Do Russian women add an "A" to their last names?

[wt888usa]

I was wondering this as I saw Marat Safin's sister, Safina, play, and came to the realization that all the russian names end with "A," sharapova, dementieva, kournikova, kuznetsova, myskina, and was wondering, that if they had brothers, would they be sharapov, dementiev, kournikov, etc.? cause i noticed some other russian male players end with just a "v" (kafelnikov).

anyone russian or know the answer to this?

 

[raftermania]

Your observations of nomenclatural patterns in Russian culture are positively correct! I guess with some Russian families, particularly in the Kuznetsova family - it's difficult to understand whether their offspring is a boy or a girl without asking their name.

 

[Leon]

Hey
You are correct. If female has a tipical russian family name in most cases it's comes with added 'a' at the end. There is diff in russian when the female talk or man talk. They sort of modify the verb, in some cases. Sorry don't know the gramma term for that.

 

[Andy Hewitt]

Your observations of nomenclatural patterns in Russian culture are positively correct! I guess with some Russian families, particularly in the Kuznetsova family - it's difficult to understand whether their offspring is a boy or a girl without asking their name.

OUCH!!!! Lol, my little sister would agree.

 

[Deuce]

Adding 'a' or 'ova' to the family name means that the female 'belongs to' the family - Safina belongs to the Safin family...

What I would like to know is why it is sometimes an 'a' that is added, while other times, it's 'ova' that is added. With Navratilova and Sukova, for instance, the family names are Navratil and Suk, respectively.

Is it different in Russian than in Czech?

 

[verdasco67]

mikhail youzhnya =S

 

[verdasco67]

davydenko + a = davydenkoa!!??

 

[raftermania]

I think in those cases it's davydenkova and youzhnyova, sound more phonetically right but I'm just making things up as usual.

 

[Deuce]

I think in those cases it's davydenkova and youzhnyova, sound more phonetically right but I'm just making things up as usual.

Any truth to the rumor that you're really a female belonging to the Raftermani family??

(Sorry - but it was right there in plain view and all...)

 

[raftermania]

Well actually raftermania was a term used to portray Rafter's massive groupies (young female fans). So, raftermania could be said to be a more feminine name than masculine.

If that's not taking a shot at one self, then I don't know what is.

 

[bc-05]

p to the a to the t to the r to the i to the c to the k = patrick
r to the a to the f to the t to the e to the r = rafter
whats it spell? PATRICK RAFTER YAYYY!

 

[pound cat]

Davidenko is Ukrainian name, but plays for Russia, in this case a woman would be Davidenka...ova's are Russians...Safina is pronounced SAH fina (not Safeena the way ESPN says it) but her name is Tatar and I don't know if Tatars add 'a's" or not but it's been Russified and Sharapova is Sha RAH pova, NOT SharaPOVa. One of the few that ESPN gets right is Kuz NET sova . Unless your born with them, getting the hang of Slavic languages isn't easy.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

One of the few that ESPN gets right is Kuz NET sova.

Hi! Actually, it's KuznetSOVa. Regarding Davidenko, yeah, it's Ukrainian in origin, but the -a female endings to such surnames are no longer in use, even in Ukraine. So Davidenko's female relatives' surname is also Davidenko (see: Maria Kirilenko, Alyona Bondarenko). As for Youzhny/Mirny type of surnames, they originate from the adjectives (Youzhny means literally "southern", Mirny = "peaceful") and change genders as such, adding "aya" to the root. So Max Mirny's wife's surname is Mirnaya; likewise Youzhny - Youzhnaya. Such surnames are relatively rare though.

*slinks off back to lurkdom*

 

[fedex27]

your right

 

[raftermania]

Hey, no reason to drift back to lurkdom, you know your stuff!

 

[Russell Finch]

If you come from Iceland, and you're male, your surname ends in sson (son) and if you're female it ends in dottir (daughter).

