Given names of Soviet origin appeared in the early history of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Richard Stites, ''Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution''
p. 111
/ref> coinciding with the period of intensive

word formation In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either: * the processes through which words can change (i.e. morphology), or * the creation of new lexemes in a particular language Morphological A common method of word form ...

, both being part of the so-called "revolutionary transformation of the society" with the corresponding fashion of

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

s and

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

s,Valeri Mokiyenko, "Толковый словарь языка Совдепии" ("

Explanatory Dictionary An explanatory dictionary or defining dictionary is a dictionary that provides definitions of word meanings at its entries. It may give additional information on pronunciation, grammar, etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of Eng ...

of Sovdepiya"),

St.Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Фолио-Пресс, 1998, . which Richard Stites characterized as a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

n vision of creating a new reality by means of verbal imagery. They constituted a notable part of the new

Soviet phraseology Soviet phraseology, or Sovietisms, i.e., the neologisms and cliches in Russian language of the epoch of the Soviet Union, has a number of distinct traits that reflect the Soviet way of life and Soviet culture and politics. Most of these distinct ...

. Many such names may be found in Russian,Петровский, Н. А. "Словарь русских личных имён", Moscow, АСТ, 2000, . Belarusian, and Ukrainian persons, as well as in other ethnicities of the former

(e.g.

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

History

The proliferation of the new names was enhanced by the propagation of a short-lived "new Soviet rite" of

Octobering Octobering was a naming ceremony which occurred during the early era of the Soviet Union, which involved giving a name to a newborn, introduced by the state on the official basis of Marxist–Leninist atheism as an attempt to replace the religiou ...

, in replacement of the religious tradition of child baptism in the state with the official dogma of Marxist–Leninist atheism.Daniel Peris, ''Storming the Heavens: The Soviet League of the Militant Godless''
p. 92
/ref> In defiance of the old tradition of taking names from

menology Menologium (), also written menology, and menologe, is a service-book used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite. From its derivation from Greek , ''menológion'', from μήν ''m� ...

, according to the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

s, many names were taken from nature having patriotic, revolutionary, or progressive connotation: Beryoza (Берёза, "

birch tree A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

", a proverbial Russian tree), Gvozdika (Гвоздика, " carnation", a revolutionary flower), Granit (Гранит, "

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

"), Radiy (Радий, "

radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather t ...

", a symbol of scientific progress). A peculiarity of the new naming was neologisms based on the revolutionary phraseology of the day, such as ''Oktyabrin/Oktyabrina'', to commemorate the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, ''Vladlen'' for

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

. Richard Stites classifies the Soviet "revolutionary" names into the following categories: *Revolutionary heroes and heroines (their first names, their last names used as first names and various acronyms thereof) *Revolutionary concepts (exact terms and various acronyms) *Industrial, scientific and technical imagery *Culture, myth, nature, place names Most of these names were short-lived linguistic curiosities, but some of them fit well into the framework of the language, proliferated and survived for a long time.

Common new names

The following names were quite common and may be found in various antroponymic dictionaries.

People with Soviet names

*: Баррикад, from "

barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denot ...

" * Elem Klimov: Эле́м = Engels, LEnin, Marx * Elmira (name): Эльмира,

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

for "электрификация мира", ''elektrifikatsiya mira'' (electrification of the world) * Engelsina Markizova: Энгельси́на. *

Geliy Korzhev Geliy Mikhailovich Korzhev-Chuvelyov (russian: Гелий Михайлович Коржев-Чувелёв; 7 July 1925 – 27 August 2012) was a Soviet and Russian painter. Life He studied at Moscow State Art School from 1939 to 1944 under Va ...

: Гелий = "

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

" *

Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin ( rus, Александр Гельевич Дугин; born 7 January 1962) is a Russian political philosopher, analyst, and strategist, who has been widely characterized as a fascist. Born into a military intelligen ...

