Random Russian names. Decoding How did the formula "last name - first name - patronymic

So much is said about the culture or traditions of England, but it is quite rare to find out about English names. And the topic, by the way, is very entertaining. After all, the naming system is globally different from what we are used to.

If we have a first and last name, then in England it is somewhat different. They have a first name, a middle name, and a surname. In addition, in England it is considered normal to give diminutive forms of the name. For example, even in formal conversations, a person may be called Tony, although his full name sounds like Anthony. If desired, the child can be immediately recorded with a diminutive name and the state will not object. Moreover, almost any word or name can be taken as a name - for example, the name Brooklyn. But if we tried to name our son, for example, Novosibirsk, they would hardly give permission for this.

The system of English given names and surnames

Each of us is already accustomed to the fact that he is the bearer of the surname, name and patronymic. But such a scheme is not suitable for the British, their naming system is absolutely unusual and therefore curious. The main difference between our systems is the lack of a patronymic. Instead, they have a surname, a first name, and a middle name. Moreover, as any of these two names, an Englishman can carry the names of some stars or even his ancestors. Although there is no strict requirement that a person have only these three points. Any Englishman can give a child a name from several names or surnames. For example, if you want to name it in honor of the whole football team at once.

Such a tradition - to give a person a surname as a name, has come down to our days from noble families. Although the history of the English name system developed quite actively, borrowings were made from various countries, and names were also mixed from the Angles, Celtic tribes, Franco-Normans. Since the Anglo-Saxons initially had only one name, they tried to attach special importance to it. Therefore, in the composition of ancient names one could meet such words as wealth or health. Old English female names were most often composed using adjectives, the most common variation being Leof (dear, beloved). And after the Norman invasion of England, a surname was gradually added to the name, making it close to the name system that exists today. The old Anglo-Saxon names gradually began to disappear, and due to the influence of the Christian religion, Christian schools that opened everywhere actively stimulated the registration of newborns who received a name at baptism, so the names changed slightly: from Mary to Mary, from Jeanne to John.

Generator of English names and surnames

GENERATOR OF ENGLISH NAMES AND SURNAMES
(including Anglo-Irish and Anglo-Scottish surnames)

And here are the most common British names. For convenience, they are divided into parts of the country, because in each corner some individual names are most popular. Some of them are the same, some are different. Names are ranked by popularity.

England

Men's

1. Harry- Harry (a diminutive of Henry - rich, powerful)
2. Oliver- Oliver (from ancient German - army)
3. Jack- Jack (a diminutive of John, from Hebrew - Yahweh is merciful)
4. Charlie- Charlie (from ancient German - man, husband)
5. Thomas- Thomas (from ancient Greek - twin)
6. Jacob– Jacob (simplified version of the name James)
7. Alfie- Alfie (from Old English - advice)
8. Riley- Riley (from Irish - courageous)
9. William- William (from ancient German - desire, will)
10. James- James (from Hebrew - "holding on to the heel")

Women's

1. Amelia- Amelia (from ancient German - work, work)
2. Olivia- Olivia (from Latin - olive tree)
3. Jessica- Jessica (the exact meaning is unknown, perhaps the name comes from the biblical name Jescha)
4. Emily– Emily (the female form of the male name Emil is a rival)
5. Lily- Lily (from the English name for the lily flower)
6. Ava– Ava (a variant of the medieval English name Evelyn)
7. Heather- Heather (from English - heather)
8. Sophie- Sophie (from ancient Greek - wisdom)
9. Mia– Mia
10. Isabella- Isabella (Provencal version of the name Elizabeth)

Northern Ireland

Men's

1. Jack– Jack
2. James– James
3. Daniel– Daniel
4. Harry– Harry
5. Charlie– Charlie
6. Ethan– Ethan
7. Matthew- Matthew (from Hebrew - the gift of Yahweh)
8. Ryan– Ryan
9. Riley– Riley
10. noah– Noah

