History UsefulNotes / RussianNamingConvention

No, you haven't gone mad. Nor has the author engaged in a stunning display of inconsistency. You've just entered the world of the Russian diminutive.

** "Lyuda", "Lusya", "Mila" [[note]]However Milla Jovovich's full name Milica, from her Serbian father.[[/note]]

** "Lyuda", "Lusya"

** The diminutive is "Borya". For some reasons the name, while undeniably Slavic in origin, is now perceived as mostly Jewish, because it was historically used as a Russian substitute of Boruch (Baruch) -- a very popular Eastern Ashkenazi name.

* -sky/skaya: More of a Jewish or Polish name today, but before 1917, there were many noble (committal or princely) Russian families with names like this, mainly because a lot of them ''were'' of Polish or Belorussian origin.

* The intimate one, in this case "Katenka" (roughly equal to the Japanese "-chan" [[Main/{{Honorifics}} honorific]]). Used by close family members, very close friends and lovers, for small children, and generally a suffix to indicate something the user finds 'cute', or again, is speaking to a small child. In the neighboring East Slavic countries the Russian version is used along with local diminutives; Irina Farion, a quack Ukrainian nationalist politico, once became infamous for her xenophobic rants against the Russian diminutives addressed at Ukrainian children.

Oddly, even though addressing a person by the first name and patronymic is very formal, addressing them with the patronymic alone is seen as highly informal, even less formal than FirstNameBasis. In this informal usage, male patronymics usually get shortened by removing the "ov/ev" (e.g. Ivanovich becomes Ivanych, Sergeyevich to Sergeich, etc.), unless that syllable is stressed (e.g. Petrovich). In addition, some names have completely idiosyncratic short forms, such as Pavlovich to Palych. Long patronymics can be shortened all the way down to just two syllables, e.g. Dmitriyevich to Mitrich, or Anatolyevich to Tolyich. As a way of emphasising his closeness to the people, Lenin was often referred to simply as "Ilyich" in speeches and Soviet media. In contrast, no one ever (except ''maybe'' [[BattleButler general Vlasik]] -- they were reportedly quite close) referred to his successor as [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin "Vissarionych"]].

Generally speaking, Russians are rather conservative when it comes to naming their children, but one big exception to this was the early days of the Soviet Union. The 1920s brought in a vogue of exotic, "revolutionary" names, during which entirely new names honoring Soviet leaders were coined such as Vladilen (from Vladimir-Lenin) or Mels (from ''M''arx, ''E''ngels, ''L''enin, ''S''talin). Other newly-coined names included Revmir (from ревмир -- short for "World Revolution"), or National (short for "Communist International"). People were even named after completely banal objects like Traktor (tractor) or Elektron (electron), as these things were considered particularly modern and "revolutionary." By the 1930s, traditional names were seen as stodgy and rustic -- unfit for the shiny, glorious future Communism was building. Religious names particularly fell out of favor, such as Mitrofan and Varfolomei.

* Lyubov (meaning "love", this is the third in a trio of female names (Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov) based on Christian virtues; this is one of the rare Russian female names that doesn't end in an 'a' or 'ya')

* All names that end with "-slav". Note that the Slavic root forming the suffix here is ''not'' the same as the actual word ''Slav''. The root of the suffix "-slav" in this case is the Slavic word "slava" meaning "glory." [[note]]Slav, as in the ethnic group, has as its root the word ''slovo'' meaning "word" -- with ''Slavyanye'' (the Slavs) meaning something like "people of the word", meaning those who speak an understandable language (a fairly common etymology for many tribal ethnic groups).[[/note]] Names which end in -slav have their origins in many different Slavic cultures and are shared amongst them; they do not all originate in Russia. For example, Bronislav is a Polish name.

* All names that end with "-slav". Note that the Slavic root forming the suffix here is ''not'' the same as the actual word ''Slav''. The root of the suffix "-slav" in this case is the Slavic word "slava" meaning "glory." [[note]]Slav, as in the ethnic group, has as its root the word ''slovo'' meaning "word" -- with ''Slavyanye'' (the Slavs) meaning something like "people of the word", meaning those who speak an understandable language (a fairly common etymology for many tribal ethnic groups).[[/note]] Names ending in -slav have their origins in many different Slavic cultures and are shared amongst them; they do not all originate in Russia. For example, Bronislav is a Polish name.

