On Paradigms of Systematic Acquisition and Changing Family Names (Surnames) in Clerical Academies in the Riazan’ Diocese

Abstract

The article analyzes the processes of assigning surnames to seminarians and students of clerical academies in Riazan’ diocese – processes initiated by administrators of these institutions in the first half of the nineteenth century. The essay seeks to determine the motives, methods and consequences of these efforts to assign surnames, and to gauge changes in these efforts over time.