of Manuel I, who died in his youth
Komnena Theodora (born in 1145) - daughter of the Sevastocrator Isaacn, brother of Manuel I (see), wife of King Baldwin III of Jerusalem (1143-1163)
Constantine I the Great - Roman emperor (324-337), founder of Constantinople
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus - Byzantine emperor (913-959), writer, author of essays "On the administration of the empire", "On the ceremonies of the court of Constantinople" and others 63, 95 Onstantine IX Monomakh - Byzantine emperor (1042-1055)
Xenia (Mary of Antioch) - wife of Manuel I (see), mother of Alexei II (see)
Lazarus of Galesi (died 1053) - saint of the Byzantine church, pillar. Preserved his "Life", written by the monk Gregory
Leo III, conventionally called Isaur, - Byzantine emperor (717-741)
Leo VI the Wise - Byzantine emperor (886-912), writer
Leo the Deacon, otherwise Asinsky (born before 950) - Byzantine historian
Leo the Mathematician (died after 869) - Byzantine scientist, Metropolitan of Soluni (c. 840)
Leonardo Pisansky (about 1170 - after 1240) - a prominent mathematician, a native of a merchant family closely associated with Eastern trade. Expert in Arabic, Greek and Indian mathematics
Liutprand of Cremona (c. 920 - c. 972) - bishop, ambassador of the German king Otto I in Constantinople, writer
Luke the Stylite (died 979) - saint of the Byzantine church. His anonymous "Life" has survived
Louis VII - king of France (1137-1180)
Mavropod John (XI century) - Metropolitan of Euchaite, Byzantine writer, teacher of rhetoric
Maleins - noble Byzantine family
Manassi Constantine (died 1187) - Byzantine poet, orator and historian
Manuel I Comnenus - Byzantine emperor (1143-1180)
Mesarit Nicholas (died c. 1220) - Metropolitan of Ephesus, Byzantine writer, author of a number of speeches and ecphrases of the Church of St. Apostles in Constantinople
Mina - saint of the Byzantine church
Michael II - Emperor (820-829), founder of the so-called Amorian dynasty. Suppressed the uprising led by Thomas the Slav
Michael VI Stratiotius - Byzantine emperor (1056-1057)
Michael I Kirularius - Patriarch of Constantinople (1043-1058)
Muzalon Nicholas see Nicholas IV Muzalon
Nemesius of Emesa (c. 400) - Bishop of Emesa, church writer, author of the book "On the Nature of Man"
Nestorius (5th century) - Patriarch of Constantinople (428-431), founder and leader of Nestorianism, deposed at the Council in Epheso in 431. His teaching was declared heresy
Nikita of Ankir (XI century) - Metropolitan of Ankyra, the alleged author of a number of treatises ("On Election", "On Synods", etc.)
Nikita Maroneiskiy (died about 1145) - Metropolitan of Soluni, theologian, author of "Six Dialogues about the Adventures of the Holy Spirit"
Nikisror II Phoca - Byzantine emperor (963-969)
Nicephorus III Wotaniates - Byzantine emperor (1078-1081)
Nicholas I - Pope (858-867)
Nicholas I the Mystic - Patriarch of Constantinople (901-907, 912-925)
Nicholas IV Muzalon - Patriarch of Constantinople (1147-1151), writer
Nicholas, m Heropolite of Kerkir (XII century) - Byzantine writer
Nicholas, Metropolitan of Methon (died c. 1165) - Byzantine theologian, opponent of Sotirikh Pantevgen (see)
Nicholas of Mirlikisky - semi-legendary saint of the Byzantine church
Odo Deilskiy (c. 1100-1162) - Abbot of Saint-Denis, secretary of Louis VII, participant and historian of the II Crusade
Paul, son of Kallinikos - semi-legendary leader Pavlikian
Paleologues - Byzantine aristocratic family, last imperial dynasty (1259-1453)
Panthevgen Sotirikh see Sotirikh Panthevgen
Pantekhni Theodore (XII century) - prominent Constantinople official
Pediadit Vasily, Metropolitan of Kerkir (XII century) - Byzantine writer
Pelagius (c. 400) - church writer, Celtic by origin, founder of the so-called Pelagian heresy
Polyeuct - Patriarch of Constantinople (956-970)
Prodrom Foedor (c. 1100 - c. 1170) - Byzantine writer, author of poems, speeches, "Life of Stephen Skilitsa" (Stephen, Metropolitan of Trebizond, was his friend), and others.