 

[Rickson]

For names that end in a consonant, A is added. Sharapov-Sharapova, Safin-Safina, Andropov-Andropova. If a name already has a vowel ending (Kirilenko), then it stays the same.

 

[Rabbit]

Hi! Actually, it's KuznetSOVa. Regarding Davidenko, yeah, it's Ukrainian in origin, but the -a female endings to such surnames are no longer in use, even in Ukraine. So Davidenko's female relatives' surname is also Davidenko (see: Maria Kirilenko, Alyona Bondarenko). As for Youzhny/Mirny type of surnames, they originate from the adjectives (Youzhny means literally "southern", Mirny = "peaceful") and change genders as such, adding "aya" to the root. So Max Mirny's wife's surname is Mirnaya; likewise Youzhny - Youzhnaya. Such surnames are relatively rare though.

*slinks off back to lurkdom*

Youzhny means Southern? I knew I liked that guy for a valid reason.

I'm with the others, don't slink off.....we need some literate contributions to these boards.

 

[Rickson]

Youzhny means Southern? I knew I liked that guy for a valid reason.

Howdy, Rabbit. How's it goin there down in Mississippi? YEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAW!

 

[Fatmike]

There is diff in russian when the female talk or man talk. They sort of modify the verb, in some cases. Sorry don't know the gramma term for that.

in french too... it's called "genre"

 

[spirit]

See, isn't tennis wonderfully international? Just by being interested in tennis, we can get an international education. I love it.

 

[pound cat]

Paranoid Android I question your pronunciation of Kusnetsova. You mean her father says his name KusnetSOV while Yuri calls himself Sha RAH pov? Volkov, Molotov, etc. In referring to women Ukrainians have always used the fem. ending, although not in a written form, or when they say mrs. so & so, in Canada anyway. Slavic language...so interesting.

 

[Aykhan Mammadov]

No, Navratilovas' father must be Navratilov, not Navratil.

Sharapova must be pronounced as is written - sha-ra-po-va, not sha-rah-po-va.

In Russian everything is pronounced as it is written exactly with the exception of "a" and "o" - sometimes instead of o it is pronounced a. Situation is MUCH better than in English when u write "you" with 3 letters and pronounce as 1 sound "u" or exactly 2 "yu".

Safin is tatarian and I'm azeri-turk. Both nations are from the same relative Turkish group of nations, similar to that as Russians and say Poles ( from Poland) are Slavenians, and say English and German are from the same German group of nations. Or Spaniards and Italians are from Romanian goup of nations. So actually turkish family names must not carry neither "-in" no "-ov" in the end. All these were done in Russian manner after Russians occupied a few centuries ago Tartars and Azerbaijan territories. Now Tatars are still inside Russia while Azerbaijan is independent.

In all Russian family names the "a" is added to the end not depending it ends with -ov or not for separating females. If it ends with -iy it becomes - aya.

By the way it there any similar rule in English ?

 

[USO2000]

Navratilova's father last name is Navratil, because Chechs unlike Russians do not have -ov in their male's surnames. So, it's Suk-Sukova, Novak-Novakova, Etc.

Kuznetsova and Sharapova are pronounced differently, becuase thiese is no such rule and every name can be different. For example, 3 names, all have different pronounciation:

KOU-rnikova (1st syllable)
Sha-RAH-pova (2nd)
Kuznets-OVa (3rd)

 

[zorg]

I am Russian. The answer is that they don't put an a on all the last names. Most though. I have never encountered with all the family friends an 'ova', only 'a'. There are certain rules for where to add what, or if you add something, which I will not go into detail here.

 

[bc-05]

but but the ones end in a vowel shouldnt stay the same.. they should still end with a.. e.g. kirilenka.. maybe maria isnt a woman? we never know after all this time she could be a man!!

 

[Kartasco]

Navratilova's father last name is Navratil, because Chechs unlike Russians do not have -ov in their male's surnames. So, it's Suk-Sukova, Novak-Novakova, Etc.

