ВОПРОСЫ ОНОМАСТИКИ | PROBLEMS OF ONOMASTICS

Mikhail M. Bentsianov
Independent Researcher
Ekaterinburg, Russia

Patronymic Names Ending in -vich as a Marker of Social Status in the Documents of the Russian State of the 14th–16th Centuries

Voprosy onomastiki, 2023, Volume 20, Issue 3, pp. 120–143 (in Russian)
DOI: 10.15826/vopr_onom.2023.20.3.034

Received on 26 February 2023
Accepted on 1 September 2023

Abstract: The widely held opinion in historical literature about the privileged status of patronymics ending in -vich is based on the sources of the 16th–17th c. This practice reflected the official look at the system of social hierarchy. In clerical documents, it appears from the 1480s, while in the official chronicles and in the synodics of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral — not earlier than the 1440s. Yet it was only in the middle of the 16th c. that the use of full variants of patronymics was commonly regarded in clerical literature as a sign of belonging to the upper strata of the ruling elite. Sources of private origin show the widespread existence of patronymics ending in -vich as a sign of respect (high self-esteem). The use of such patronymics was widespread in the 12th — first half of the 15th c. and did not always reflect the real status of the owners. In subsequent centuries, there were some cases of these patronymics used among people of low social status, although their number significantly decreased. Already from the second half of the 15th c., the descendants of boyar (and then princely) families of low official rank began to massively use abbreviated patronymics ending in -in and -ov/-ev in private acts. This trend was probably associated with the spread of compulsory service and the related formation of a clearer hierarchy within local communities of service landowners. The relatively late emergence of ideas about the privileged nature of patronymics on -vich makes it necessary to study the sources more carefully in order to use them as a marker of belonging to the service elites. Of greatest interest in this regard is the study of clerical documents, which makes it possible to determine the place and status of a particular person in the court hierarchy.

Keywords: Russian state; North-Eastern Rus’; boyars; aristocracy; elite; anthroponymy; patronymic (patronymic); patronymic suffixes

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