Proclus (410-485) - Byzantine Neoplatonist philosopher, poet
Psellus Michael (1018-1079 or 1097?) - Byzantine politician, high school teacher in Constantinople, philosopher and historian
Roman I Lacapenus - Emperor (920-944), originally co-ruler of Constantine VII (see). Overthrown by their own sons
Roman the Sweet Songwriter (VI century) - Byzantine poet, author of liturgical hymns, including, possibly, the so-called "Great Akathist", praising the Mother of God
Samona (IX - X centuries) - the favorite of Leo VI, held the post of parakimo-men (head of the imperial bedchamber). In 904 or 905, under mysterious circumstances, he fled to the Arabs - perhaps with the goal of infiltrating the Arab possessions as a secret emissary of the emperor. After that he returned and enjoyed great influence until 908, when he fell out of favor and was tonsured a monk.
Samuel ben Meir (XII century) - Jewish writer who lived in France
Sergius II - Patriarch of Constantinople (1001-1019)
Simeon the Theologian (or New Theologian) (died in 1022?) - Byzantine monk and church mystic writer, author of "Catechisms", "Chapters", "Hymns" and other works
Simeon Metaphrast (X century) - Byzantine writer, compiler of the collection of the lives of the saints
Skylitsy Continuer - an anonymous Byzantine historian who has compiled a chronicle dedicated to the events of the second half of the 11th century. and served as a continuation of the chronicle of John Skylitsa
Sotirikh Panthevgon (XII century) - Byzantine theologian and church leader
Stephen is a painter of the XII century.
Stippiot Theodore (XII century) - favorite of Manuel I, served as chief of canycles (keeper of the imperial inkwell)
Stravoroman Manuel (XI-XII centuries) - Byzantine official and writer
Timarnon is an anonymous satirical work of the 12th century.
Thekla - saint of the Byzantine church
Theodora see Comnenus Theodore
Feodosia I Voradiot - Patriarch of Constantinople (1179-1 | 183)
Theophanes of Sigriansky (Confessor) (c. 752-818) - Byzantine historian, author of "Chronography", a holy Byzantine church. His "Life" has been preserved in several editions
Theophilus - Byzantine emperor (829-842)
Theophylact see Efest Theophylact
Filaret the Merciful (died 792) - a holy Byzantine church The Life of Philaret, written by his relative Nikita, is one of the best monuments of Byzantine hagiography
Phileot Cyril (died 1110?) - saint of the Byzantine church. His Life, written by Nikolai Kataskepin, is a characteristic monument of late hagiography, overflowing with rhetorical scholarship
Philip (1146-1176?) - younger sister of the Antiochian prince Voemund III (1163-1201) and Xenia-Maria, wife of Manuel I
Fatius - Patriarch of Constantinople (858-867, 877-886), philologist and theologian, author of the "Library" (characteristics of a number of antique and Byzantine fictional and scholarly works), a polemic treatise against Paulicians, etc.
Fulscher of Chartres (c. 1059 - c. 1127) - participant of the I Crusade, author of "Jerusalem History"
Khase (IX-X centuries) - protospapharius, influential nobleman of St. Alexander's court
Choniates Michael - Metropolitan of Athens (c. 1138 - c. 1222), Byzantine writer and politician, author of speeches and letters
Choniates Nikita (died 1213) - younger brother of the previous one, prominent official, orator and historian
Chrysoverg Nikifor (died after 1213?) - Byzantine orator and poet
"Christ Suffering" is an anonymous drama, apparently dating back to the 12th century.
Christopher Mytilensky (c. 1000 - c. 1050) - Byzantine official, poet, author of epigrams and a poetic calendar of church holidays
Tsets Ioann (c. 1110 - c. 1180) - Byzantine poet, author of letters and a poetic commentary to them (the so-called "Hili-ady"), as well as commentaries on ancient monuments
Ekdik Ilya (XI or XII century) - Byzantine church writer
Efest Theophylact Archbishop of Bulgaria (died after 1120) - Byzantine writer, author of theological works and letters
Justinian I - Byzantine emperor (527-565)
The dictionary was compiled by R. A. Ivyanskaya. It includes only the names of Byzantine political and cultural figures and their contemporaries, as well as pseudonyms, the names of the addressees of literary monuments and the names of anonymous works. Mythological characters, ancient and early Christian (up to the 3rd century inclusive) figures are not included in the dictionary. The numbers at the end of the articles indicate the pages of the book.
The modern Russian namebook includes Russian names that are currently used on the territory of Russia.
In addition to the primordially Russian names in Russian name dictionary Hebrew, Greek, Roman (Latin), Scandinavian and Persian names are included, which have adapted on the territory of Russia and have long been perceived as Russian.