Women's

1. Sophie– Sophie
2. Emily– Emily
3. grace- Grace (from English - grace, grace)
4. Amelia– Amelia
5. Jessica– Jessica
6. Lucy- Lucy (from the male Roman name Lucius - light)
7. Sophia– Sofia (variant of the name Sophie)
8. Katie- Katy (from Greek - pure, thoroughbred)
9. Eva- Eve (from Hebrew - breathe, live)
10. Aoife- Ifa (from Irish - beauty)

Wales

Men's

1. Jacob– Jacob
2. Oliver– Oliver
3. Riley– Riley
4. Jack– Jack
5. Alfie– Alfie
6. Harry– Harry
7. Charlie– Charlie
8. Dylan- Dylan (according to Welsh mythology, that was the name of the God of the Sea)
9. William– William
10. mason– Mason (from a similar surname meaning “stone carving”)

Women's

1. Amelia– Amelia
2. Ava– Ava
3. Mia– Mia
4. Lily– Lily
5. Olivia– Olivia
6. ruby- Ruby (from English - ruby)
7. Seren- Serenus (from Latin - clear)
8. Evie– Evie (from the English surname Evelyn)
9. Ella- Ella (from ancient German - all, everything)
10. Emily– Emily

Modern English names

It is very common in English names to have pet and diminutive forms as official names. With us, such a form is allowed only with personal, close communication. For example, take at least people familiar to everyone - Bill Clinton or Tony Blair. They are called by such names even at world negotiations, and this is absolutely acceptable. Although in fact, Bill's full name is William, and Tony is Anthony. The British are allowed to register a newborn child, giving him a diminutive first or second name. Although there are no special prohibitions on choosing a name in English-speaking countries as such, it is possible to give a child a name after a city or district. So, for example, the star couple Beckham did, Victoria and David gave their son the name Brooklyn - it was in this area of ​​\u200b\u200bNew York that he was born.

Gradually, fashion began to change and names in English-speaking countries often began to be borrowed from different languages. Since the 19th century, many female names have appeared such as Ruby, Daisy, Beryl, Amber and others. Willingly used names originally from Spain or France - Michel, Angelina, Jacqueline. But the tendency of some people to give their children unusual names has not disappeared anywhere. Bill Simser, Vice President of Microsoft, named his daughter Vista Avalon. The first part of the name is in honor of Windows Vista, and the second part is in honor of the Avalon system code name. But director Kevin Smith decided to name his daughter Harley Quinn at all - that was the name of the girl from the comics about Batman.

By the way, not every owner likes such unusual names. Many children are embarrassed by this and look forward to coming of age to officially change their name. Little Pixie Geldof, who is the daughter of musician Bob Geldof, was very shy about the prefix "little" at the beginning of her name and chose to call herself simply Pixie in her adult life. But what a resident of New Zealand, whose name is Bus No. 16, will do with his name is even hard to imagine. The fantasies of his parents can only be envied.

The generator of surnames, names and patronymics in Russian (full name generator) is a program that can give you random results. If you need to come up with a dozen names, then our service is provided just for this case. After all, there are times when there is no fantasy and desire for writing them, and the full name generator will solve this issue without problems and very quickly. Thanks to our service, you can easily and quickly fill in any database or come up with an original nickname/pseudonym, and you can also expand your circle of knowledge in various names.

Situations when it is necessary to come up with several surnames, names and patronymics are not uncommon. Perhaps you need to replace real names with investigative journalistic ones, or come up with colorful names for the characters in the story, or create your own pseudonym for use in print or on the Internet. It would seem that we have so many names, patronymics and surnames in our heads, but two, three, and probably banal ones come to mind.

How to create random names and surnames?

Our first and last name generator will help you easily and simply solve this problem in automatic mode. This is a special online program that generates random results based on a huge database of Russian names, surnames and patronymics. With the help of such a generator of surnames and names, you can quickly fill in any database, choose an original alias or names for characters.