* All names that end with "-slav". Note that the Slavic root forming the suffix here is ''not'' the same as the actual word ''Slav''. The root of the suffix "-slav" in this case is the Slavic word "slava" meaning "glory." [[note]]Slav, as in the ethnic group, has as its root the word ''slovo'' meaning "word" -- with ''Slavyanye'' (the Slavs) meaning something like "people of the word", meaning those who speak an understandable language (a fairly common etymology for many tribal ethnic groups). However, both ''slava'' meaning "glory" and ''slovo'' meaning "word" are themselves etymologically related ("glory", after all, being the thing about which many words are spoken or written).[[/note]] Names ending in -slav have their origins in many different Slavic cultures and are shared amongst them; they do not all originate in Russia. For example, Bronislav is a Polish name.

* All names that end with "-slav". Note that the Slavic root forming the suffix here is ''not'' the same as the actual word ''Slav''. The suffix "-slav" in this case has as its root the Slavic word "slava" meaning "glory".[[note]]Slav, as in the ethnic group, has as its root the word ''slovo'' meaning "word" -- with ''Slavyanye'' (the Slavs) meaning something like "people of the word", meaning those who speak an understandable language (a fairly common etymology for many tribal ethnic groups). However, both ''slava'' meaning "glory" and ''slovo'' meaning "word" are themselves etymologically related ("glory", after all, being the thing about which many words are spoken or written).[[/note]] Names ending in -slav have their origins in many different Slavic cultures and are shared amongst them; they do not all originate in Russia. For example, Bronislav is a Polish name.

Many surnames are derived from animal names. For example, former president Dmitry Medvedev has a surname that means "Bear's Son" (from ''medved'' meaning ''bear''). Others derive from professions, i.e. Kuznetsov, "Smith's Son". There's a few where one wonders where the name came from, e.g. Pirogov, "Pie's Son" (yes like the kind you eat--probably it just means "son of a pie baker" but who knows...).

Many surnames are derived from animal names. For example, former president Dmitry Medvedev has a surname that means "Bear's Son" (from ''medved'' meaning ''bear''). Others derive from professions, i.e. Kuznetsov, "Smith's Son".

The Russian equivalents to Mr. and Mrs. aren't really used save in older literature. Lack of an easy honorific to call someone actually became a problem a few years ago. ''Gospodin'' or ''gospozha'' (equivalents to 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.', respectively) were only [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia recently]] returned to use and are used mostly by businessmen or civil servants to address each other, and only in very formal situations. (Don't call a Russian the equivalent of "citizen"; that's how cops address a ''perp'', so it sounds offensive.) The honorifics ''[=sudar'=]'' and ''sudarynya'' (equivalent to 'sir' and 'madam') are even rarer, technically valid but not really used. Historically they were used only by nobles, so most Russians do not feel entitled to be called such, [[note]]One of the Russian-flavor fast food chains tried to reboot this tradition by making their staff use them, but as the chain's quality degraded and it went down, so did those honorifics.[[/note]] The address "comrade" (historically rendered ''tovarishch'') is today used only in the [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRustingRockets army]] and in the Communist Party, which is removed from power and is slowly dying out. The most common forms of address between common people are the Russian equivalents of 'man' (''muzhchina''), 'young man' (''molodoy chelovek''), 'woman' (''zhenshina'') or 'girl' (''devushka''). While English speakers may try to get a stranger's attention by saying "Sir" or "Ma'am", Russians have no problem simply shouting "Man!" or "Girl!" at each other. Note that "girl" is ''much'' more preferable to "woman" as a term of address, as the latter [[MaamShock may and frequently will be interpreted as connoting significant age and is thus offensive]]. Children mostly address unfamiliar adults as ''dyadya/dyadenka'' and ''tyotya/tyotenka''. These words literally mean "uncle" and "aunt", but they do not imply family ties in this case, and in informal situations even grown-ups may use these for their parents' friends they've known since childhood, used with the first name or even its diminutive form; even their parents may in turn adopt such forms. Similarly, in the predominately Muslim regions of Russia and the former USSR, it may be customary for young and middle-aged people to address all elderly people as "father" and "mother", saying either ''otets'' and ''[=mat'=]'' in Russian, or a corresponding term in the local language. This came to Russian, so now it's pretty okay for an adult (but not a kid) to address a group of elderly people "fathers", ''otzy''.