Most of the Russian names that are currently used in Russia are not originally Russian in origin. They were borrowed from the Greek language along with the Christian religion and came to Russia from Byzantium.
By the 18-19 centuries, the ancient Russian names were almost completely forgotten, and the brought Christian names were changed taking into account the peculiarities of the Russian pronunciation (Aquilina - Akulina, Juliania - Ulyana, Artemy - Artyom, Daniel - Danila, Jeremiah - Eremey).
Where did the Byzantine (Greek) names come from, which became Russian?
The Greeks also collected the best names of all peoples with whom they maintained trade and cultural relations.
In addition to names of ancient Greek origin, they used ancient Roman and Hebrew names, and also used ancient Persian, ancient Egyptian, Chaldean, Syrian and Babylonian names.
If we consider names by meaning, then almost all names Greek and Roman origin talk about positive (desirable) character traits and appearance.
Hebrew names differ from the Greek and Roman ones. Most of the Hebrew names are associated with the name of God. For example, Gabriel - my strength is God! Daniel is God's judgment.
Currently names of any country includes not only the original names of their people, but also borrowed names. This is the result of cultural and trade exchange between peoples, mixing of cultures, as well as a consequence of the migration of peoples.
The nomenclature includes the name, the origin of the name, and the meaning of the name.
Russian modern male names
Our new book "The Energy of Surnames"
Our book "Name Energy"
Oleg and Valentina Svetovid
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Russian modern male names. Modern Russian namebook
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Old Russian and Slavic names (1)
In this essay, I consider a group of names that I define as Old Russian and Slavic. At the same time, the definition of "Old Russian" is conditional. We are talking about the names that existed in Ancient Russia even before the adoption of Christianity. And among them were names of various linguistic origins, not only Russian.
§ 1. On the displacement of ancient Russian names by Greco-Byzantine names
In the history of many peoples, at least once there has been a cultural reorientation that radically changed both the way of thinking of people and their entire way of life. The most important cultural reorientation of the ancestors of the Russian people is their conversion to Christianity, which marked the beginning of the transition from the ideology of paganism to the ideology of monotheism.
Painting by I. A. Akimov "Novgorodians overthrowing Perun".
Late 18th - early 19th century. State Russian MuseumHowever, this transition was long and difficult, and the remnants of Old Russian paganism were never completely eradicated by both the church and the secular authorities, despite their efforts. DK Zelenin, a great connoisseur of East Slavic ethnography, wrote: “And nevertheless, even a true Christian, consciously or unconsciously, adheres to the principle of dual faith:“ Love God, but don’t be angry with the devil. ” In accordance with this principle, he is always ready to perform a ceremony, which he considers non-Christian and even hostile to Christianity. "
The historian of the Russian Church N. M. Nikol'kiy noted: “The pre-Christian ritualism, as the complaints and admonitions of church preachers show, continued to live entirely throughout the Kiev period and even during the specific feudal period, and not only in the countryside, but also in the city; on the contrary, the Christian rituals took root hard. "
The difficult path of introducing the Russian people to Christianity also manifested itself in the history of personal names. Christianity brought to Ancient Russia a lot of new names of foreign language origin, but alien to the local population, which could not immediately supplant the use of familiar names. “Catholicism and Orthodoxy have introduced a rigid list of names, categorically banning all others. In Russia, the struggle between church and non-church names lasted eight centuries. Only at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. the government’s drastic measures did away with the names that were not included in this list. ”
In other words, the non-canonical, non-ecclesiastical fund of names continued to exist, function and develop, along with the canonical, ecclesiastical fund of names, until the end of the 17th century. Such publications as
Moroshkin M. Ya. Slavic name book, or Collection of Slavic personal names in alphabetical order. - SPb., 1867; Tupikov N.M. Dictionary of Old Russian personal names. - M., 2004.
: Diamond, Bazhen, Second, Divay, Other, Latin, Love, Bad, First, Owl, Tihomir, Tomilo, Umai, Chetay, Shavruk and etc.N. M. Tupikov, discussing the attitude of Russian names to Christian ones, wrote: “Not to mention the XIV-XVI centuries, but also in the XVII century. are quite common as personal, that is, only the Russian name (without the Christian one) is used with the addition of a patronymic and a surname or one surname, and sometimes without both. " N. M. Tupikov was of the opinion that “Russian names before the 17th century. inclusively used like Christians in the sense of personal ”.
