Naming help?

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Since this community has been a great help before, I'd like to exploit your generosity once again.

I need to name a male character, first name will be Alexeij/Sascha (background in Germany, so the spelling would be Germanized), but I'm stumped for a last name. Ideally, it would be a common name in Russian that means "warrior" or "soldier" or has connotations of typical "warrior-like" attributes, such as steadfastness, strength, honesty, loyalty, and/or honor. Please also provide the name transcribed into English - my Cyrillic isn't great, and I'd prefer not to make any mistakes.

Thank you very much!

EDIT: Thanks, guys, I have the name! You've been great, as usual.

Comments

[alon_68]

Boytsov
Udaltsov
Zheleznyakov

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I like the sounds of Boytsov ... :)

[brissen.livejournal.com]

Tyorkin - originates from Great Patriotic War ballad by Tvardovsky.

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[gera-lieberman.livejournal.com]

Stalin ))

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Ermmm... no. :) Despicable character, that guy.

[cherity.livejournal.com]

Aleksej is not the same name as Sasha. Sasha is Aleksander. And Aleksej is Lyosha (Lesha).

Soldatov - very common last name in Russia. Means "son of soldier"

Groznyh - a little ukranian but also common in Russia

[alon_68]

Last names ended with "-ikh" are of Siberian origin rather than Ukrainian.

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

I knew that about Soldat - it's the same word in German (I had to research ranks in the Red Army at some point and was quite surprised).

[orange-melon.livejournal.com]

Note that in Russia Sascha is a short variant of the name Alexander, not Alexej.
As a last name I'd suggest SmelyakOv (from смелый - brave), SoldAtov (from солдат - soldier, but maybe it's too straightforward).
by the way, my own family name also fits here, it's MayOrov (from майор - major) :)

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Thank you - Mayorov is great, it definitely made the list, kudos to you for having a cool last name. :)

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

Smel'chakov is probably more like it.

[kunaifusu.livejournal.com]

Sascha is Alexander
Alexeij would be (A)Lescha (Germanaized)

As for the last name - it's not quite clear, if you want to a Russian last name or just a word. Russians associate last names with real or fictional characters, so something like Suvorov or Murometz would invoke an image of a great warrior for a Russian person, however if you want just a word which has this meaning I may suggest Кремень (Kremen) - it does not mean a warrior or soldier but a hard stone, however it is used to characterize someone who has qualities you listed.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

>Alexeij would be (A)Lescha (Germanaized)

If you want it Germanized, it's Ljoscha (note that foreigners, for some reason, do not know where we substiture Е for Ё) :)))

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

I wanted a last name that has a meaning, and ideally one that is fairly common - I'm shooting for something more "subtle" than making that person a character of epic proportions, but I'll keep the names on a list ... one never knows when one can use them again, so, thanks to you!

Re: literary name dropping

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

I've come across that one ... is that a well-known fictional character?

Re: literary name dropping

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Of course *slaps forehead*! I need to get back to reading Russian novels ...

[bez-temy.livejournal.com]

Boytsov (Бойцов) would be a good last name, referring to Figther.

Also, consider borrowing from Russian epic ballads. The great Russian "bogatyr" is everything that you want - honest, strong, straightforward horse-riding warrior. So - Bogatyrev (Богатырёв) is a good option.

Also, here are some last names based on names of legendary Russian warriors and heroes:

Peresvet(ov)
Dobrynin
Muromets
Donskoy
Nevsky.

And, finally, Sasha is Alexander. Alexey is Lyosha.

[freedomcry.livejournal.com]

Dobrynin is a good one. (No pun intended.)

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Love the sounds of Donskoy and Dobryinin ... Nevsky would be a bit too ironic, the person to be named was born in Germany.

[alex-mashin.livejournal.com]

Муромцев, Muromtsev (not Муромец, Muromets).

[freedomcry.livejournal.com]

Suvorov?

There already is a rather silly tendency to give Russian characters the surnames of famous people. (I remember a cartoon with a Russian car racer named Yuri Trotsky. The cosmonaut in Armageddon was named Lev Andropov. Come on!) But that's done precisely because the writer can't be bothered to look for a commoner surname. Why do it on purpose?

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not going for sillyness, I'm taking myself (and my writing) rather seriously. :)

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

No, I'm really going for something more common - and I was trying to not make it "Ivanov", which is so common it would be a little bit of a stereotype, like calling a German character "Mueller" or an Englishman "Smith". And Lev Andropov? Ouch. Double ouch, actually.

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Wow, he's seriously cool, thanks for pointing me that way, but I'm looking for something slightly less flashy. But I'll read up on him, I love military history.

[alex-mashin.livejournal.com]

I suggest that you drop the idea of describing anything Russian in your work. Although the commentors above have given you the required information on the names, the chances that you do not make mess of other things are small.

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Well, I beg to differ. It's the privilege of a novelist to do pretty much as he damn well pleases, to borrow a phrase from a friend. If I can write about a dystopian future where people are cyborgs, if I can write about a stellar empire in the year 5000+ AD, if I can write from the perspective of a woman, child, werewolf, American, Knight Templar, medieval leper, general, psychopath and hitman, I can certainly write about something Russian. Otherwise I'd be stuck with writing about the "adventures" of a finance journalist in London, which is quite boring. :)

But I understand your concern. As a German, I'm always wary that people only ask me about German stuff because their baddie is a Nazi, and they are going to screw my culture and my language. I am emphatically not going to do that. This person I'm naming is a German of Russian stock who happens to have a "speaking name" - that's really all. :)

[alex-mashin.livejournal.com]

I am not concerned about possible making a Russian the bad guy or about your possible inability to view things from the perspective of a Russian.

The problem would be facts and trivia. Most of the things and persons you listed don't exist or well known. Russia, on the other hand, exists.

From my experience, I know that people, in other respects highly intelligent, commit unbelievable errors when they talk or write about anything Russian and make themselves a loughing stock, if this becomes known to Russians.

You say that the surname will be the only Russian thing about your character. This is wise.

[alex-mashin.livejournal.com]

Драгунский, Dragunski (Jewish).
Кантонист(ов), Kantonist(ov) (Jewish, made up, don't know if actually exists).
Стрельцов, Streltsov.
Воеводин, Voyevodin.
Сагайдачный, Sagaydachny (Ukranian).
Сагайдаков, Sagaidakov.
Пушкин, Pushkin (;).
Пушкарёв, Pushkaryov.
Саблин, Sablin.
Шпагин, Shpagin.