The Russian equivalents to Mr. and Mrs. aren't really used save in older literature. Lack of an easy honorific to call someone actually became a problem a few years ago. ''Gospodin'' or ''gospozha'' (equivalents to 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.', respectively) were only [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia recently]] returned to use and are used mostly by businessmen or civil servants to address each other, and only in very formal situations. (Don't call a Russian the equivalent of "citizen"; that's how cops address a ''perp'', so it sounds offensive.) The honorifics ''[=sudar'=]'' and ''sudarynya'' (equivalent to 'sir' and 'madam') are even rarer, technically valid but not really used. Historically they were used only by nobles, so most Russians do not feel entitled to be called such, [[note]]One of the Russian-flavor fast food chains tried to reboot this tradition by making their staff use them, but as the chain's quality degraded and it went down, so did those honorifics.[[/note]] The address "comrade" (historically rendered ''tovarishch'') is today used only in the [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRustingRockets army]] and in the Communist Party, which is removed from power and is slowly dying out. The most common forms of address between common people are the Russian equivalents of 'man' (''muzhchina''), 'young man' (''molodoy chelovek''), 'woman' (''zhenshina'') or 'girl' (''devushka''). While English speakers may try to get a stranger's attention by saying "Sir" or "Ma'am", Russians have no problem simply shouting "Man!" or "Girl!" at each other. Note that "girl" is ''much'' more preferable to "woman" as a term of address, as the latter [[MaamShock may and frequently will be interpreted as connoting significant age and is thus offensive]]. Children mostly address unfamiliar adults as ''dyadya/dyadenka'' and ''tyotya/tyotenka''. These words literally mean "uncle" and "aunt", but they do not imply family ties in this case, and in informal situations even grown-ups may use these for their parents' friends they've known since childhood, used with first name or even its diminutive form; even their parents may in turn adopt such forms. Similarly, in the predominately Muslim regions of Russia and the former USSR, it may be customary for young and middle-aged people to address all elderly people as "father" and "mother", saying either ''otets'' and ''[=mat'=]'' in Russian, or a corresponding term in the local language. This came to Russian, so now it's pretty okay for an adult (but not a kid) to address a group of elderly people "fathers", ''otzy''.

The Russian equivalents to Mr. and Mrs. aren't really used save in older literature. Lack of an easy honorific to call someone actually became a problem a few years ago. ''Gospodin'' or ''gospozha'' (equivalents to 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.', respectively) were only [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia recently]] returned to use and are used mostly by businessmen or civil servants to address each other, and only in very formal situations. (Don't call a Russian the equivalent of "citizen"; that's how cops address a ''perp'', so it sounds offensive.) The honorifics ''[=sudar'=]'' and ''sudarynya'' (equivalent to 'sir' and 'madam') are even rarer, technically valid but not really used. Historically they were used only by nobles, so most Russians do not feel entitled to be called such, [[note]]One of the Russian-flavor fast food chains tried to reboot this tradition by making their staff use them, but as the chain's quality degraded and it went down, so did those honorifics.[[/note]] The address "comrade" (historically rendered ''tovarishch'') is today used only in the [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRustingRockets army]] and in the Communist Party, which is removed from power and is slowly dying out. The most common forms of address between common people are the Russian equivalents of 'man' (''muzhchina''), 'young man' (''molodoy chelovek''), 'woman' (''zhenshina'') or 'girl' (''devushka''). While English speakers may try to get a stranger's attention by saying "Sir" or "Ma'am", Russians have no problem simply shouting "Man!" or "Girl!" at each other. Note that "girl" is ''much'' more preferable to "woman" as a term of address, as the latter [[MaamShock may and frequently will be interpreted as connoting significant age and is thus offensive]]. Children mostly address unfamiliar adults as ''dyadya/dyadenka'' and ''tyotya/tyotenka''. These words literally mean "uncle" and "aunt", but they do not imply family ties in this case, and in informal situations even grown-ups may use these for their parents' friends they've known since childhood, using with first name or even its diminutive form; even their parents may in turn adopt such forms. Similarly, in the predominately Muslim regions of Russia and the former USSR, it may be customary for young and middle-aged people to address all elderly people as "father" and "mother", saying either ''otets'' and ''[=mat'=]'' in Russian, or a corresponding term in the local language. This came to Russian, so now it's pretty okay for an adult (but not a kid) to address a group of elderly people "fathers", ''otzy''.