A. A. Zaliznyak on the material of names from birch bark letters of ancient Novgorod in the 16th – 15th centuries. showed that in the XV century. the share of Christian names in the group of persons with a relatively high social status (often city dwellers - the owners of estates and their family members) was 95%, and in the group of persons, among whom there were often peasants and city dwellers dependent on homeowners - 83%. Whereas in the XI-XII century. the share of Christian names in the first group was 41%, and in the second - 0%. "The material of the birch bark letters thus testifies to the fact that the upper social strata passed to new names much faster than the lower ones."
The data of A.A.Zaliznyak that the withering away of old Christian names took place in different ways in different groups of names is extremely interesting. The names attributed to the archaic layer died out most quickly: dibasic ( Miroslav etc.), prefix-root ( Pole etc.), equal to participles ( Zhdan etc.), which are equal to non-partite forms of adjectives ( Mil etc.). As A. A. Zaliznyak writes, “the names of the archaic layer survive only until the XIV century, the reception in the XIV century. they are already in the nature of relics ”. Following them, many derived from them suffixal hypocoristic names with teaching ( Nezhata, Guests, Budota, Voyuta etc.) .
“The main type of non-Christian names that continues to exist in the XIV-XV centuries. and later, - names that match common nouns<...>... This type remains quite productive, more and more new words are involved in it, but it is pushed aside from the sphere of personal names into the sphere of nicknames (through which it penetrates into patronymics, which later turn into surnames ”.
Contemporary edition cover
Dictionary of N.M. TupikovN.M. Tupikov wrote about examples of the use of Russian names, starting from the 15th century, with Christian nicknames in the meaning of nicknames. At the same time, the Russian name in the documents was directly called a nickname. However, which names and when they passed into a nickname, in his opinion, it is impossible to decide, since the word "nickname" was used relatively rarely, or the same person in one document can be mentioned both with the word "nickname" with a Russian name, or without of this word with the same name. N. M. Tupikov suggested that "the recognition of a Russian name as equal to a Christian name or as meaning only a nickname depended on the will of individuals who bore this name or wrote a document where the owner of the name was entered."
In recent years, some researchers have been developing a concept about the political reason for the existence of two names in Russia. “We can say that at the time of baptism, the Rurikovichs found themselves in a rather difficult situation. On the one hand, it was they who were the guides and disseminators of Christianity in Russia and therefore were the first to adopt the Christian names prescribed by the church. On the other hand, it was for them that it was especially important to preserve the ancient, original names. The repetition, the continuity of names, generally very characteristic of the clan world, in this case also personified the idea of the continuity of power, hereditary rights to reign, to land. A kind of way out of this difficult situation was two names, when the child was given both a Christian name and a traditional, primordial one. Of course, this decision turned out to be acceptable not only for the princes.<...>»
Uspensky FB Dictionary of N.M. Tupikov and the principles of naming in Ancient Rus // Tupikov N.M. Dictionary of Old Russian personal proper names. - M., 2004.
.In my opinion, the role of the political factor in the emergence and existence of two names for a certain period of time is exaggerated. More significant, apparently, were the reasons for the linguistic and ideological nature.
"They [Christian names - A. N.] got into the Old Russian language not in translations, but in genuine foreign language sounds, absolutely incomprehensible and alien to the Russian people." The obvious foreign language character of Christian names at the early stage of Christianity in Russia demanded a linguistic test of new names and their adaptation. It took a while. "During the XII, XIII, XIV centuries, there was a process of assimilation of foreign names." But the church from the very beginning demanded from every Orthodox Christian to take a name from the month of baptism, which at first was perceived as clearly alien in its linguistic characteristics.
One of the ways out of this situation was in the parallel functioning of two names - the original (familiar) - for everyday life (main) and Christian (unusual) - more symbolic, with a narrow scope (for example, at death). It is curious that, according to the observation of N.M. Tupikov, if from the XIV century. the custom of calling princes by two names disappears, then in other classes just in the XIV-XV centuries. two names are common; in the XVI century. and especially in the 17th century. this phenomenon is limited. The synchronicity of the completion of the process of linguistic adaptation of Christian names and the beginning of their widespread use, along with non-Christian ones, as second names, when naming people, suggests that the process of linguistic assimilation of Christian names is interconnected with the spread of duality.
I will give several examples of the two names of Russian people in ancient Russian documents: Maxim, and the worldly name Stanimir (1310), Okinf Shuba Fedorovich (1368), clerk Alekseiko, called Vladyka (1377).
