Changes in surnames and given names.

Abstract

The revolutionary processes in class relationships and in the life of society and everyday living have been reflected correspondingly in language as well. The most common linguistic phenomena of the revolutionary period have been noted, albeit in condensed form, in my aritcle On Modern Rural Languages [O iazyke sovremennoi derevni] (Soviet Land, 1932, no. 9). In the article that follows I want to direct the attention of readers to a process occurring in recent years with respect to surnames and given names. Many people, dissatisfied with their surnames and given names, are changing them for others. This substitution is caused by various circumstances of everyday living, by the ideological content of life in the Soviet Union, and by people's social and cultural orientation. Both urban and rural people are changing surnames and given names. It is important to study this process of change: it reveals many significant phenomenon in the field of social relations, culture, daily living, and language.