Russianize This

If you want to get a feel of what it would be like to be Russian, try Russianizing your name. But, first a little explanation of how Russian names work.

We have the first name, father’s name and the last name. You must be familiar with that from Russian literature and American movies (as paradoxical it might seem).

For example, Alexander Nikolayevich Petrov; Nikolayevich is derived from Nikolai, which was Alexander’s father’s name. The suffix is always the same for male names –ich. For instance, Alexandrovich, Nikitich (Nikita), Petrovich (Peter) and so on. When the – ich is added the ending part of the name is sort of transformed depending on the name.

If you are a woman, then you also use your father’s name, but the suffix would be –ovna or -yevna. E.g. Margarita Nikolayevna Petrova. The last name also acquires a new suffix like –a, hence Anna Karenina and not Karenin.

So to Russianize your name you need to:

• put some –ich or –yevna with your father’s name and add some –ov, -ev if you’re a guy or
• add –ova, -eva if you’re a girl to your last name and that’ll be it.

If you’re not sure if you Russianized your name right, you can send it to me or post it in a comment and I’ll help you out