Where to find a patronymic in a foreign surname, or How was the paternal name treated in the culture of different peoples

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Let the Europeans raise their eyebrows in surprise when they heard the construction of a name and patronymic familiar to the Russian language, but still, relatively recently, they called each other "after the priest." And the most interesting thing is that in many cases they continue to do this, albeit unconsciously. Indeed, despite the withering away of various long-standing traditions, patronymic is too firmly woven into world culture: with it - or with its echoes - one way or another to live for many more generations.

Patronymic is a sign of respect for one's family

Scientifically, the patronymic is called "patronymic", is part of the generic name. By the way, a child can also get a matronym, or motherhood - a name received from a mother: a phenomenon extremely rare for many peoples, but not at all impossible.

Patronymic names appeared much earlier than permanent generic names - surnames. The main purpose of patronyms was a more accurate identification of a person, moreover, such an appeal, with the mention of the father, made it possible to express respect both to the interlocutor himself and his family.

Surnames began to appear about a thousand years ago - first in the Italian regions, then among the French, British and other European peoples. The predecessor of the surname was a nickname that was given to a person and passed from him to descendants. Now patronymics can be heard mainly where the tradition of using surnames arose not so long ago - or did not arise at all. Yes, and such cultures exist in modern society.

The ancient Greeks, even though the most famous of them went down in history under a single name - Euripides, Demosthenes, Aristotle, still received patronymics too, which, however, were used only in drawing up documents.

In Arabic, the father is indicated by the word "ibn" in the name, which means "son." That is, Musa ibn Shakir, the famous Persian astronomer, was the son of Shakir and bore the personal name Musa. Sometimes the full name was lengthened, for example, the son of the mentioned person, also an astronomer, was called Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Shakir. The Prophet Isa is named through a matronym - "Isa ibn Maryam", that is, "son of Maryam." For female names, the particle "bandage" is sometimes used, that is, "daughter".

In Hebrew names, the prefix "ben", that is, "son", serves as an indication of the father. In the Aramaic language, this role was played by the particle "bar". The name Bartholomew, apparently, in its original form meant "son of Tolmai (Ptolemy)."

Middle names in Russian

In Russia, patronymics safely retain their positions in the 21st century, in any case, there is no reason to suppose their disappearance into oblivion as attributes of the past. And the history of domestic patronyms is long and rather interesting. The now familiar endings "-ovich" and "-evich" could once adorn only the names of the princes and nobility of Muscovite Rus. The exception was the family of merchants Stroganovs - in the 17th century they were awarded with permission to wear such a patronymic for their diligent service to the fatherland. Pyotr Semenovich Stroganov in 1610 was granted special privileges by Vasily Shuisky's diploma: "(that is, not to take the oath in the proceedings)."

Ordinary people - "vile" - bore their own name, to which was added an indication of the father: for example, Ivan Petrov (that is, the son of Peter). Over time, patronymics began to turn into surnames. In Catherine's times, the names of junior officers - up to and including the captain - were entered into official documents without a patronymic, for higher ranks patronymics were already provided, however, in the version with the ending in "-ov" and "-ev." in its modern sense: in "-ich", "-ovich" or "-evich." True, such subtleties were not observed in communication, and among themselves, without titles, they easily communicated, using the patronymics assigned to generals, thus expressing respect and respect for the interlocutor.

Now the construction "Peter Ivanov Petrov" hurts the eyes and ears somewhat, since it has become outdated for the Russian language. But the Bulgarians do not find it strange - this is how their names are formed now.

Who in Europe does not recognize surnames, preferring patronymics

Of the European peoples, not only the Slavs can boast of the active use of patronymics. As a matter of fact, they are used in almost all countries of this part of the world, except sometimes unconsciously. For example, the surname "Johnson", which is common in the English-speaking world, is nothing more than an indication of "John's son," once, instead of the role of a patronymic, it received the status of a surname and thus became entrenched as a family name.

The addition to the name of the part of the word "son", meaning "son", was peculiar not only to the English-speaking peoples. The patronymic of the inhabitants of Scandinavia sounded the same, and until the 20th century they did not use surnames. In the best case, a person could get a nickname. When in 1901 the country passed a law obliging the Swedes to have a surname, most of the population, without hesitation, wrote down in this capacity their own patronymic or nickname, which sometimes the parents gave the child - often it referred to the surrounding But in Iceland there are still no surnames - the only exceptions are those rare cases when it comes to the generic name of a foreigner and his offspring. For the rest of the inhabitants of the country, a name and patronymic are enough.

The same "son" is added to the name of the father in the genitive case, and to the feminine - "dóttir", which means "daughter". In some cases, Icelanders also take a "second patronymic" - according to their grandfather. "Calculating" surnames that were once patronymics is not very difficult - just look at the spelling. For example, the common "poppy" at the beginning of Irish and Scottish surnames was once a reference to a son.

The Norman "fitz" became the word "fils" in French, that is, "son" again. That is why the Fitzgeralds, Fitzjames, Fitzwilliams are the descendants of those who once turned their patronymics into surnames. By the way, it was customary to give the surname Fitzroy to the illegitimate sons of English kings.

But how in Russia you can give a child a motherhood instead of a middle name: Modern Marynichi and Nastasichi.