The Specificity of Formation and Use of Patronyms in the Orthodox Parish of Rajsk in the Podlasie Region in the Late 19th Century

Abstract

Widespread use of patronymic names among the Orthodox residents of Podlasie in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries is conditioned by its administrative affiliation to the Russian Empire and consequently, the prevalence of the Russian naming formula. This paper discusses patronymics (otchestva) attested in the Rajsk parish registers in the late 19th century. Researching the structure (including word-formation, phonetic, and graphic features) and etymology of these names, the author discovers that most of patronyms were derived from the Orthodox variants of proper names (e.g. Ilіin, Sofronіev, Filimonov; Aleksіeva, Stefanova), yet some refer to the non-canonical variants of baptismal names (e.g. Bonifatov, Tarasov; Demianova, Sebestіanova, Trokhimova), differing from the original variants by phonetic alternations. From derivation perspective, short forms of patronyms (so-called semi-patronymics, poluotchestva) e.g. Ignatіev, Matfeev, Fomov; Kondratova, Stakhіeva prevail over the full forms (Petrovich, Savvich; Epifanіevna, Ippolitovna). The presence of patronyms in the personal data allows to trace family traditions of naming children spanning three generations. Regardless of the fact that all analyzed records were made by one person, the names showcase a noticeable variability in terms of motivation, word-formation, orthography, and phonetics. It was not uncommon for the different patronymics to refer to one and the same bearer, highlighting the phenomenon of several co-existing name variants in the period in question.