Geeky Patronymics

I've been planning to post this for a while, but I wanted to make sure I had everything correct.

In Ukraine, teachers and other people in authority are referred to by First Name + Patronymic. The patronymic is your father's name plus ending for "-son" or "-daughter." Think "Johansson." Except me, but that's because my patronymic does not work with my Irish first name. So, unlike my colleagues, I go by "Ms Bennett." This is pretty common for Peace Corps Volunteers, as, because we don't use the patronymic in English, we don't have one (or it clashes with our first name). Some people go by "Mr/Ms Last Name." Others go my "Mr/Ms First Name." 

Nicknames are also really common. Almost every name has a nickname that comes with it, sort of like how basically every "Alexander" probably goes by "Alex" and every "Anthony" probably goes by "Tony." 

In Russian, the way that the nickname works (usually), is that you take the first consonant/consonant sound and add "-asha" to it. "Maria = Masha." "Natalia = Natasha." Others get slightly more complicated, like Oleksandr/Oleksandra both being "Sasha." In this case, it's the stressed "sandr/sandra" which gets shorted to "Sasha." And "Anastasia" goes to "Nastia." And then there's always "Aleksey", which shortens to "Losha." 

Some names don't get the "-asha" treatment at all. "Olga" goes to "Olya." "Roman" goes to "Roma." "Yevgenia" (that's a hard "g" sound, not a soft "j" sound) goes to "Zhenya." "Dmitrii" goes to "Dima." "Ekaterina" goes to "Katiya." "Mikhail" goes to "Misha" (also, "misha" means "mouse" in Ukrainian. It's the "ы/и" (oui) sound, not the "и/і" (ee) sound, which separates them.) My students were impressed that I knew how to pronounce mouse-misha the other day, as the sound is not found in English).

Regardless of what the name is, basically everyone goes by their nickname. They introduce themselves by their nickname. Whenever I mention one of my colleagues to my students, I have to remember what their "first name + patronymic" is, or they give me a confused look. 

Two very geeky examples (one male, one female) of the first name + patronymic + last name.

First, Pavel Chekov. 

Павел Андрейвич Чеков (Pavel Andreyivich Chekov)

His name is Pavel, and he is Andrei Chekov's son. His friends would call him Pasha (Паша), which is the nickname that comes with Pavel. His teachers would, as well. In fact, 90-some percent of people would address him as Pasha, even upon first meeting. It's just what you call a "Pavel." Unless he commanded respect, or was an elder. Although, most elders introduce themselves with their nickname. 

If young Pasha became a teacher in Ukraine or Russia, he would not be addressed as Mr Chekov, but as Pavel Andreyivich. This is why, in the 2009 movie, he said his name as "Chekov, Sir. Pavel Andreyivich." Not because he was giving he full legal name, but because he was introducing himself: "I am Pavel, son on Andrei, Chekov."  

Now, on to Natasha Romanov.

Наталия Альяновна Романов (Natalia Alianovna Romanov)

Known to her friends as Natasha (Наташа), Ms Romanov's name identifies her as Alian's daughter. Alian is not a common Russian name, by any means. Anyway... Natalia is a very common name, so she might even go by Nat or Tasha. Or even Talia. As a teacher, she would not be Ms Romanov, but Natalia Alianovna. 

It is also quite likely that she would add an 'a' to the end of her last name (making it Наталия Альяновна Романова (Natalia Alianovna Romanova), gendering it female. This is rather common in Ukraine. I know a someone whose last name ends in "-nova" while her brother's last name ends in "-nov."