Slavic Names - History of Slavic Names

History of Slavic Names

In pre-Christian traditions, a child less than 7–10 years old would bear a "substitutional name" (e.g. Niemój "Not mine", Nielub "Unloved"), the purpose of which was to deflect attention from the child and thereby to protect it from the curiosity of evil powers. The practice was largely the effect of the high mortality rate for young children at the time. A child who survived to 7–10 years was considered worthy of care and was granted adult status and a new adult name during a ritual first haircut.

Traditional names remained dominant until the Slavic nations converted to Christianity. Finally, the Council of Trent (1545–63) decreed that every Catholic should have a Christian name instead of a native one.

Names in Poland

After the ban on native non-Christian names imposed by the Council of Trent, the Polish nobility (especially Protestants) attempted to preserve traditional names, such as Zbigniew and Jarosław. Ordinary people, however, tended to choose names solely from the Christian calendar, which contained only a handful of Slavic saints' names, in particular: Kazimierz (St. Casimir), Stanisław (St. Stanislaus), Wacław (St.Wenceslaus) and Władysław (St. Ladislaus). Slavic names that referred to God (e.g. Bogdan, Bogumił) were also permitted.

Names in Kievan Rus'

Old Rus' names were based on common Slavic names such as Vladimir "Vladey mirom", (Own peace (Note: Could be also translated as Rules by Peace => Vládnuť = Rule; Mier/Mír = Peace)), Svyatopolk (holy regiment), Yaropolk, Voislav (glorious warrior), Borislav (glorious wrestler), Boris (fighter), Lyubomir (love peace), Ratibor (war fighter), Vadim, Yaroslav, Izyaslav, Mstislav, Vsevolod etc. In the 11th century, after the growing influence of the Christian Church the tendency to use the names of saints of the Greek Church has increased and most of old Rus' names were displaced by Dmytriy, Andrey, Nikolay, Terentiy, Sergey, Anton, Kirill, Georgiy, Konstantin, Alexandr, Foma, Akakiy, etc.

Names today

Since national revivals during 19th and 20th centuries, traditional names, especially of historical rulers and heroes, regained popularity. For example, in Poland many forgotten names were resurrected, such as Bronisław, Bolesław, Dobiesław, Dobrosław, Jarosław, Mirosław, Przemysław, Radosław, Sławomir, Wiesław, Zdzisław, and Zbigniew; and new ones created, such as Lechosław and Wieńczysław. Today, traditional Slavic names are accepted by the Christian Church and are given at a child's baptism.