Given names of Soviet origin appeared in the early history of the Soviet Union, Richard Stites, ''Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution''
p. 111
/ref> coinciding with the period of intensive word formation, both being part of the so-called "revolutionary transformation of the society" with the corresponding fashion of neologisms and acronyms,Valeri Mokiyenko, "Толковый словарь языка Совдепии" ("

Explanatory Dictionary An explanatory dictionary or defining dictionary is a dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), ...

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 utopian vision of creating a new reality by means of verbal imagery. They constituted a notable part of the new Soviet phraseology. 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 Soviet Union (e.g. Tatar.)

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 Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...

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, 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 proverbial Russian tree), Gvozdika (Гвоздика, " carnation", a revolutionary flower), Granit (Гранит, " granite"), Radiy (Радий, " radium", 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, ''Vladlen'' for Vladimir Lenin. 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 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" *

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: Мэлор = "Marx, Engels, Lenin: Organizers of the Revolution" *: Нинель = "Lenin" read backwards * Nonna Mordyukova: born Ноябри́на (Noyabrina), from Noyabr = "November"; October Revolution (which happened in November by Julian calendar) *

Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov (russian: Алeксeй Oктябpинoвич Балабанoв; 25 February 1959 – 18 May 2013) was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and producer, a member of European Film Academy. He started from cre ...

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

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'' (retrieved August 8, 2015) ''revolyutsiya, elektrifikatsiya, mirovoy Oktyabr'' (Revolution, Electrification, World's October) * Spartak Mishulin: 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 Leverkusen ...

* 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