The Russian equivalents to Mr. and Mrs. aren't really used save in older literature. Lack of an easy honorific to call someone actually became a problem a few years ago. ''Gospodin'' or ''gospozha'' (equivalents to 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.', respectively) were only [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia recently]] returned to use and are used mostly by businessmen or civil servants to address each other, very formally. (Don't call a Russian the equivalent of "citizen"; that's how cops address a ''perp'', so it sounds offensive.) The honorifics ''[=sudar'=]'' and ''sudarynya'' (equivalent to 'sir' and 'madam') are even rarer, technically valid but not really used; historically they were used only by nobles, so most Russians do not feel entitled to be called such, [[note]]One of the Russian-flavor fast food chains tried to reboot this tradition by making their staff use them, but as the chain's quality degraded and it went down, so did those honorifics.[[/note]] The address "comrade" (historically rendered ''tovarishch'') is used only in the [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRustingRockets army]] and in the Communist Party, which is removed from power and is slowly dying out. The most common forms of address between common people are the Russian equivalents of 'man' (''muzhchina''), 'young man' (''molodoy chelovek''), 'woman' (''zhenshina'') or 'girl' (''devushka''). While English speakers may try to get a stranger's attention by saying "Sir" or "Ma'am", Russians have no problem simply shouting "Man!" or "Girl!" at each other. Note that "girl" is ''much'' more preferable to "woman" as a term of address, as the latter [[MaamShock may and frequently will be interpreted as connoting significant age and is thus offensive]]. Children mostly address unfamiliar adults as ''dyadya/dyadenka'' and ''tyotya/tyotenka''. These words literally mean "uncle" and "aunt", but they do not imply family ties in this case, and in informal situations even grown-ups may use these for their parents' friends they've known since childhood, using with first name or even its diminutive form; even their parents may in turn adopt such forms. Similarly, in the predominately Muslim regions of Russia and the former USSR, it may be customary for young and middle-aged people to address all elderly people as "father" and "mother", saying either ''otets'' and ''[=mat'=]'' in Russian, or a corresponding term in the local language. This came to Russian, so now it's pretty okay for an adult (but not a kid) to address a group of elderly people "fathers", ''otzy''.

In other words, the lack of honorifics to call a Russian reflects the ideological vacuum typical for UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia. You can't call someone ''[=sudar'=]'' because they aren't a noble and it sounds archaic, you can't call someone "comrade" because they aren't Communists anymore, and you can't call someone "hey, you!" because it's rude and people still feel too empowered after seventy years of "people's rule." So people use either the generic gender terms mentioned above ("young man," "girl" etc.) or avoid using terms of address entirely and simply say, "Pardon," (''izvinite''), or if they need something to be done, "Can you be so kind," (''bud'te dobry'').

Generally speaking, Russians are rather conservative when it comes to naming their children, but one big exception to this was the early days of the Soviet Union. The 1920s brought in a vogue of exotic, "revolutionary" names, during which entirely new names honoring Soviet leaders were coined such as Vladilen (from Vladimir-Lenin) or Mels (from ''M''arx, ''E''ngels, ''L''enin, ''S''talin). Other newly-coined names included Revmir (from ревмир -- short for "World Revolution"), or National (short for "Communist International"). People were even named after completely banal objects like Traktor (tractor) or Elektron (electron), as these things were considered particularly modern and "revolutionary". By the 1930s, traditional names were seen as stodgy and rustic -- unfit for the shiny, glorious future Communism was building. Religious names particularly fell out of favor, such as Mitrofan and Varfolomei.

Generally speaking, Russians are rather conservative when it comes to naming their children, but one big exception to this was the early days of the Soviet Union. The 1920s brought in a vogue of exotic, "revolutionary" names, during which entirely new names honoring Soviet leaders were coined such as Vladilen (from Vladimir-Lenin) or Mels (from ''M''arx, ''E''ngels, ''L''enin, ''S''talin). Other newly-coined names included Revmir (from ревмир -- short for "World Revolution"), or National (short for "Communist International"). People were even named after completely banal objects like Traktor (tractor) or Elektron (electron), as these things were considered particularly modern and "revolutionary". By the 1930s, traditional names were seen as stodgy and rustic -- unfit for the shiny, glorious future Communism was building. Religious names, or names associated strongly with the clergy, such as Mitrofan and Varfolomei, particularly fell out of favor.

