Okay, so here's an example.
Vitas (born Vitaliy Vladasovich Grachov).
His wife, Svetlana Grachyova.
Their daughter, Alla Grachyova.
Their son, Maxim Grachyov.
Vitas' dad, Vladas Grachov.
Vitas' mother's last name is Grachyova.
So do these last names Grachov and Grachyova have to do with gender? I'm fairly confused here.
Also, shouldn't Svetlana's last name be Grachov since she married Vitas? Or is it different in Russia too?
Russian last names Grachov, Grachev, and Grachyova Does it have to do with gender or something more?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by undine66770
- Topics:
- daughter, wife, russian, example, born, name, gender, son
Details:
Answers (2)
You are right.
In Russian, most surnames change depending on the gender of the person. The feminine form is the same as the male version plus an "a" at the end for most surnames ending in "v" and "n". Surnames ending in "y" change to the feminine form by replacing the ending with "-aya".
Russians do a lot of funny things with their language. A name properly consists of first name, patronymic, and surname. The patronymic is a stylized version of the father's first name. If the father is Ivan then the sons take the patronymic Ivanovitch and the daughters take the patronymic Ivanovskaya. You also have to remember that Russia is spread across NINE time zones, so it is possible to have a lot of different traditions.