Anna Vladimirovna Suslova was born on March 3, 1903 in St. Petersburg. Her father Vladimir Vasilyevich Suslov was an architect, a full member of the Academy of Arts. Mother-Lyubov Nikolaevna Kostritsyna-a hereditary noblewoman, graduated from Bestuzhev courses in the specialty "Architecture", taught drawing at the gymnasium.

In 1914, Anna Vladimirovna was sent to the Smolny Institute of Noble Girls, where she studied until 1917 and received life training until the end of her days.

The Institute was under the patronage of Empress Maria Feodorovna. In the spring and summer of 1917, the situation in Petrograd was uneasy, famine was approaching, and the evacuation of institutions began. Maria Feodorovna suggested that the parents sort out the children, and those who could not do this, evacuate them to Montenegro. Subsequently, an educational institution from the "fragments" of the St. Petersburg and Kharkiv institutes of noble maidens functioned there.

In 1918, Anna Vladimirovna's father, Vladimir Vasilyevich, began working in the Department for the Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquities under the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, and the whole family left for Khvalynsk, the homeland of Lyubov Nikolaevna, who was soon to give birth to her sixth child. In 1920, she died. Vladimir Vasilyevich left Petrograd in the same year on a research trip to the Volga region and already seriously ill came to Khvalynsk, where he died in 1921. Anna Vladimirovna remained the eldest and at the end of the year returned to Petrograd with all her sisters and brother. She turned to her father's former employees with a request to sort out the children, because in this anxious and hungry time, she, an eighteen-year-old girl, could not cope with such a burden. The children were sorted out, and thanks to this, they were able to get an education and become independent people.

After living for some time in Moscow, Anna Vladimirovna returned to Petrograd, graduated from the university and worked as a bibliographer in various libraries. Survived the Leningrad Blockade. After the war, she worked in Germany for several years, and when she returned, she joined the Public Library.

As an experienced bibliographer, she was approached by people from various institutions, including civil registry offices, on the problems of correct spelling of names and surnames. She was a regular consultant at the Palace

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official birth registration service "Malyutka", serving the city of Leningrad and the region.

At one time, she drew attention to surnames formed from unchangeable parts of speech: Ahov, Yezhelev, Nekhaev, Prematurely, Nelzin, Todayyaev, Libov, Zhalostin, Iektov, Nenarokomov, Neushtov, Pokudin, Totchasov, Khristoradinov, Chastov, Etov. She also noticed that many modern surnames are closely related to old Russian names: Plokhov-cf. Bad Nikifor Vasilyevich, 1521, Galich; Belavin-cf. Artemy Belava, skomorokh, 1560, Novgorod; Semagin-compare Semaga Klim, serf, 1596, Novgorod.

Anna Vladimirovna Suslova has repeatedly spoken about the need to" improve " the composition of names in our modern population, with a view to overcoming the poverty of the list of names given and the endless repetition of the same ones, as well as the tendency to give various abbreviated forms as full passport names. She gave lectures on names to various audiences, and often her voice could be heard on the radio. Anna Vladimirovna Suslova compiled a memo for young parents "What should I call you, baby?", which was regularly published in the Malyutka Palace. She wrote many works about first and last names. Anna Vladimirovna passed away a few months before the age of 96.

The newspaper Argumenty I Fakty (1998. N 19) published a question about what names are now most often called, and gave the answer: "We called the registry offices of Moscow, Samara, Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don. The most popular names were Nikita, Alexander, Anastasia and Ksenia. In addition to them, Muscovites and Samaritans like: Daniel, Anton, Denis, Daria, Tatiana and Kristina. Yekaterinburg residents prefer Aleksey, Pavel (the name Boris was not mentioned for some reason), Catherine, Maria. And Rostov residents are "in hot demand" for Danila, Sergey, Oksana, and Natasha. There is no trend in the choice of names, except in the capital, where recently newborns have most often been called by the name of their grandparents."

If we compare this answer with the materials of A.V. Suslova, we can clearly see the trend that she identified in the late 80s, namely, the growing popularity of the names Nikita, Anton, Denis, Danil and Daniil, Pavel; Anastasia, Ksenia, Kristina, Ekaterina, Maria, Oksana. By the way, the last name is the Ukrainian form of the name Ksenia, which was obtained through the variant Oxenia. Thus, the popularity of both variants of this name increases in parallel. The names Alexander, Alexey, Tatiana, Natalia (and Natalia) retain their former high position on the frequency scale, although A.V. Suslova noted a slight decrease in it. We also note a parallel increase in the frequency of the female name Alexandra and its Ukrainian affectionate correspondence Olesya, as well as the name Alena-Russian folk

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a variant of the name Elena. Parents insist that it is in these forms that the names should appear in their children's documents.

I wonder what the emerging trends will lead to in the future. It is a pity that there is no other enthusiast who could continue the work started by A.V. Suslova. But there is still the archive of the scientist, from which we offer a small note to the attention of our readers.

Notes on the composition and movement of personal names in time

A. V. Suslova

The beginning of this work was due to the fact that there was an urgent need in society for a manual on personal names, from which it would be possible to choose the name of a newborn. In the early 60s, there were almost no such manuals, with the exception of a small number of pamphlets and a book by L. V. Uspensky, as well as a church calendar, access to which was restricted due to negative attitudes towards people who went to church.

At the very beginning of the research, in 1966, it was possible to analyze up to 15 thousand personal names of different generations from newspapers and documents of that time, including the names of newborns. It turned out that the calculations give very uniform information about the number and composition of names by age group. The first group included names of mass distribution (50 or more identical names per thousand people), the second group - names of wide distribution (from 20 to 50 per thousand), the third - names of limited distribution (from 4 to 20 - per thousand), the fourth - rare and rarest names (1-3 per thousand). At the same time, it was found that the boundaries between these groups stand out quite clearly.

