For many centuries, commoners and people of the noble class differed in manners, costume, and their needs. Another sure way to emphasize a special status is the appropriate name, indicating an aristocratic origin. Until the 20th century, the names were divided into peasant, bourgeois (merchant), princely (noble). Among the latter in Russia, the most widespread are: Igor, Yaroslav, Vladimir, Oleg, Mstislav, Vsevolod, Svyatoslav. For representatives of the same genus, they traditionally alternated through the generation, i.e. sons were named after grandfathers.
After the baptism of Rus, the list of aristocratic names expanded. It includes: Fedor, Peter, Plato, Illarion, Pavel, Andrei, Mikhail, Dmitry, Vasily, Nikolai, Alexander, Boris, Sergei, Konstantin. That was the name of especially revered saints or rulers. Remember, for example, the apostle Paul, the conqueror of Alexander the Great, the emperor Constantine (Byzantium). The girls born to parents belonging to the princely family were called Anna, Natalia, Alexandra, Sophia, Elizaveta, Elena, Olga.
At the same time, commoners were forbidden to name newborns with names that did not correspond to social status. Common for peasant children were: Pervysh, Zhdan, Tugoukh, Gloom, Belyak, Khudyash, Ryzhik, Molchan, etc. After the adoption of Orthodoxy, the choice of a name took place with the help of church calendar. At baptism, the boys were named Ignat, Nikita, Egor, Vadim, Arkhip, Ermolai, Timofey, Potap, Antip, Bogdan. Girls born in peasant families - Agafia, Daryushka, Anfisa, Akulina, Evdokia, Matryon, Tatyana, Efrosinya, Thekla, Marfa.
Remarkable is the fact that as a result of the transition from one class to another, (this happened quite rarely), the name also changed. The commoner Viktorova Fyokla Anisimovna, for example, having become the wife of N. A. Nekrasov, a famous Russian poet, turned for those around her into Zinaida Nikolaevna. Thus, not only a simple name, but also a patronymic was not suitable for a newly-made representative of a noble family. After the revolution, the line between the estates gradually collapsed. This allowed parents to name their daughters and sons as they please.