Kuznetsova and Sharapova are pronounced differently, becuase thiese is no such rule and every name can be different. For example, 3 names, all have different pronounciation:

KOU-rnikova (1st syllable)
Sha-RAH-pova (2nd)
Kuznets-OVa (3rd)

You'r right 100%

 

[Bertchel Banks]

There are certain rules for where to add what, or if you add something, which I will not go into detail here.

Then why chime in?

By the way it there any similar rule in English ?

Yes, but it's at the beginning of the name. It's called a title.

Sergei Federov ... Mr. Smith
Anna Kournikovna Federova ... Mrs. Smith
Anna Kournikova ... Miss Smith

 

[pound cat]

Kartasco, would Kuznetsova's father be KuzNETsov? And I bet not many Anna Kournikova followers pronounce her name correctly..

 

[pound cat]

No there's no similar rule in English. Bertchel Banks has dragged the Smith famiuly into the discussion to confuse the issue.

 

[Aykhan Mammadov]

Navratilova's father last name is Navratil, because Chechs unlike Russians do not have -ov in their male's surnames. So, it's Suk-Sukova, Novak-Novakova, Etc.

Kuznetsova and Sharapova are pronounced differently, becuase thiese is no such rule and every name can be different. For example, 3 names, all have different pronounciation:

KOU-rnikova (1st syllable)
Sha-RAH-pova (2nd)
Kuznets-OVa (3rd)

With Navratil an etc. maybe u are right, I don't know since I don't speak chech. But I speak Russian excellently.

What is concerning Sharapova I didn't mean the accent and where to put it, Yes it is in the 2-nd. I simply meant that there is not H - and this leter must not be pronounced: it is Sha- RA'-pova, not Sha-RAH'-pova.

 

[pound cat]

In English ra would be pronouned as in rat, and by putting the h beside the a it would be more like the russian "a" It doesn't mean that there will be an H sound. Just a way of helping English only speakers to pronounce Russian correctly.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Paranoid Android I question your pronunciation of Kusnetsova.

Don't. It's exactly like that - KuznetSOVa, and her father is KuznetSOV. ShaRApov - ShaRApova is also correct. Also:

DeMENtiev(a)
ZvonaRIOV(a)
LIkhovtsev(a)
PaNOV(a)

In referring to women Ukrainians have always used the fem. ending, although not in a written form, or when they say mrs. so & so, in Canada anyway.

In Canada maybe, or if you speak Ukrainian, where the rules are slightly different. But in Russian male and female forms of such surnames are the same.

 

[USO2000]

Also,

-a is not added to Russian female surnames if the male's version is not of "Russian origin", for example using someone's example if Russian woman marries Mr.Smith she does not become Smithova in Russia, she will be Smith. The same goes for all "non-Russian" names: Kirilenko (ukranian origin) will stay Kirilenko, Novak(chech origin) will be Novak, etc.

 

[mido]

The same for Navratilova (Chech) or Polish Marta Domachowska. A man would be Domachowski.

 

[pound cat]

"although not in a written form, or when they say mrs. so & so, in Canada anyway."

The comma shouldn't be there. What I mean is that when calling a woman Mrs. somebody you would call her mrs. and her husband's name.

Ukrainian in Canada used by older people is antique language...what the immigrants brought with them in the early 20th century, and up until WW 2. And there has been very little Uk. immigration since then, and a lot of the customs celebrated here at Xmas etc. are things you would have seen 100 years ago in some little Uk village.

 

[Kartasco]

Kartasco, would Kuznetsova's father be KuzNETsov? And I bet not many Anna Kournikova followers pronounce her name correctly..

KuznetSOV is correct pronounce... Indeed, sometimes even Russians like myself (I live in States last several years) may say KourniKOva instead of
KOUrnikova

 

[raftermania]

for the record I'd be more comfortable if you guys pronounced my name, rafterMANia instead of rAFTermania. It's really quite annoying and personally, very offensive. Please stop.