The principle of the generator name?

Name generator or randomizer(from English. random - random) creates a selection of random names, patronymics and surnames, using an extensive database that is contained inside the program.

To use the first and last name generator, set a few initial parameters:

• - male or female name;
• - tick the required parameters (you can select all full names or get only random names, surnames, patronymics);
• - determine the number of results (available from 1 to 99);
• - now click on the "Generate full name" button - and your result is ready;
• - keep repeating these steps until you find the first and last name that suits your needs.

Our online name generator is only Russian surnames, first names and patronymics. If the number of names in the Russian language is limited, we can all name just a few dozen names, then the number of surnames reaches more than two hundred thousand options, which is associated with their method of formation. Most Russian surnames were formed in the 15th-18th century. We tried to enter as many Russian names and surnames as possible into our database, so here you will find both the most common names and surnames, as well as rare ones. Thanks to this, you will be able to implement not only standard tasks, such as filling in any database tables, but also artistic ideas when it is important to choose a speaking surname or with a certain shade. We hope you enjoy working with our name randomizer and you can easily pick up the options you need.

Where can I get dozens of fictitious surnames or given names? And if you need several hundred unusual logins? So much to come up with no imagination is enough! An online generator of nicknames, logins, names, surnames and patronymics will help you quickly deal with such a problem! Thanks to our service, you can quickly fill out test databases and spreadsheets. You can come up with a pseudonym for yourself or simply expand your knowledge about the presence of certain names in Russian. Don't believe? Try it yourself online now!

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Nickname generator online

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Surnames, patronymics and names in Russian

The generator of surnames, names and patronymics in Russian (full name generator) is a program that can give you random results. If you need to come up with a dozen full names, then our service is provided just for this case. After all, there are times when there is no fantasy and desire to write them, and our online service will solve this issue without any problems and very quickly. You can easily and quickly fill in any database or come up with an original pseudonym, and you can also expand your circle of knowledge in a variety of names.

How does the name generator work?

When using this name generator, it is worth remembering your tastes and preferences, because the program cannot know and guess what exactly you are looking for: either it will be a nice or unattractive combination of full name. So we advise you to choose the result carefully, using the available options for this.

• Specify the number of elements you want to generate;
• Check the box next to the last name, first name, patronymic or nickname. If any element is needed separately, then just the opposite;
• Set gender (male, female or any);
• That's all! Click the "Generate" button.

Our conceptions of ourselves inevitably include elements that have been worked out by the bureaucracy. For example, we are used to the fact that each person knows their exact age, and it may seem that this has always been the case. In fact, this kind of knowledge is a product of the bureaucracy of the New Age, that is, it appeared and became customary in Russia relatively recently, only in the 18th century, but until the 20th century, not everyone knew their age.

The development of bureaucracy meant the emergence of a new reality in which a person appears in a different, official version. He is credited with those characteristics that are considered necessary by the bureaucracy in order to “see” a person and carry out accounting and control. However, many of these characteristics were so mastered and assimilated that they were gradually included in people's ideas about themselves.

Any identity document begins with a record of the last name, first name and patronymic. If other information about a person (for example, social status or nationality) appeared, disappeared or changed places, then the “head” place of this information remained unchanged. Meanwhile, it is obvious that the identification capacity of a passport name is, in principle, not great, since, as a rule, it is not unique. In any case, it cannot be argued that the name unambiguously indicates only this person. Only in combination with other signs, the name allows, in necessary cases, to determine the personality.

And yet why is the nominal formula included in the number of indispensable identifiers and in the composition of personal data? Probably, this can be explained more by the tradition of "defining" a person than by the real identifying ability of a name. The name turns out to be necessary both for nomination (and thereby distinguishing a person from among similar ones), and for regulating social and legal relations, since a person can enter into legal relations only under his own name.

