In Tajikistan banned Russification of surnames and middle names of children

On April 29, the lower house of the Parliament of Tajikistan adopted amendments to the law “On state registration of acts of civil status,” writes "Present Tense".

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They prohibit the “Russification” of Tajik surnames and patronymics when registering the names of newborns. Namely, use the Slavic suffixes “-ov”, “-ova”, “-ev”, “-eva” in Tajik surnames, and the suffixes “-ovich”, “-ovna”, “-evich” and “-evna” in Tajik patronymics, the Tajik independent agency Asia-Plus quotes the law.

Tajikistan's Minister of Justice Muzaffar Ashurien explained the government's proposed amendments as a policy of “reviving national names,” which has been in effect in Tajikistan in recent years. Instead of Slavic suffixes, the law allows the Tajik suffixes “-pur” (for male children) and “-dukht” (for female children) to be added to the surnames of newborns.

An exception to the use of Slavic suffixes will be made only for national minorities living in Tajikistan, primarily Russian-speaking ones. They will be able to choose for themselves which suffixes to use in surnames and patronymics when registering their newborn children, the minister explained.

Also, according to the minister, the amendments apply only to children who will be born after the adoption of the law. Therefore, residents of Tajikistan who already have “Russified” surnames and patronymics will not have to redo their documents.

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Since 2007, following the president of Tajikistan, many high-ranking officials in the country refused Russian suffixes in their names:

In 2011, Tajik authorities obliged parents to “give their child a name in accordance with national values,” and in April 2016, ethnic Tajiks were officially banned from using Russified surnames and patronymics in documents. Also, citizens of Tajikistan were advised to refrain from using Slavic suffixes when registering the surnames and patronymics of their children, but the ban on them was not officially stated in the law.

However, despite these prohibitions, thousands of residents of Tajikistan have in recent years returned to the Russian spelling of surnames and patronymics using the suffixes “-vich” and “-ov” (“-ev”). This was done especially often by those who went on labor migration to Russia. They explained that they had problems with last names ending in “-i”, “-zod”, “-zoda”, “-on”, “-yon”, “-yen”, “-er”, “-niyo” ", "-far", and because of this they decided to issue documents again under their previous, "Russian surnames".

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