Every Russian name has at least a dozen nicknames, since most have several different short forms and a multitude of suffixes, so you can get dozens of results by mix-matching and even stacking suffixes on top of each other. Continuing with our initial example, there are at least 50+ different variants for "Ekaterina".[[note]]Ekaterinka, Ekaterinochka, Ekaterinushka, Katechka, Katekha, Katena, Katenka, Katenochka, Katenushka, Katenya, Katerinka, Katerinochka, Katerinushka, Katka, Katlya, Katrenka, Katrya, Katsha, Katunechka, Katunka, Katunya, Katusha, Katushka, Katya, Katyakha, Katyasha, Katyashenka, Katyashka, Katyokha, Katyona, Katyonka, Katyonochka, Katyonushka, Katyukha, Katyulechka, Katyulenka, Katyulka, Katyulya, Katyunechka, Katyunka, Katyunya, Katyura, Katyurka, Katyurochka, Katyuronka, Katyurushka, Katyusechka, Katyusenka, Katyusha, Katyushechka, Katyushenka, Katyushka, Katyuska, Katyusya[[/note]] And if you try to fiddle with the name "Alexander", just sell your soul to the nearest devil for such knowledge, and then redeem it for not fulfilling the contract. There's that many.

In other words, the lack of honorifics to call a Russian reflects the ideological vacuum typical for UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia. You can't call someone ''[=sudar'=]'' because they aren't a noble and it sounds archaic, you can't call someone "comrade" because they aren't Communists anymore, and you can't call someone "hey, you!" because it's rude and people still feel too empowered after seventy years of "people's rule." So people use either the generic gender terms mentioned above ("young man," "girl" etc.) or avoid using terms of address at all and simply say, "Pardon," (''izvinite''), or if they need something to be done, "Can you be so kind," (''bud'te dobry'').

The Russian equivalents to Mr. and Mrs. aren't really used save in older literature. Lack of an easy honorific to call someone actually became a problem a few years ago. ''Gospodin'' or ''gospozha'' (equivalents to 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.', respectively) were only [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia recently]] returned to use and are used mostly by businessmen or civil servants to address each other, very formally. (Don't call a Russian the equivalent of "citizen"; that's how cops address a ''perp'', so it sounds offensive.) The honorifics ''[=sudar'=]'' and ''sudarynya'' (equivalent to 'sir' and 'madam') are even rarer, technically valid but not really used; historically they were used only by nobles, so most Russians do not feel entitled to be called such,[[note]]One of the Russian-flavor fast food chains tried to reboot this tradition by making their staff use them, but as the chain's quality degraded and it went down, so did those honorifics.[[/note]] The address "comrade" (historically rendered ''tovarishch'') is used only in the [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRustingRockets army]] and in the Communist Party, which is removed from power and is slowly dying out. The most common forms of address between common people are the Russian equivalents of 'man' (''muzhchina''), 'young man' (''molodoy chelovek''), 'woman' (''zhenshina'') or 'girl' (''devushka''). While English speakers may try to get a stranger's attention by saying "Sir" or "Ma'am", Russians have no problem simply shouting "Man!" or "Girl!" at each other. Note that "girl" is ''much'' more preferable to "woman" as a term of address, as the latter [[MaamShock may and frequently will be interpreted as connoting significant age and is thus offensive]]. Children mostly address unfamiliar adults as ''dyadya/dyadenka'' and ''tyotya/tyotenka''. These words literally mean "uncle" and "aunt", but they do not imply family ties in this case, and in informal situations even grown-ups may use these for their parents' friends they've known since childhood, using with first name or even its diminutive form; even their parents may in turn adopt such forms. Similarly, in the predominately Muslim regions of Russia and the former USSR, it may be customary for young and middle-aged people to address all elderly people as "father" and "mother", saying either ''otets'' and ''[=mat'=]'' in Russian, or a corresponding term in the local language. This came to Russian, so now it's pretty okay for an adult (but not a kid) to address a group of elderly people "fathers", ''otzy''.