Strictly speaking, the name is not a sign specific to written documents, unlike, for example, a signature, since the practice of identifying a person by name or nickname arose long before the appearance of documents. However, the document name has its own characteristics. First of all, the name becomes embodied in writing. If the oral name is changeable, mobile, predisposed to transformations, then the written (documentary) name becomes fixed and, therefore, is considered more reliable. By the way, the belonging of the name to documented reality makes it possible to officially change it.

The translation of a spoken name into a written form is not at all an automatic procedure. It involves at least a minimal reflection on its visual appearance and meaning, and this is a completely different perception of the name, opening up a new form of its existence. Being fixed, the name is torn off from the person and begins to live its own life - according to the rules that are established by bureaucratic production. At the same time, the fixed name in one way or another points to its bearer even after his death, and in this sense, the name is one of the means of resisting time, which is especially characteristic of documentary reality.

Another important feature of a document name is that it is always complete, including all the components of the nominal formula (“last name - first name - patronymic”). Such a name, as a rule, is not used in everyday communication, and this feature of the functioning of the name has created and continues to create a certain gap in the perception of the two naming practices, and the inclusion of the official naming of the middle name and surname emphasizes the specifics of the document-man-t-no-th image of a person, his deliberate artificiality. We can say that the name used in everyday communication has not become related to the document. The document contains its special, official version. As a result, the name bearer himself does not always accept the documented version, and does not even always consider it his own name.

The peculiarity of the functioning of the name in the Russian tradition is that a person, as a rule, had not one name, but at least two. The situation for Russia is historically familiar: for many centuries, a baptismal and secular name was used. A worldly name, unlike a baptismal one, could have a different origin. Most often, it was a nickname characterizing the named person. This is also evidenced by the circumstance that a person could acquire such a name not immediately after birth, but somewhat later, when one or another of his features became apparent, and not only parents, but also the street could give it. . At the same time, a calendar name, that is, from the holy calendar, could also act as a worldly name. For example, in the Old Believer environment: “Alexander by passport, and by baptism Sophrony”, “Valentina by passport, and by baptism Vasilisa”. In any case, a worldly name is not accidental: it is usually motivated either by family tradition (for example, to call by the name of a grandfather or grandmother), or by some qualities of the person named (in the case of a nickname).

“In the Russian village, “street” surnames were so much more common than passport ones (which sometimes no one knew) that even government documents of the late 19th century were forced to use them - otherwise it was unthinkable to figure out who they were talking about.

Vladimir Nikonov."Name and Society" (1973)

The stability of the double naming can probably be explained not only by tradition, but also by the fact that baptismal and secular names had different functions: baptismal names united the bearer of the name with all bearers of this name, while secular ones were more distinctive, if only because that their list was more diverse and fundamentally open.

For ten centuries, only the Church could give an official name to a person. The name was determined according to the calendar, and the boys were given the name of the saint whose memorial day was celebrated on the eighth day after birth, and the girls were given the name of the saint, whose memorial day was celebrated eight days before birth. This archaic practice (it was preserved among some groups of Old Believers ----) was replaced by the custom of assigning the name of a saint whose day falls on a birthday or baptism, and often between them. In any case, the name was not chosen, but was determined by the calendar sequence of commemoration of the saints, and such a principle of establishing the name “by coincidence” could not but be comprehended in the categories of fate and share. It is curious that this practice of naming was not canonical and, therefore, contrary to popular belief, was not mandatory. Canonical are the rules that are contained in the collection "Canons of the Orthodox Church", which includes the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils from the 1st to the 9th centuries..

