For CA attention: Russian names

Dear Creative Assembly!

I'd like to draw your attention to mistake made in first "Medieval" game. It was wrong representation of medieval Russian names. To correct this misunderstanding I'd like to explain you medieval Russian naming system.

There were three types of names in medieval Russia.

Type 1. The name given to child right after birth. This name was associated with archaic magical rituals. Parents could give child a name that should protect him against evil spirits. It could be also a name that should develop certain positive traits in child. The subject of naming were various objects, animals, traits or features of child, etc. The examples of such names were represented in names list made for previous "Medieval" game: Chort ("Devil"), Drozd ("Thrush"), Guba ("Lip"), Kozel ("Goat"), Kuritsa ("Hen"), Mal ("Small"), Mil ("Sweet"), etc.

Type 2. The name given in childhood when child was recognized as member of community (according to another theory - when child grown enough and it was safe to give him real name). These names were also related to pagan magic. There were so-called Slavic binomial names (Vladimir, Yaroslav, Vsevolod, Mstislav, etc.) and Scandinavian names (Oleg/Helgi , Igor/Ingvar, etc.). Higher nobles and princes used full forms of these names, while lesser nobles usually used small forms (Dobrynya, Ploskinya, Oslyabya, etc.).

Type 3. The name given to child during baptism. It were Orthodox Christian names taken from lists of saints. E.g. Ivan (John), Piotr (Peter), Pavel (Paul), Dmitriy (Demetrius), Kirill (Cyril), Foma (Thomas), etc.

In medieval Russian sources Type 1 names were characteristic for common people and some of lesser nobles. Higher nobles and princes were never mentioned by such names.

The Type 2 names during the time period of the game (1080-1530) were characteristic for higher nobles and princes. These names were especially popular in early period (XI-XIII centuries) but later were replaced by Christian names (Type 3). Though some pagan names (Vladimir, Boris, Gleb, Vsevolod, Igor, Yaroslav, Mstislav, Rostislav, Svyatoslav, Vyacheslav and Oleg) were still quite popular because of new Slavic saints.

The Type 3 names were used by both nobles and common people. They became more popular in later period (XIV-XVI centuries), in XVII century they completely replaced Slavic names.

As rule medieval Russian had two names: Christian and Slavic (Type 1 - for common people, Type 2 - for nobles). In medieval documents Christian name of man was written first and than was written Slavic name.

The mistake of "Medieval: Total War" was in using very large amount of names characteristic for common people (also there were some names which are not Russian or just written wrong). Such names used for Russian princes or generals sounds very strange for everyone who know Russian history. I'm sure that almost all personages of the game - kings, generals, diplomats, priests, etc. - must be taken as nobles. So it will be right to use only Types 2 and 3 names. Even personages associated with common people - spies, assassins - could have Christian names (Type 3) in game and it will be historically correct.

Another subject is names of Russian priests and women. In XII-XVI centuries they were always mentioned by their Christian name.

Russian surnames is difficult question. In fact Russians just had no surnames until the end of XV century. People could be mentioned in papers by their Christian name, Slavic name, name of their father (Christian or Slavic) and name of their grandfather (Christian or Slavic). A man could also had personal nickname, but his children did not inherit it. Princes also could had a kind of nickname pointing at place where they were from. Though all these names were not necessary mentioned. Today people usually confuse all these names and nicknames of medieval people with real surnames.

The name of father always had special ending: -ich, sometimes -lich for Slavic names; -ovich, -evich or -ivich for Christian names.

Princes and higher nobles usually were mentioned by their own name (in early period it was usually Slavic name, in later period - Christian name) and name of their father plus nickname and/or pointer to their possession. The typical names of prince or member of ruling family could be:

• Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigovskiy (means "Mikhail, son of Vsevolod, of Chernigov")
• Vsevolod Yuriyevich Bolshoe Gnezdo (means "Vsevolod, son of Yuriy, the Big Nest")
• Vasiliy Dmitriyevich (means "Vasiliy, son of Dmitriy")

Lesser nobles and common people officially were mentioned by their own name (in early period it was usually Slavic name, in later period - Christian name), name of their father and/or Slavic name or nickname and/or name of grandfather. The typical names of lesser nobles could be:

• Dmitriy Mikhaylohich Bobrok Volynets (means "Dmitriy [Christian name], son of Mikhail, Bobrok [Slavic name], from Volhynia")
• Mikula Vasiliyevich Vil'yaminov (means "Mikula [Slavic name], son of Vasiliy, grandson of Vil'yamin")
• Andrey Ivanovich Odinets (means "Andrey [Christian name], son of Ivan, Odinets [Slavic name]")

But usually lesser nobles and common people were known by their own name plus name of father or nickname. For example:

• Gavrila Oleksich (means "Gavrila, son of Oleksa")
• Timofey Vesyakov (means "Timofey, son of Vesyak [Slavic name]")
• Ivan Shikha (means "Ivan [Christian name], Shikha [Slavic name]")

So in game you can use the following system for Russian names:

1. For family members: name + father's name
2. For generals, captains, admirals, diplomats, assassins, spies, merchants: name + random father's name (Christian or Slavic) or nickname
3. For priests: Christian name
4. For princesses: Christian name

If you're going to split campaign on three periods (like in first "Medieval") and use different name lists for each period, you should use the following system:

1. Early period: Slavic (Type 2) names, Christian names, Slavic (Type 2) father's names, Christian father's names, Slavic (Type 1) nicknames.
2. Middle period: Slavic (Type 2) names, Christian names, Slavic (Type 2) father's names, Christian father's names, Slavic (Type 1) nicknames.
3. Late period: Christian names, names of Slavic (Type 2) saints (see above), Christian father's names, father's names of Slavic (Type 2) saints, Slavic (Type 1) nicknames, Slavic (Type 1) father's names.