In other words, the lack of honorifics to call a Russian reflects the ideological vacuum typical for UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia. You can't call someone ''[=sudar'=]'' because they aren't a noble, you can't call someone "comrade" because they aren't a Communist, and you can't call someone "hey, you!", because they still feel too empowered for that after seventy years of "people's rule", perhaps wrongly, but still. So people use indirect addresses, like "sorry" (''izvinite''), or, if they need something to be done, "can you be so kind" (''bud'te dobry'').

The Russian equivalents to Mr. and Mrs. aren't really used save in older literature. Lack of an easy honorific to call someone actually became a problem a few years ago. ''Gospodin'' or ''gospozha'' (equivalents to 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.', respectively) were only [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia recently]] returned to use and are used mostly by businessmen or civil servants to address each other, very formally. (Don't call a Russian the equivalent of "citizen"; that's how cops address a ''perp'', so it sounds offensive.) The honorifics ''[=sudar'=]'' and ''sudarynya'' (equivalent to 'sir' and 'madam') are even rarer, technically valid but not really used; historically they were used only by nobles, so most Russians do not feel entitled to be called such,[[note]]One of the Russian-flavor fast food chains tried to reboot this tradition by making their staff use them, but as the chain's quality degraded and it went down, so did those honorifics.[[/note]] The address "comrade" (historically rendered ''tovarishch'') is used only in the [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRustingRockets army]] and in the Communist Party, which is removed from power and is slowly dying out. The most common forms of address between common people are the Russian equivalents of 'man' (''muzhchina''), 'young man' (''molodoy chelovek''), 'woman' (''zhenshina'') or 'girl' (''devushka''). While English speakers may try to get a stranger's attention by saying "Sir" or "Ma'am", Russians have no problem simply shouting "Man!" or "Girl!" at each other. Note that "girl" is ''much'' more preferable than "woman" as the latter [[MaamShock may and frequently will be interpreted as connoting significant age and is thus offensive]]. Children mostly address unfamiliar adults as ''dyadya/dyadenka'' and ''tyotya/tyotenka''. These words literally mean "uncle" and "aunt", but they do not imply family ties in this case, and in informal situations even grown-ups may use these for their parents' friends they've known since childhood, using with first name or even its diminutive form; even their parents may in turn adopt such forms. Similarly, in the predominately Muslim regions of Russia and the former USSR, it may be customary for young and middle-aged people to address all elderly people as "father" and "mother", saying either ''otets'' and ''[=mat'=]'' in Russian, or a corresponding term in the local language. This came to Russian, so now it's pretty okay for an adult (but not a kid) to address a group of elderly people "fathers", ''otzy''.

** "Seva" (note that Sevastyan shares this diminutive with the name Vsevolod), "Sevik"

* Vasily (Basil, from the Greek 'basileus' -- "king")

* Vladimir/Volodymyr: Another pre-Christian name. Historically was "Volodimer" and meant something like "Great Lord" or "Great Ruler", related to the Germanic "Waldemar". Spelling reform shifted the ending from "-mer" to "-mir". "Mir" means both "world" and "peace" in Russian, creating the folk etymology "Lord of the World" or "Lord of Peace". Its English equivalent is 'Walter'.
** English pronunication stresses the first syllable ("VLAD-i-mir"). Slavic pronunciation stresses the second ("Vla-DEE-mir").
** The diminutive can be either "Vova" or "Volodya", but ''never'' "Vlad"--Russians associate that diminutive with other names, like "Vladislav" or "Vladilen" (an abbreviation of "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin").

* Vsevolod ("Lord of All"--see the connection between Vlad- and -volod?)

** Note that there are actually as many as ''three'' different forms of "George" in Russian: Georgi, Yuri, and Yegor.

Generally speaking, Russians are rather conservative when it comes to naming their children, but one big exception to this was the early days of the Soviet Union. The 1920s brought in a vogue of exotic, "revolutionary" names, during which entirely new names honoring Soviet leaders were coined such as Vladilen (from Vladimir-Lenin) or Mels (from ''M''arx, ''E''ngels, ''L''enin, ''S''talin). Other newly-coined names included Revmir (from ревмир -- short for "World Revolution"), or National (short for "Communist International"). People were even named after completely banal objects like Traktor (tractor) or Elektron (electron), as these things were considered particularly modern and "revolutionary." By the 1930s, traditional names were seen as stodgy and rustic - unfit for the shiny, glorious future Communism was building. Religious names, or names associated strongly with the clergy, such as Mitrofan and Varfolomei, particularly fell out of favor.