Formally, the Church, which for a number of centuries tirelessly fought against the people's (street) personal name, prevailed over it, since only the church name with the advent of registers of births in the 18th century began to be considered official and "correct". She also began to own the right to exercise control over naming, that is, to register a name and enter it in the registers of births. In real practice, both systems somehow got on. Registers of births were introduced in 1722, and with them the widespread registration of the population began. These books recorded acts of civil status - birth, marriage and death. They consisted, respectively, of three parts (records of birth, marriage and death) and were filled in by the priest, who married, baptized and buried the parishioners of his parish. The birth record included the following information: date of birth and baptism, name and surname (if any), place of residence and religion of parents and godparents, legality or illegality of birth. In the book about marriage, in addition to --- standard information about the spouses, data were recorded about the witnesses and those who crowned this marriage. In the book about the dead - the date of death and burial, the place of burial, which of the priests took confession and performed the burial. Metric books existed until 1918, after which they were replaced by act books in the registry offices - civil status records.

The distribution of documents and, as a result, the appearance of an official name meant a fundamental change in attitude towards the name. The document name has become the only name by which a person is known in his relations with the external, official sphere. Actually, one can speak about the category of the official name itself only from the time the documentary (single) name appeared. It is no coincidence that the introduction of a passport name entailed the need to create a system of personal documentation, which was again implemented in metric records.

The composition of the full nominal formula, in addition to the name, includes patronymics and surnames. Patronymic in official documents becomes a component of the full name only from the time of Peter the Great. Actually, since then we can talk about the identification meaning of the patronymic, which is an indication of the closest relative in the male line - the father. Of course, before it could be used for identification purposes, but it was resorted to either to clarify family relationships, or to separate from another person in case of a coincidence of names. When various forms of patronymics were legalized. In the "Official List" published during her reign, compiled in accordance with the Peter's Table of Ranks, it was indicated that the persons of the first five classes (the highest class; for civil ranks this meant from the actual secret adviser to state councilor) should have been written with a patronymic on -vich; from the sixth to the eighth (from a collegiate adviser to a collegiate assessor - a kind of middle class) - to be called semi-patronymics, for example, Ivan Petrov Kukushkin; all the rest - only by name. Thus, the patronymic became a sign of social status: by the patronymic one could judge which segment of the population a person belongs to. The introduction of patronymics for all segments of the population had a significant social effect: a single and common nominal formula could not but be perceived as a kind of sign of social equality.

The appearance of a patronymic in the composition of documentary realities meant not only a greater completeness of the description of a person, but also a departure from the practices of everyday naming, where the patronymic was used only in special cases or in special registers of communication. Thus, the documents created a parallel reality.

Surnames as an indication of belonging to a family, clan in different social strata appear at different times. Since the 16th century, they have been acquired by representatives of the upper strata - boyars and nobles. In the XVII-XVIII centuries, surnames appear among servicemen and merchants. The clergy began to be endowed with surnames only from the middle of the 18th century. In the middle of the 19th century, and especially in the post-reform period, peasants received surnames. In 1888, a Senate decree was issued on the mandatory presence of a surname and the need to indicate it in documents, but ten years later, according to the 1897 census, only about 25% of the Russian population had surnames. The process of acquiring surnames dragged on until the 30s, and among the peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus until the early 40s of the last century. Together with the surname, documentary reality received another specific feature of its own, which will soon go beyond the scope of documents, but will retain the memory of its initial context: calling a person by their surname in everyday communication even now often refers to the official register.

Surnames were most often formed from baptismal names (for example, Denisov on behalf of Denis, Parfenov from Parfen); from nicknames (Tuchkov - fat, Tara-tor-kin - talkative), from professions (Klyuchnikov, Svechnikov, Maslennikov), from geographical and topographical names (Vyazemsky from "Vyazma", Shui-sky from "Shuya", Dubrovsky from "oak forest") and so on.

The situation with illegitimate children is especially interesting. For them, a special surname was often used - Bogdanov. Sometimes, instead of this surname, they were given the name Bogdan (this name was not a baptismal one). It is believed that the bearers of the surname Bogdanov had someone illegitimate in their family. Unlawfully born children of aristocrats were usually given truncated surnames. For example, Betskoy from the surname Trubetskoy, Litsyn from Golitsyn.

