ANTHROPONYMS IN COMMUNICATIVE REGISTERS OF MODERN RUSSIAN

Abstract

Russian anthroponyms operate as compact social signals that organise interaction, mark institutional distance, and stabilise identity across heterogeneous communicative environments. This article describes how the Russian anthroponymic system distributes forms of personal naming across registers, from bureaucratic documentation and academic discourse to everyday dialogue and digital platforms. Special attention is given to the interaction between structural components of the Russian naming formula first name patronymic surname and the pragmatic pressures of address, self presentation, and stance taking. The analysis integrates descriptive onomastics with corpus oriented observation and register based pragmatics, focusing on derivational mechanisms that generate hypocoristics, affectionate diminutives, evaluative nicknames, and Latin transliterated handles. Results demonstrate that the same referent may be represented by competing anthroponymic variants, each indexed to a specific social scene, participant roles, and expectations of politeness. The study also shows how contact settings in multilingual regions intensify hybrid naming practices, where Russian patronymics and surname morphology coexist with non Slavic given names.