The formation of names in Chuvashia was greatly influenced by the presence of two religious cultures at once. Initially, when Islam dominated the republic, Chuvash names were in tune with Islamic traditions. After the conversion to Christianity, the situation changed dramatically, and people consulted Orthodox books.
Influence of folk mentality of different religions
B. K. Magnitsky for writing his book "Chuvash pagan names" conducted a grandiose study of their meaning. He paid special attention to the study of male names. In this case, it is clear that among them there are many derivatives, both from Russian and Tatar. Which is fully explained by the territorial proximity of the peoples.
The most common Russian name in Chuvashia was transformed at different times into Vanyukha, Vanyush, Vanyushka.
Of particular interest is the dictionary of N. I. Egorov, for the sake of compiling which he conducted a number of studies of female names. The main conclusion is that the main Chuvash names given to girls were borrowed from the languageTatars.
Pagan beliefs
In ancient times, parents of newborn children often named them after various living creatures. This was done in the case when the family experienced the death of two or more children. It was believed that in this way one could deceive fate and snatch a child from the clutches of certain death.
Examples are such characteristic names of girls as Chakak, which means "magpie", or Chekes, from Tatar - "swallow".
However, even now there are women who believe in this belief and call babies the names of birds or animals. A pagan sign is observed when a woman has repeated miscarriages. Then the unborn child is given an animal name to protect him from dark forces.
Beautiful names of Chuvash children
With the adoption of Christianity, Chuvash names have undergone significant changes. Pagan names have almost disappeared, but still continue to be used.
Pre-Christian names are usually given to unbaptized children, babies from Muslim families, as well as supporters of ancient rites and traditions.
Even now they continue to use quite sonorous Chuvash names, male and female. Each of them has its own meaning:
- Sarpi is beautiful;
- Savtepi - loving;
- Ilempi - beauty;
- Salampi - friendly;
- Karsak - hare;
- Ulput - master;
- Puyang - rich;
- Ilpek - abundance.
Modern statistics
According to registry offices, parents are increasinglychoose old Chuvash and beautiful Russian names for your newborns. Boys are named:
- Kirill;
- Artem;
- Egor;
- Roman;
- Alexander;
- Max.
When a Chuvash female name is chosen, more often than not, parents opt for Anastasia, Valeria, Anna, Sofya, Daria, Polina. Quite unusual names are also gaining popularity, such as:
- Vlastilina;
- Dolphin;
- Madonna;
- Genevieve;
- Milyausha;
- Khadijah.
The last name is directly related to Islam, because that was the name of the first wife of the prophet, and Islam has firmly entered many regions of Chuvashia.
The names coming from the antiquity of Chuvashia are far behind the Russian-speaking ones. But still, adherents of traditions try not to deviate from local beliefs and call their girls:
- Synerpy;
- Pineslu;
- Pinerpi;
- Salambi.
Statistics show that names from church calendars and works of classical Russian literature are popular. So, for boys, they increasingly began to choose a name:
- Proud;
- Prokhor;
- Elisha;
- Sava;
- Demyan;
- Ustin;
- Zakhar;
- Savelij;
- Matvey.
If literally fifty years ago in Chuvashia only names coming from antiquity and associated with paganism were quite common, now an increasing number of parents choose ordinary Russians.
Famous names in Chuvashia
There are many people in the republic who prefer to honor the memory of their outstanding ancestors. If earlier the choice of a name was based on rarity, sonority or popularity, now this issue is taken more seriously in remote areas of Chuvashia.
Increasingly, the name of great-grandparents is chosen for a child. This trend is associated with a growing interest in the origins of the family and attempts to preserve its foundations. In particular, the following names are quite common:
- Damir;
- Luka;
- Gleb;
- Eduard;
- Stepanida;
- Svyatoslav;
- Taisia.
But the most famous names in Chuvashia are Setner and Narspi, from the work of the same name by Konstantin Ivanov "Narspi".
Afterword
The history of Chuvash names was not without outside influence. Their education took place on the basis of their native dialect, Russian, Persian and Arabic.
At the time of the ancestors and the spread of paganism, there was a curious custom. A week after the baby was born, he went through the naming process. This rite was performed only by the oldest and wisest priest.
Until this moment, the newly born child received the name Yatsar, which means "nameless" in translation. Only the person who performed the ceremony could choose the subsequent name, thereby deciding the fate.
