Every Russian has three names: a first name, a patronymic, and a surname. Take a look at the name of a famous Russian writer:

Лев Николаевич Толстой (Lev Nikolayevhich Tolstoy)

Лев - is the first name

Николаевич - is the patronymic, or middle name (Hint: his father's name was Nikolai)

Толстой - is the surname, or last name

The First Name

The first name is a given name. Every Russian name has a variety of forms which can express all kinds of emotions. For example, there are more than twenty forms of Maria in Russian!

The full form

Maria (Мария) - is used in official papers, in formal relationships and with unfamiliar people.

The shortened form

Masha (Маша) - is neutral and used in relationships with friends.

Form of affection

Mashenka (Машенька).

Intimate, tender forms

Mashunechka (Машунечка), Mashunya (Машуня), Marusya (Маруся).

The unceremonious, sometimes vulgar form

Mashka (Машка) - is quite impolite when said by a stranger but it's all right inside the family circle or between children or adult friends.

The Partonymic

The second name is a patronymic. Russian patronymic is a name derived from the father's first name by adding -ович/-евич (son of) for male, or -овна/-евна (daughter of) for females. For example, in the name Мария Ивановна Петрова, the middle name, Ивановна, means daughter of Иван; in the name Николай Викторович Козлов, the patronymic, Викторович, means the son of Виктор.

Patronymics are usually stressed according to the position of a stressed syllable in the first name they derived from. For example, Алексей (ah-lehk-SEHY) - Алексеевич (ah-lehk-SEH-yeh-vich); Владимир (vla-DEE-meer) - Владимировна (vla-DEE-mee-rahv-na). But there are some exceptions, e.g. Михаил (mee-ha-EEl) - Михайлович (mee-HAHY-la-vich).

Children and close friends are called by their first names. The personal pronoun and the verb are in the singular.

The usual official form of address among adults is the first name and patronymic; the person pronoun and the verb are in the plural.

The Surname

Russian surnames or family names take on a feminine ending for women. For example:

Take a look at the examples below and compare the male and female versions of surnames:

Male names:

Иван Иванович Иванов

Владимир Андреевич Филатов

Female names:

Анастасия Ивановна Иванова

Елена Андреевна Филатова

Source: learningrussian.net

Russian for foreigners