Eastern Slavic naming customs

They are used commonly in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and to a lesser extent in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia.

So one can create many forms with different degrees of affection and familiarity by adding the corresponding suffixes to the auxiliary stem derived from the original name.

Depending on the nature of the attitude, diminutive name forms can be subdivided into three broad groups: affectionate, familiar, and slang.

The suffixes give the sense of "male brotherhood" that was once expressed by the patronymic-only form of address in the Soviet Union.

During the days of the October Revolution, as part of the campaign to rid Russia of bourgeois culture, there was a drive to invent new, revolutionary names.

The patronymic name is obligatory when addressing a person of higher social stance and/or on special occasions such as business meetings; for example, when a pupil addresses a teacher, they are obliged to use both first and patronymic names – Russian: Марья Ивановна, могу я спросить..., lit.

[1] Addressing a person by patronymic name only is widespread among older generations (more often – "blue collar"-male coworkers) and serves as a display of close relationship based on not only sympathy but also mutual responsibility.

For example, if the father's name was Иван (Ivan), the patronymic will be Иванович (Ivanovich) for a son and Ивановна (Ivanovna) for a daughter.

For example, if the father is Дмитрий (Dmitry), the patronymic is Дмитриевич (Dmitrievich) for a son and Дмитриевна (Dmitrievna) for a daughter.

As a tribute for developing the salt industry in Siberia, Pyotr Stroganov and all his issues were allowed to have a name with -ovich.

Now, an adult person is entitled to change patronyms if necessary,[4] such as to alienate themselves from the biological father (or to show respect for the adopted one) as well as to decide the same for an underage child.

Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tavricheski had the victory title 'Tavricheski', as part of his surname, granted to him for the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, -off was a common transliteration of -ov for Russian family names in foreign languages such as French and German (like for the Smirnoff and the Davidoff brands).

For example, the family name Писаренко (Pisarenko) is derived from the word for a scribe, and Ковальчук (Kovalchuk) refers to a smith.

The example of Иванов (Ivanov), a family name, will be used: The surnames which are not grammatically adjectives (Zhuk, Gogol, Barchuk, Kupala etc.)

The fourth, very rare but still legal way is the taking a double surname; for example, in marriage of Ivanov (he) and Petrovskaya (she), the spouses may adopt the family name Ivanov-Petrovsky and Ivanova-Petrovskaya, correspondingly.

Some surnames in those languages have been russified since the 19th century: the surname of Kazakh former president Nursultan Nazarbayev has a Russian "-yev" suffix, which literally means "of Nazar-bay" (in which "bay" is a Turkic native noble rank: compare Turkish "bey", Uzbek "boy" "bek", and Kyrghyz "bek").

After incorporation of Azerbaijan into the Soviet Union, it became obligatory to register their surnames and to add a Russian suffix such as -yev or -ov for men and -yeva or -ova for women.

[7] Since the majority did not have official surnames, the problem was resolved by adopting the name of the father and adding the mentioned suffixes.

For example, the Russian politician Irina Hakamada's patronym is Муцуовна (Mutsuovna) because her Japanese father's given name was Mutsuo.

Other examples are Kazakh ұлы (uly; transcribed into Latin script as -uly, as in Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev), or Azeri оглы/оғлу (oglu) (as in Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev); Kazakh қызы (transcribed into Latin script as -qyzy, as in Dariga Nursultanqyzy Nazarbayeva).

Historically, diminutives of the given names were used in reference to commoners, to indicate an their low status: Stenka Razin, Grishka Rasputin, etc.

Adjectives like Любимый / Любимая (lyubimiy / lyubimaya, "beloved") and Милый / Милая (miliy / milaya, "sweetheart") are informal, and Уважаемый / Уважаемая (uvazhayemiy / uvazhayemaya, literally "respected") is highly formal.