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There is list of common names of medieval Russian nobles and princes. English analogies for Christian names are given in parentheses. Christian names of higher nobles can be used for lesser nobles and common people too.

NAMES OF HIGHER NOBLES AND PRINCES: --- DERIVED PATRONYMICS:
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Aleksandr (Alexander) --- Aleksandrovich
Andrey (Andrew) --- Andreyevich
Boris --- Borisovich
Bryachislav --- Bryaslavich
Daniyil (Daniel) --- Daniyilovich
Davyd (David) --- Davydovich
Dmitriy (Demetrius) --- Dmitriyevich
Feodor (Theodore) --- Feodorovich
Georgiy (George) --- Georgiyevich
Gleb --- Glebovich
Gorislav --- Gorislavich
Igor --- Igorevich
Ivan (John) --- Ivanovich
Izyaslav --- Izyaslavich
Konstantin (Constantine) --- Konstantinovich
Lev (Leo) --- L'vovich
Mikhail (Michael) --- Mikhaylohich
Mstislav --- Mstislavich
Oleg --- Olegovich
Roman (Roman) --- Romanovich
Rostislav --- Rostislavich
Rurik --- Rurikovich
Simeon (Simeon) --- Simeonovich
Svyatopolk --- Svyatopolkich
Svyatoslav --- Svyatoslavlich
Vasiliy (Basil) --- Vasiliyevich
Vladimir --- Vladimirych
Vsevolod --- Vsevolodych
Vseslav --- Vseslavich
Vyacheslav --- Vyacheslavich
Yaroslav --- Yaroslavich
Yaropolk --- Yaropolkich
Yuriy (Julius or George) --- Yuriyevich

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NAMES OF LESSER NOBLES AND COMMON PEOPLE: --- DERIVED PATRONYMICS:
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Afanasiy (Athanasius) --- Afanasiyevich
Akinf (Jacinth) --- Akinfovich
Derzhikray --- Derzhikrayich
Dobrynya --- Dobrynich
Domazhir --- Domazhirich
Evpatiy --- Evpatich
Foma (Thomas) --- Fomich
Gavrila (Gabriel) --- Gavrilovich
Ignatiy (Ignatius) --- Ignatiyevich
Iliya (Elias) --- Iliyich
Kuz'ma (Cosmas) --- Kuz'mich
Matvey (Matthew) --- Matveyevich
Mikula --- Mikulich
Nazariy (Nazarius) --- Nazariyevich
Oleksa (Alexius) --- Oleksich
Oslyabya --- Oslyabtechev
Ostromir --- Ostromirych
Peresvet --- Peresvetych
Piotr (Peter) --- Piotrovich
Ploskinya --- Ploskinich
Ratibor --- Ratiborych
Rodiyon (Rodion) --- Rodiyonovich
Ratmir --- Ratmirych
Savva (Sava) --- Savvich
Sidor (Isidore) --- Sidorovich
Sbyslav --- Sbyslavich
Stepan (Stephan) --- Stepanovich
Timofey (Timothy) --- Timofeyevich
Yakov (James) --- Yakovlevich
Yarun --- Yarunich
Zakhar (?) --- Zakharovich

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There is list of some "nicknames" (or Slavic names of Type 1) of lesser nobles and common people known from medieval sources:

Basenok
Beleut
Bobrok
Borodatiy
Brenok
Cherniy
Durak
Grek
Kapitsa
Kobyla
Kovrya
Kren
Kvashnya
Mochalo
Odinets
Shemyaka
Shikha
Torop
Tupik
Tynina
Vorobey
Zhdan

There is list of some Slavic (Type 1) father's names of lesser nobles and common people known from medieval sources. Such father's names appears in XIV century. The ending for Slavic father's names of Type 1 was -ov, -ev or -iv.

Churikov
Gusev
Kapustin
Kholopishchev
Kotov
Kuritsyn
Kusakov
Kutuzov
Medvedev
Ovinov
Petunov
Popovich
Rublev
Salarev
Shestunov
Skryabin
Vesyakov

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There is list of some names of Russian Orthodox priests:

Aleksey
Dionisiy
Feodor
Filipp
Gerontiy
Ilarion
Ioann
Iona
Iosif
Isidor
Kipriyan
Kirill
Makariy
Maksim
Nestor
Nikon
Pimen
Piotr
Savvatiy
Sergiy
Spiridon
Zosima

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There is list of some female names known from medieval sources:

Agafia
Agrippina
Aksiniya
Anastasiya
Anna
Antonina
Elena
Evdokiya
Evpraksiya
Efrosiniya
Fevroniya
Feodosiya
Irina
Marfa
Mariya
Nataliya
Olga
Praskoviya
Sofiya
Zoya

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I hope this will help you to create real medieval atmosphere in the game.