Full passport naming, unlike one name, had a double effect: it not only singled out a given person and separated him from others, but also connected him through a patronymic and surname with a certain circle of relatives - family, clan. Thus, it became possible to speak both about his belonging to this circle and about his origin. These two principles (belonging and origin) will be of particular importance for the formation of a bureaucratic portrait of a person.

When the first Soviet identity cards were issued, it turned out that, despite the almost two-century tradition of the existence of an official full name, not all citizens of the USSR have one. Instruction No. 370 “On Identity Certificates and Registration of Citizens in Urban Settlements” dated July 6, 1925 states: “In the column“ last name, first name and patronymic of the recipient, the nickname of a citizen can also be indicated if he does not have a specific -lena surname. The situation with patronymics was not quite favorable. For example, in pre-revolutionary metric books, children born from unregistered marriages had a dash in the column “father”, and, accordingly, the “illegitimate” did not have an official patronymic. According to the Code of Laws on Marriage, Family and Guardianship of the RSFSR of 1926, the mother was granted the right during pregnancy or after the birth of a child to file an application about the father of the child with the civil registry office. This body notified the person named in the application as the father about the received application. If no objections were received from the latter within a month from the date of receipt of the notice, this husband-chi-na was recorded as a father. It was possible to go to court with an application to establish paternity only after the birth of a child. In unclear cases, the patronymic was written down at the direction of the mother (often - in one's own patronymic), as it is now.

As already mentioned, the most important feature of a document name is its immutability. Actually, it is the immutability that makes the name official, documentary. It is no coincidence that any change in the passport name is always strictly regulated by the state.

With the introduction of passports and registration in registers of births, a change in the official name was practically not allowed, because only under a registered name a person is “known” to the authorities, for which the main thing is that, if necessary, he should be visible, and changing the name, of course, is fraught with all sorts of difficulties. It is known that the names changed, for example, with a change in spiritual status - tonsure as a monk, and in some cases during episcopal consecration consecration- that is, the laying on of hands, the priesthood.. For example, there was Vladi-mir, and Vasily became a monk: he had a second heavenly patron. But, strictly speaking, this is not a name change, but a ritual acquisition of another name. It is significant that when leaving the monastic rank, such a person was also deprived of the received name. The name recorded in the birth certificate and in the passport remained the same. The name could also change in connection with a change in the social environment - for example, when enrolling in the soldiers, when entering a seminary, when entering a theater stage or a circus. However, in all cases, the baptismal (documentary) name remained the same.

Meanwhile, the anthroponymic fund, historically based on nicknames, required a kind of purge. In 1825, a decree was issued "On the replacement of obscene surnames among the lower ranks." Numerous Perdunovs, Zhopkins and Khudosra-kovs got the opportunity to replace their "family nicknames" with more decent ones. The decree, of course, did not apply to baptismal names. Yes, and the names of nobles, honorary citizens and high merchants could be changed only with the highest permission. An almost anecdotal story is known that when the merchant Sinebryukhov turned to the sovereign with a request to change his surname, he mockingly replied: “I allow you to change it to any other color.” An exception was made only for foreigners who accepted Orthodoxy: in this case, they could change their names and surnames to Russian ones. However, the law of 1850 prohibited the change of surname even in the case of baptism (in particular, Jews).

The Soviet era began with the destruction of the former name registration system. The Church lost the right to give a name and control the naming procedure. At first, this role was taken over by production teams and parents, and the registration of the name began to be carried out by state registry offices. Accordingly, party and Komsomol leaders acted instead of the priest. They led the ceremony and read out the "decree" on the inclusion of the newborn among the citizens of the Land of Soviets. The parents of the new citizen received a "public order". Here is one of them, stored in the local history museum of the Ural city of Serov:

“... we overshadow you not with a cross, not with water and prayer - a legacy of slavery and darkness, but with our red banner of struggle and labor, pierced by bullets, torn with bayonets ... We punish the parents of a newborn: to raise a daughter as a devoted fighter for the liberation of the working people of all world, a supporter of science and labor, an enemy of darkness and ignorance, an ardent defender of the power of the Soviets.