What prevented non-calendar names from disappearing from everyday life after the personal names brought from Byzantium were more or less adapted to the Russian language, and not function for some time along with the Christian ones ?! Perhaps this is due to the fact that the dualism of religious consciousness, in which Orthodoxy and paganism were intertwined, was not completely overcome. The persistence of pagan ideology in the minds of Russians was the reason for a long adherence to one or another old tradition. In the field of naming, such traditions were: the close connection of personal names with the vocabulary of the native language, the transparency of the semantics of names.
The results of the study of names in specific territories, carried out in the post-war period (after 1945), show that in the 17th century. Russian non-Christian names were already strongly supplanted by Christian names. For example, according to N.K. Frolov, in Voronezh in 1629 non-Christian names accounted for 14%, and in 1696 - 5%. A reflection of the process of extinction of Russian non-Christian names was also the fact that the previously existing all-Russian fund of such names in the XVI-XVII centuries. ceases to be all-Russian, while local names are not 2-3, but 20-40.
It is believed that the use of non-calendar names for naming children was done away with by the Orthodox of the Russian Empire after the state authorities began to regulate anthroponyms. Indeed, Peter I on December 30, 1701, adopted a decree prohibiting all estates from being called "half names" in petitions and other documents and prescribing to be called full names with nicknames. Researchers of Russian personal names regard this legal document as one of the important milestones in the history of the Russian name-book. In particular, V.D.Bondaletov, while periodizing the development of the system of Russian anthroponymy, distinguishes the period from the beginning of the 18th century. (from the aforementioned Peter's decree) until 1917.
But in essence, the decree of December 30, 1701 prohibited only suffix formations of names with a derogatory meaning. Therefore, either the contemporaries of Peter I interpreted this decree as a way to finally oust non-calendar names from the sphere of naming, or the researchers of names prescribe this decree unnecessarily great importance in the further fate of non-calendar names.
In my opinion, the question of the nature and degree of conscious regulation in the competition between calendar and non-calendar names in Russia before the 19th century. needs further study. Why before the 19th century? Because the situation in the XIX century. it is quite understandable and known legislative measures to strengthen the names of the Orthodox saints. What was done similarly at an earlier time is unclear.
In Soviet times, in some publications of a scientific and popular science nature, it was argued that already in the XIII-XIV centuries. a ban was introduced on the use of non-calendar names.
In particular, A. V. Superanskaya, listing a dozen ancient Russian names of princes ranked among the saints by the Orthodox Church, wrote: “Other pre-Christian names, starting from the 14th century, are declared a cruel war as pagan and unsuitable for people to call them. In practice, this meant prohibiting Russians from being named in Russian "
V. G. Kostomarov wrote in a popular book: “It was here that your ancestors made public their ancient family nickname, which they kept for centuries, although they were hidden from people until the pagan worldly names were from the 13th century. prohibited" .
However, in the literature on onomastics, not a single decree or other document of the 13th – 14th centuries is named. or a later time (until the 19th century), which has legislative force, prohibiting the use of non-calendar, pagan names when naming children. To date, such documents are unknown to science.
It is no coincidence that Vladimir Maksimov, head of the Moscow research center History of Surnames, said in an interview with Radio Liberty: “And, as many say, there was no ban on worldly names, there was none! Of course, the church never approved of them, but there was no persecution. She did not fight the way we see it, for example, in other religions. There was, indeed, a reluctance for these names to continue to exist, but as such a strict ban did not exist. "
The only thing that adherents of the idea of the existence of a ban on the use of non-calendar names in pre-Petrine Russia refer to the ABCs. "It is interesting that in the ABC books - a kind of dictionaries of incomprehensible words and proper names, which are widely distributed throughout Russia after the 16th century, even special warnings are made about which names should be chosen and which should not be chosen for children." However, ABCs are not legislative acts and their importance in displacing non-calendar names should hardly be overestimated.
The displacement of non-calendar names from the sphere of naming, most of which were primordially Russian or primordially Slavic, obviously occurred as a result, first of all, of the natural process of falling interest among the majority of society in names of this type. This process was catalyzed by the long-term efforts of the Russian clergy to cultivate Orthodoxy among the people. The strengthening of what can be called Orthodox religious identity increased the attractiveness of the names approved by the official church, made them for some time (until 1917) almost monopoly in the sphere of naming children.
The success of the victory over a certain period of time of Christian names over non-Christian ones was also facilitated by the fact that the state supported the Church's desire to make the Orthodox month the only source of names for the Orthodox. This happened because, as V.A.Nikonov rightly noted, the strengthening of the centralized apparatus required the establishment of order in the names, and the only stable form of names on which the government could rely was the church one.
© A. I. Nazarov (4.09.2014)
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