: Patronym = Ге́льевич. Father's name: Geliy = "helium" *: Изиль = исполнитель заветов Ильича, ''ispolnitel zavetov Il'icha'' (Performer of the Testaments of Il'ich (Lenin)) * Igor Talankin: birth name: Индустрий (Industriy) *

Iskra Babich Iskra Leonidovna Babich (russian: И́скра Леони́довна Ба́бич; 10 January 1932 – 5 August 2001) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. Her 1981 film ''Muzhiki!'' was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Fil ...

: И́скра, in reference to '' Iskra'', the revolutionary newspaper, the name of which means "spark" * Marlen Khutsiev: Марле́н = Marx + Lenin *

Melor Sturua Melor Sturua (April 10, 1928 – June 1, 2021) was a Soviet journalist who wrote for ''Izvestia'' since 1950. He was the longest serving journalist at the newspaper. Biography Born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union, his father was one of the ...

: Мэлор = "Marx, Engels, Lenin: Organizers of the Revolution" *: Нинель = "Lenin" read backwards * Nonna Mordyukova: born Ноябри́на (Noyabrina), from Noyabr = "November";

(which happened in November by

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

) * Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov: Patronym = Oктябpинoвич. Father's name: Октябри́н = October *: Радий (Radiy) = "

" *

Radner Muratov Radner Zinyatovich Muratov (russian: Раднэр Зинятович Муратов, tt-Cyrl, Раднэр Зиннәт улы Моратов, translit=Radner Zinnät uğlı Moratov; 21 October 1928 – 10 December 2004) was a Soviet and Russian s ...

: Раднэ́р = радуйся новой эре, ''raduysya novoy ere'' ("Hail the new era") *: Рево́льт * Rem Viakhirev: Рем = революция мировая, ''revolyutsiya mirovaya'' ( World revolution) *: Рэм = Революция, Энгельс, Маркс (Revolution, Engels, Marx) * Rimma Kazakova, birth name Remo, Рэмо = Революция, электрификация, мировой Октябрь,Елена Душечкина
"Мессианские тенденции в советской антропонимической практике 1920-х - 1930-х годов"
("Messianic Tendencies in Soviet Anthroponymic Practice of the 1920s-1930s"), ''

Toronto Slavic Quarterly The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

'' (retrieved August 8, 2015) ''revolyutsiya, elektrifikatsiya, mirovoy Oktyabr'' (Revolution, Electrification, World's October) *

Spartak Mishulin Spartak Vasilyevich Mishulin (russian: Спартак Васильевич Мишулин; Moscow, October 22, 1926 – Moscow, July 17, 2005) was a Soviet actor and People's Artist of the RSFSR. He was best known for his roles as Sayid in ''White ...

: Спартак = " Spartacus" *

Telman Ismailov Telman Mardanovich Ismailov ( az, Telman Mərdan oğlu İsmayılov, russian: link=no, Те́льман Марда́нович Исмаи́лов; born 26 October 1956) is an Azerbaijani-born businessman and entrepreneur of Mountain Jewish origin ...

: Те́льман, from Ernst Thälmann * Vil Mirzayanov: Вил, from VIL = Vladimir Ilyich Lenin *: Вилен, VILen = Vladimir Ilyich Lenin *: VILen = Vladimir Ilyich Lenin * Willi Tokarev: Вилли, born Vilen *: Віллен (Ukrainian) *: Виль *: Владилен *

Vladilen Mashkovtsev Vladilen Ivanovich Mashkovtsev (russian: Владилен Иванович Машковцев) (1929–1997) was a Russian poet, writer and journalist. He wrote 15 books published in the Urals and in Moscow. Bibliography Novels * Zolotoy t ...

*: Владлен * Vladlen Davydov *

Vladlen Yurchenko Vladlen Yuriyovych Yurchenko ( uk, Владлен Юрійович Юрченко, born 22 January 1994) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays for Vorskla Poltava. Club career Bayer 04 Leverkusen On 27 June 2014, Bayer 04 Leverkuse ...

* Zhores Alferov: Жоре́с, after Jean Jaurès * Zhores Medvedev: after Jean Jaurès

References

{{Reflist Given names Soviet culture Soviet phraseology

History

Common new names

People with Soviet names

See also

References