The names that were given before were not quite the same as we are used to now. A name was given for life, sometimes the fate of man depended on it. There were beautiful, kind names, but there were also non-affectionate ones, during the pronunciation of which people understood what kind of person they were.
In ancient Russia there were canonical or noncanonical names. Before Christianity, the Eastern Slavs, and these are the ancestors of the Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians, used only personal names. After the adoption of Christianity by Russia, every Slav also received a baptismal name. But there were so-called nicknames in Russia, which sometimes replaced the real name. After the baptism of Rus, these names, like the pagan ones, were completely supplanted and replaced by the usual Christian names, which we still call our children.
What names were in the pre-Christian era?
In the days of the so-called paganism, names were given with a hidden meaning. For example, the name Bazhen meant a welcome child. There were also the names Bazhay and Bazhan, which came from the same name. The girl was called Bazhen. Besson - that is, awake and peppy. By the way, the corresponding surnames - Bazhenov, Bessonov - also came from these names. Beloslav means a white man praising God. There was also Beloslava, and her acronym was Belyana. A name like Beremir means taking care of the world, preserving it. Berislav is the one who takes fame, the one who cares for fame and gets it in a difficult battle.
The Slavs also had negative names. For example, Fornication is lecherous and bad-headed, which sometimes really coincided with reality. For example, one of the governor of Yaropolk Svyatoslavich was Fornication Yvescheche, who betrayed his prince. And there were such names as Bogomil or Bozhedar, Bogolyub. These names speak for themselves. There were also such names as Borsch, Boyan. Vadim - means a debater or a contention, this name came to us from those times in its original form, like the name Vera, Vladimir or Vsevolod. Most of the names are not used right now, they can be found only in special directories or on the Internet, but they should be studied, at least in order to know what they mean and where the majority of today's names come from.
