The official Russian naming formula consists of three components: personal first name, patronymic , and last name. In the West, two or more personal names are common in the official naming model : Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean Baptiste Poklen, Anna Maria Mozart, Erich Maria Remarque, and others.

Familiarity with the documents of the distant past makes it clear that almost until the XVIII century, Russians were also referred to by two personal names in a number of cases (The Watch Book of Vologda 1616-1617 / / Vologda: Local History Almanac. Vologda, 1994. Issue 1;

The Watch Book of Beloozero in 1616-1617 / / Beloozero: Historical and Literary Almanac. Vologda, 1994. Issue 1; Scribal book of Veliky Ustyug 1626-1627 / / Byst na Ustyuz: Istoriko-kraevedcheskiy sbornik. Vologda, 1993). Usually, the first was a calendar (Christian) personal name, while the second was a non - calendar Russian name, for example: Fetko Bazooka (Vologda), Titko Sorry (Beloozero), Fedko Gushcha (Veliky Ustyug), Vaska Shchapok (Veliky Ustyug), etc. This kind of two-name pattern was also observed in the three-term and four-term naming models, which included a semi-patronymic and sometimes a family name in addition to personal names:

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Ivashko Koshkar Ivanov son of Chyurikov, Efrem Tupik Ondreev son of Gorbatoi, etc. (Acts of socio-economic history of North-Eastern Russia at the end of the XIV-beginning of the XVI century. Moscow, 1958. Vol. 2; further-ASVR).

Non-calendar personal names were divided into two groups: intra-family and nickname names. The first ones were given to the child immediately after birth. These included Pervushka, Vtoryshka, Tretyak, Zhdan, Vazhny, Shumilko, and others. The nickname was already given to an adult. It indicated some noticeable trait of character, behavior, and appearance of a person called Bestuzhy, Mumble, Gulyayko, Melen, Rosputa, and others.

Intra-family names, as well as Christian names, could occupy the first place in the naming model, for example: Bazhenko Balchyuga, Pervushka Vykus, Zhdanko Gotovik, Tretyak Klok, etc.

The appearance of a second additional personal name in the naming formula was explained by the limited number of active calendar Christian and non-calendar intra-family personal names. Due to the growth of the population, this led to frequent homonymity, the appearance of a large number of namesakes. The second additional names are used for the most active calendar personal names: Ivashko Sosun, Ivan Vyuk, Ivashko Shulga, Ivanko Dolgoy, Ivan Tsiplya, etc. (ASVR).

In the Russian North, two names are found in the earliest documents. In the monuments of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, it is noted in the late XIV-early XV centuries: Kuzma Andushka, Filimon Lyapa, Nesterko Mumlya, Kharlam Mortka, Ermak Kovach, etc.

Interesting in these documents are naming models, in which the second names are formed from appellatives with the meaning of household items and food products: Semyon Pest, Gridya Shchet, Danilo Blin, Yefim Okorok, Ivan Suslo, etc.

A group of second personal names with the meaning "parts of the human body" is noteworthy: Dmitry Ochi, Ivan Cheek, Gnevash Guba Stoginin, Okun Zub, Gridya Leg Fedorov, Ivan Golova Semenov, Gridya Snout, Ivan Ruka, etc. (ASVR).

Many natives of the Beloozero area in the 15th century bore Tatar names, which often came second in the naming formula, although in some cases they were the only personal names: Gridya Tyubyak, Yevsyuk Bakshey, Iev Kobyak, Bekyut Ostanin, Beken Slobodin, Korovaya Slobodina, etc.

Interesting are the second "serial" personal names that go back to nouns of the same thematic group, for example, the names of three farmers of the Belozersky district, the Romanov brothers: Gridya Sapog Ivanov son of Romanov, Dmitri Bashmak Ivanov son of Romanov and Yurya Chulok Ivanov son of Romanov (ASVR).

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What is the reason for the second personal name falling out of the Russian naming formula? There are two main reasons. The first is due to the influence of the Church, which required the use of only Christian personal names in the naming formula, while additional second names were mostly non-calendar. The second is due to the activation of the patronymic-a component of full naming - which reflected, on the one hand, respect for the memory of parents, and on the other, acted as a legal sign in establishing family inheritance.

It is known that at the early stages of the development of the East Slavic anthroponymic system, patronymic was a component of the naming formula only for the privileged part of the population (first princes, and then their close associates). After the patronymic becomes a stable component of naming ordinary people (in the form of a semi-patronymic), it also takes on the function of identifying the individual, which was previously performed by the second personal name. The patronymic has become an additional distinguishing feature of the named person.

For some time, there were redundant naming models that could include both a second personal name and a semi-patronymic. For example: Mikhalko Gnevash Mikulin son, Nifont Likhach Klementyev son, Mikula Kot Ortemyev son, Senka Kazak Grigoryev son, etc. (ASVR).

With the activation of patronymics, second additional names do not disappear without a trace, their status changes: they occupy the third position in the naming model and become family nicknames: Vaska Semyonov Polezhay, Potanya Stepanov son of Stelnaya, Savko Stepanov Obotur, Dmitry Perfiryev son of Kokshar, etc.

Vologda

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