моe отчество

[soidisantfille.livejournal.com]

If my father's name is Thomas, what is my patronymic (female)? Since it's a biblical name, I assume there is a Russian equivalent.

Comments

[yers.livejournal.com]

There are two variations, Фомична and Фоминична. (Most of my life, I only knew about the second one.)

While, of course, "Томасовна" is what your official patronymic would be if you assumed Russian citizenship.

[oryx_and_crake]

I don't think Фомична is correct. It is Фомич (for male patronymic), but Фоминична for female.

[yms.livejournal.com]

Never heard Фомична, only the second one...

[sertoun.livejournal.com]

Thomas = Фома.
Female patronimic is Фоминична.

[soidisantfille.livejournal.com]

So I would probably say Томасовна when asked, instead of the Russian version?

I've always wondered how foreigners form patronymics from their names, especially from non-European names. Or, alternately, what Russians do with their patronymics when they move to other countries. I suppose it becomes a middle name?

[-alex-dee-.livejournal.com]

>I suppose it becomes a middle name?
no

[logodaedaly.livejournal.com]

My dad's also a Thomas, and most of the Russians I knew went with Фомич. It's regarded as a pretty odd name, though, so you're warned. :-)

[soidisantfille.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. Why is it considered an odd name by Russians, if you don't mind me asking? My family is Scottish, so it's a very standard name for us (my Dad, my uncle and my grandfather are all Thomases).

[logodaedaly.livejournal.com]

It's odd just because essentially no one has had that name for the last 70 years.

[ars-longa.livejournal.com]

I just dropped mine. Never liked this tradition at the first place.

In your case, ir you're not going for Russian equivalent for your own name, I'd say Томасовна. But If you're going to change your own name, like, for example Anne -Анна or Katherine - Екатерина, then it'd make sense to change your pathronym to Фоминична. It's rather old-fashioned one, though... the name Фома wasn't popular in at least 70 years.

[soidisantfille.livejournal.com]

Well, my first name is Kristy, which doesn't really work in Russian. I suppose it would go to Кристина.

[yers.livejournal.com]

There's no problem with Кристи. Нелли became a regular Russian name (as a kind of antithesis to Sonia, which is only a diminutive form in Russian but became a separate name in the West). It isn't declined, but what of it.

[linnapaw.livejournal.com]

Could you tell me more about this (well, especially about the name Nelly)? And isn't Sonia a dimunitive of Sofia?

[ars-longa.livejournal.com]

Well, then it's either Кристи Томасовна or Кристина Фоминична. I wonder why you might need this, though... :)

[varia109.livejournal.com]

I know a Petya Vol'fgangovich. Now that's an awesome patronymic. Wolfgang.

[solito.livejournal.com]

We all know someone called Vladimir Volfovich :)

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

My friends teacher was called Джеймс (James) Владимирович ;)

[uncle-becher.livejournal.com]

Яков Владимирович would be more consistent :)

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

May be, but this was written in his passport.

[soidisantfille.livejournal.com]

It's just out of idle curiosity that I wanted to know. I was trying to explain how the patronymic worked to my friend and I wondered what mine would be, in theory.

A related question, how often do Russians use their patronymics and in what contexts? I know it's considered formal address. When I was in Russia, we were introduced to our teachers by their patronymics, but they usually just went by their first names in class.

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

It is a formal adress, but it is also a expression of respect.
Nowadays our mass-media tries (try?) to make us do it in a foreign way - without patronymics. And it infuriates me when our today journalists dare call our great writers or artists by their first names only. (Who are they to be so familiar?)

Whether you prefer being adressed to with patronymic or not depends on the traditions of your family - my mom started working when she was 18 and she was always adressed as 'Татьяна Львовна' but her boss who was 50 was adressed by his first name ;).

[gdt.livejournal.com]

it is interesting that patronimic name, when used without first name, is very informal way of addressing, sometimes used among friends: "Ну что, Петрович, выпьем?"

[yers.livejournal.com]

Russians tend to just lose their patronymic in a non-Russian context.

[missa-gorightry.livejournal.com]

My profs and instructors who have become US citizens do use the patronymic as a middle name--Alexandrovich, Evgenievna, etc--with the exception of one who made her maiden name her middle name. One of my friends who immigrated when he was 8 went from the patronymic of Yurievich to the middle name of Yuri.

[beltspinner.livejournal.com]

We were talking about patronymics in my Russian class the other day (Although we had already done them last month, someone didn't understand or something) and this one guy said "So, uh, would it be 'сукович'?" I thought it was funny.

[semionov.livejournal.com]

It's better not to render it into Russian. English names and patronymics are rendered as they are:
John W. Lennon (Джон Уинстон Леннон, not Джон Уинстонович Леннон) etc.
Even if you become a citizen of Russian Federation, your name in the passport won't be changed at all.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

This is correct. I know a British-born lady who became Russian citizen long ago, so in her Russian passport there was something like Джоaн Хилари Кристал (name fictitious but you've got the message:)))

[dr-s.livejournal.com]

Similarly:
Кузьма -- Кузьмич -- Кузьминична
Илья -- Ильич -- Ильинична
Лука -- Лукич -- Лукинична

The additional component -ни- in feminine form seems to be a relic of an older patronimic form like Фоминич, Ильинич, which survived only in few feminine forms, see
http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/77/1007716/1007716a5.htm

[snow-mouse.livejournal.com]

Христина Фоминишна. Только это будет смешно.