Patronimy (otczestva) w parafii prawosławnej w Łapach (1898–1915)

Abstract

The following paper discusses the anthroponymy of Białystok region in the late 19th and early 20th century with the focus on patronyms (otchestva) excerpted from the church registers of the Orthodox parish in Łapy dated 1898‑1915. It was established that the majority of the patronyms were derived from the Orthodox (Church‑Slavonic) variants of proper names (e.g., Dionisiyev, Emilіanova), although the study confirms the presence of the cases where non‑canonical variants of baptismal names were used (e.g., Denisov, Emel’yanova). Moreover, the graphic notation of the patronyms reflects the rules enforced in the period prior to the final spelling reform; simultaneously, the observed trends point to the removal of doublets and the deviation from the Church‑Slavonic pattern. Despite the commonality of patronyms in their short forms (e.g., Yakovlev, Kirillov, Ivanova), the full forms of otchestva in the parish registers (e.g. Yakovlevich, Kirillovich, Ivanovna) were detected as well. Their occurrence can be explained by several factors, such as an effort to differentiate between identical surnames, or the social origin of the name owner and his profession. Nonetheless, the discussed dependencies between the short and full forms are not unconditionally consistent.