Eastern Slavic Naming Customs - Patronymic

Patronymic

The patronymic of a person is based on the first name of the father and is written in all legal and identity documents. As an example, the patronymic name of Soviet leader Никита Сергеевич Хрущёв (Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev) indicates that his father was named Сергей (Sergey). However, an adult person is entitled the right to legally change their patronymic in order to alienate with the biological father (or show respect for the adopted one) as well as to decide the same for their underaged child.

If used with the first name, the patronymic always follows it.

A suffix (meaning either "son of" or "daughter of") is added to the father's given name—in modern times, males use -ович -ovich, while females use -овна -ovna. If the suffix is being appended to a name ending in й (y) or a soft consonant, the initial o becomes a ye (-евич -yevich and -евна -yevna). There are also a few exceptions to this pattern; for example, the son of Ilya is always Ilyich, not Ilyevich (likewise the daughter of Ilya is Ilyinichna).

Historically, the -ovich (-ovna) form was reserved for the Russian aristocracy, while commoners had to use -in, -yn, -ov, -ev, etc. (for a son; e.g., Boris Alekseev, Dmitri Kuzmin) and -eva, -ova, -ina, etc. (for a daughter; e.g., Sofiya Alekseeva, Anastasiya Kuzmina). Over time, the -ovich (-ovna) form spread to commoners favored by the tsar, high-ranking bureaucrats, and during the 19th century, to all segments of Russian society.

In Ukrainian language the female patronymic always ends with -ivna and the male always ends with -ovych. Exception: the Ukrainian patronymic for Ilya is Illich.

When translating Russian-style names into English, it is important to remember that the patronymic is not equivalent to an English middle name and follows different abbreviation conventions. The patronymic can be omitted (e.g. Vladimir Putin or V. Putin); both the first name and the patronymic can be written out in full (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin); or both the first name and the patronymic can be abbreviated (V. V. Putin). However, writing out the first name and abbreviating the patronymic (e.g. Vladimir V. Putin), although something that one occasionally encounters in translations, is incorrect.