Vladimir or Olga, Anastasia or Nikolai, Ekaterina, Sergey, Leopold, Maria… We can most often find this form in the birth certificate and in the passport, as in any official document. But we call each other differently in the family and school - Vovochka, Olenka, Tasya, Kolyunya, Katyusha. Why such a difference? It arises precisely from the desire to distinguish between areas of use: diminutive names, unlike full ones, are used in an informal setting.
With the help of them, we kind of limit the circle of "ours" from strangers. It is no coincidence that diminutive names are allowed only with a closer acquaintance, and even then they are not appropriate in all cases.
From backstory
Part of anthroponyms in Russian is of Slavic origin, the majority is borrowed from Greek and Latin. With the baptism of Russia, the tradition of naming children in honor of saints and great martyrs became widespread. But although the patrons were consideredangels, historical and biblical characters, such a name was not fully used in everyday life. On the one hand, there was a desire to save language resources: after all, Katya is much shorter and more convenient than Ekaterina, and Sasha is “more compact” than Alexander. On the other hand, from time immemorial there have been forms "for strangers" and diminutive names, for the closest, for the initiates. There were also special secret anthroponyms that were supposed to ward off evil forces from a person. In addition, nicknames were widespread. Sometimes they turned into diminutive names, and sometimes they turned into surnames.
Natasha or Natalia? Masha or Maria?
For a Russian person, this would seem to be the same anthroponym. Only Masha and Natasha are diminutive and affectionate forms of the name. But foreigners who are not familiar with the intricacies of Russian morphology sometimes call their children "Sasha" or "Rita", "Lena" or "Nadya". And for them, these are full forms. Often in Russia there is no unity in the interpretation of anthroponyms. For example, the female name Vlad or Lada could not be registered in the registry office as independent. It could only be part of the full - Vladlen. Diminutive names often become full names - but mostly in other languages.
Method of education
Anthroponyms are formed, as a rule, by a combination of roots (in the case of Slavic ones - Bogdan, Velimir, Yaroslava) or with the help of transcription. Therefore, diminutive names (male andfemale) often represent one part. It is interesting that the second root is preferred in Russian: for example, Slava is the "universal" variant - for both Svyatoslav, and Yaroslav, and Mstislav, and Vladislav …
Sometimes a part of a foreign root is taken and modified. This is how diminutive names such as Nastya (Anastasia) or Kolya (Nikolai) were formed. In most cases, some suffixes are added, which subsequently turn (together with the corresponding ending) into options: Sasha-Sashura-Shura, Anna-Anyuta-Nyuta-Nyura or Nyusha …
Functioning in modern society
Most states have certain name requirements when registering a newborn. There are cases of lengthy lawsuits when parents wanted to name a new member of society with an unusual anthroponym, but officials did not allow this. Who is right in such a situation? Regrettably - representatives of the authorities most often. After all, they are guided not so much by an assessment of the creative imagination and creativity of their parents, but by how the name will function in society. Or rather, the person who was named so, and not otherwise. After all, even "normal" names often change, to say nothing of the bizarre or funny! Nobody wants to be bullied. Therefore, when thinking about how to name a child, parents should also take care of how diminutive names will sound, whether they will be offensive or funny. For example, Yvette is a beautiful anthroponymFrench origin. But the diminutive - Vetka - is not so pleasant to hear. However, it is not the name that makes a person beautiful. So let's not forget about it.
