Our ancestors took the name very carefully, believing that it leaves its mark on the fate of man. As in the proverb: "As you name the yacht, so it will sail." However, the names were formed under the influence of several cultures - the Pre-Slavic, Varangian, Greek, and later - the Mongol-Tatar and Western.
Depending on the origin, the ancient Slavic names are divided into the following groups:
- from the names of the gods - Veles, Lada;
- dibasic - Yaropolk, Lyubomila, Velimudr, Dobrogneva, Lyudmila, Radomir, Svyatoslav, Bogdan, as well as their derivatives - Tishilo, Dobrynya, Putyata, Yarik;
- created from the names of minerals, animals and plants, natural phenomena - Zlata, Hare, Veshnyanka, Pike, Eagle;
- in order of birth - Vtorak, Pervush;
- created from the sacraments - Nezhdan, Zhdana, Khoten;
- from character traits - Brave, Wise;
- a special group is the names that were used in the upper classes - Vyacheslav, Yaropolk, Vsevolod, Vladimir.
Derived names are created by cutting off part of a complex name and adding a suffix to the base, ending.
Before Christianity entered the Russian lands, male and female Slavic names were used in everyday life. With the new religion, new customs also appeared. For example, newborns were given the names of saints and martyrs, but until the thirteenth century they were used only in churches. In everyday life, there were pagan names and nicknames. Already from the fourteenth century, male and female Slavic names were supplanted by Christian ones. Many names come from nicknames: Volkov, Sidorov, Bolshov.
Today there are such Slavic names of girls that cannot be called national. So, Faith, Love and Hope, popular today, are tracing-paper from the Greek variants - Pistis, Agape, Elpis. The male lion also has a prototype - Leon.
The Slavs had another custom, which is becoming increasingly popular today. However, many mistakenly believe that the tradition of giving a child two names has come to us from the West. Our ancestors gave the child a false name that was revealed to strangers, as well as a secret name that only the closest knew. It reflected the inner world of a person, his views on life and character traits. Such a practice seemed to protect the child from unrighteous people and evil spirits. Often a false name was unpleasant by ear - Malice, Kriv, Nekras, Nesmeyana. This was done on purpose for a better protective effect. A middle name was given to a person already in his teens.
Many male and female Slavic names are forgotten by now. The church was also involved, because it issued lists of prohibited names. These included the names of the gods, the Magi, pagan customs. This practice has led to the fact that today on the lands belonging to the Slavic tribes, national names are found no more than five percent. So, such once popular female Slavic names as Gorislava, Yarina, Vesta, Zabava, Svetlana are quite rare today. Sometimes even the people around wonder why the child was called such an exotic name. However, it was originally used in Russia, and Ksyusha, Katya or Masha came to us not so long ago.
Of course, parents decide how to name the child. But today is just the perfect time to return to its origins, to renew the lost connection with the clan, to revive the rich Slavic culture in all its greatness.