The composition of names in the first three groups is relatively stable. These are mostly old calendar names, which can be described as the main, permanent part of the Russian name list. In contrast, the names in the fourth group are much richer and more diverse, but they cover no more than 10% of those named. These are foreign-language names, as well as some old calendar names that are rarely used and their alterations. This is a variable composition of the Russian name list. As isolated inclusions, there are Old Russian Dobrynya, Zhdan, Lyubava and preserved from

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post-revolutionary period Vilna, Vil, Vladlen, Radium, Rem; Avelina, Vladilena, Vesna, Liana, Lilia, Maya, Ninel, Taina, Stalina (registered in 1975).

The composition of names for girls is wider than for boys. It contains fewer calendar names (although there are some modifications), more neoplasms, and more foreign-language names. Apparently, this is due to the fact that in the church calendars there were several times fewer female names than male ones, and what is available there does not satisfy the needs of modern society.

The composition and number of names in each group gradually change, accompanied by either an increase or decrease in the number of individual names. At the same time, individual names are moved from group to group, which can only be observed for a significant period of time. The groups themselves with their main characteristics are saved. Here is the data for some names.

Increase in the number of some names (per thousand names):

Anastasia: 1966-no; 1969-9; 1972-9; 1976-24; 1983-43; 1988-52.

Anna: 1966 - 16; 1969 - 36;1972 - 40; 1976 - 50;1983 - 65;1988 - 82.

Daria: 1966-no; 1969-no; 1972 - 1; 1976 - 3; 1983 - 10;1988 - 22.

Catherine: 1966 - 16; 1969 - 27; 1972 - 24; 1976 - 44;1983 - 81;1988 -111.

Anton: 1966 - 4; 1969 - 14; 1972 - 17; 1976-19; 1983 - 37; 1988 - 39.

Denis: 1966 - 3; 1969 - 22; 1972 - 24;1976 - 41;1983 - 30;1988 - 21.

Ivan: 1966 - 4; 1969 - 6; 1972 - 1; 1976 - 4; 1983 - 17; 1988-24.

Maxim: 1966 - 12; 1969 - 9; 1972 - 17; 1976 - 25; 1983 - 31; 1988 - 35.

Decrease in the number of some names (based on a thousand names):

Elena: 1966 - 144; 1969 - 141; 1972 - 168; 1976 - 112; 1983 - 66; 1988 - 34.

Jeanne: 1966 - 7; 1969 - 6;1972 - 5;1976 - 1; 1983 - no; 1988-1.

Sergey: 1966 - 142; 1969 - 108; 1972 - 119; 1976 - 110; 1983 - 60; 1988 - 59.

Eduard: 1966 - 8;1969 - 10;1972 - 2;1976 - 1; 1983 - 3; 1988 - 2.

As can be seen, with a general tendency to reduce or increase the frequency of individual names, this is not carried out as a one-time act, but gradually and is accompanied by some fluctuations, a temporary return to the previous state, followed by more drastic and tangible changes.

At the end of the XX century, apparently, due to the appearance of a number of dictionaries, books and manuals on the nature and origin of personal names, their composition began to expand, respectively, a smaller number of named people became carriers of several names of mass distribution. Some undeservedly forgotten rights are gradually being restored

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traditional Russian names that were lost in the post-revolutionary years due to social motives and prejudices. The permanent list of Russian names has expanded. The variable composition has become more diverse. So, among the names given singly in 1966, we note Alex, Andrian, Andrus, Alfred, Artemy, Vladlen, Helius, Witold, Jean, Heraclius, Nikola, Radik, Ruben, Rem, Fernand, Julius; among the singly given names in 1988 - Abram, Alan, Alex, Alfred, Anastas, Antony, Armen, Artemiy, Ayatula, Danila, Davyd, Dobrynya, Innokenty, Kazbek, Klim, Leonard, Manas, Martin, Mihai, Rene, Rodion, Ronald, Savva, Stas, Sultan, Thomas, Christian, Edward, Edeon, Eldar, Elvin, Emil.

Among the single names given in 1966, we note the following female names: Alevtina, Eva, Jeanette, Isolde, Inda, Catherine, Leonella, Lolla, Magda, Madeleine, Mariam, Mariana, Milana, Naida, Natella, Ninel, Renata, Taina, Elite; in 1988-Agatha, Aksana, Alesya, Albina, Viviana, Vladilena, Vitalina, Desislava, Julia, Zarina, Joanna, Isabella, Camilla, Kati, Lika, Liana, Lina, Linda, Lolita, Maya, Miloslava, Nata, Paola, Paula, Raisa, Regina, Rosa, Rosina, Rusalina, Sabina, Sandra, Stefania, Susanna, Tamila, Florentina.

Thus, along with the free succession of historical names, there is also a significant renewal of the name list, not so much due to individual imagination, but due to internationalization associated with international marriages, as well as significant penetration of foreign-language vocabulary into the Russian language (films, musical ensembles, goods, joint Russian-foreign enterprises).

While I am fully aware that even repeated calculations carried out by one person over the course of 22 years cannot provide comprehensive information about the composition of the names of all newborns, I still want to note that the analysis of homogeneous material carried out at the same time intervals, using the same method, allows us to see some patterns. First of all, from the very beginning, one thousand names were taken for calculations, and in parallel the second (control) thousand. Discrepancies in the data for the first and second thousand were minimal, which proves the reliability of the data obtained during calculations.

Introductory article and publication by A.V. Superanskaya, Doctor of Philology

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