The invention of new names - such as Dazdraperma (Long live the First of May!) or Vladlen (Vladimir Lenin) - did not end there. It was only in defiance of the previous order that the Soviet authorities, in one of the first decrees, granted citizens the right to “change their surnames and nicknames.” Attention is drawn to the fact that this decree was allowed to change surnames and nicknames, but not names. How difficult it was to change the hereditary surname in the old days, it became so easy under the new conditions (and despite the fact that not everyone had acquired surnames by this time). And many took advantage of the new freedom.

In 1924, by a special resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, it was allowed to change not only surnames and generic nicknames, but also first names. In time, this decision coincided with the beginning of the movement for a new revolutionary name, which became the most important component of the struggle against the Church for a new person. New and even "ideologically correct" were the ancient Russian names, which were previously forbidden by the Orthodox Church (Rurik, Svyatoslav, Lada, Ruslana and others).

Permission to change names and surnames did not at all mean the abolition of control in this area. The NKVD immediately issues a detailed “Instruction on the procedure for changing surnames (family nicknames) and first names”, which contains a form for applying for a change of surname and / or name, establishes criminal liability for giving false information, and orders the publication of an announcement in the local official newspaper about change. For example, “Bulletin of the Leningrad City Council. Decrees and orders of the Leningrad City Council and its departments ":

Feb. 9 1938 Kuibyshevsk. RayZAGS informs that Count Vasilyeva, Marfa Stepanovna, born in 1904, coming from the citizen of Leningrad. region, Novoselsky district, village. Adamovo, who lives in L[eningrad], along avenue 25 October, 74, apt. 70B, changes the name Marfa to the name OLGA. Protests are requested to apply ... "

This means that someone could have, for example, property claims against this person, known as Martha, which should have been settled before the name change, because when she becomes Olga, she will already be a different person.

Despite all the bureaucratic arrangement, the permission to change names and surnames was perceived as a softening of the situation with names. In this regard, it is impossible not to recall the poem by Nikolai Oleinikov:

I'll go to the Izvestia office,
I'll bring eighteen rubles
And there I will say goodbye forever
With my former last name.

Kozlov I was Alexander,
And I don't want to be anymore!
Call Orlov Nikandr,
This is what I pay money for.

In the post-war years, there were no fundamental changes at the legislative level. The name change was and is included in the list of acts of civil status along with the registration of birth, marriage and death. Thus, this procedure was equated with the key events of a person's life scenario. It can be said that even at the official level it was assumed that with a new name, the person himself is fundamentally changing.

Bureaucratic control over the name even touched upon the sequence in which the three parts of the nominal formula should be fixed. When considering Soviet documents, this cannot but be evident. The former stable sequence "first name - patronymic - last name" is changed to a new one: "surname - first name - patronymic" (full name). In the documents of the 1920-30s, both options are found. But starting with the Regulations on Passports of 1940, the sequence becomes unchanged: the full name won an unconditional victory.

This seemingly insignificant change in the first column reflected, it seems to me, a cardinal change in attitude towards the person himself. In the pre-revolutionary style, an official address to a person by last name was possible only in friendly communication or when addressing “from top to bottom” - for example, a teacher to a student. In official circulation, this was considered unacceptable. The norm was the order in which the first name is called and written, which can only be preceded by an indication of the rank. The inversion that took place in the first decades of the Soviet era was apparently caused by the fact that lists replaced individuality and singularity. In the situations of enumerations and roll calls that have become commonplace, people differ not so much in their names as in their surnames, to which the emphasis was shifted, not to mention the fact that in lists and file cabinets, the alphabetical order of listing by surnames is usually adopted. We can say that a kind of "list naming" has appeared. This sequence in the bureaucratic sphere is still accepted. Unfortunately, it has spread beyond its borders, and we habitually use the full name even where this is not required of us.