The publishing house of the Smolensk State Pedagogical University published a book by I. A. Koroleva " The Origin of surnames and patronymics in Russia "(Smolensk, 1999), dedicated to an actual and interesting topic, because today questions about their ancestral roots and family names occupy many people. Proper names, in particular, anthroponyms - first names, patronymics, surnames, nicknames - are developed according to the laws of the language, but, in addition to the lexical component, they include historical, ethnographic, social, and cultural information. Being a part of the lexical-semantic system of the language, functioning within its framework, they simultaneously react very sensitively to any changes taking place in society: "no area of the language activity of the Russian people was so closely and directly connected with its history as the area of onomastics" (Chichagov V. K. History of Russian names, patronymics and surnames. Moscow, 1959).

Anthroponymy - the science of naming people-is often perceived as an applied discipline, and many works devoted to the description of names, patronymics, and surnames are considered popular science. Of course, they are needed. But at the same time, the need for rigorous scientific historical research is recognized, where complex and controversial issues of this field of linguistics are considered evidence-based, based on archival materials.

It is precisely to such serious monographic studies that the work of I. A. Koroleva should be attributed. The author presents his new concept of the origin of our surnames and patronymics from ancient names named after the head of the family, traces the development of the modern three-term anthroponymic formula for naming a person-surname, first name and patronymic, based on the analysis of a huge factual material of written monuments of various genres and times (from the first Russian chronicles to act texts of the XIX century).

I. A. Koroleva quite convincingly argues for the early appearance of surnames and the secondary, later appearance of patronymics (it is traditionally believed that, on the contrary, surnames were formed on the basis of patronymics), shows the role of these anthroponyms and identification of the person named at various stages of the development of Russian society. The author examines in detail the legal significance of surnames and their functioning as linguistic signs.

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The book describes in detail the structure of the Old Russian and Middle Russian families, shows the mechanism of formation of surnames as family names. It is possible that the statement that surnames already existed in Ancient Russia will cause controversy, but the author very clearly distinguishes between the legal, administrative and linguistic aspects of naming. This approach is justified by the author of the main functions of surnames: anthroponyms that unite family members, distinguish them in society, distinguish them from other families, and serve as the main identifiers of the individual.

What is new in the work of A. I. Koroleva is that the question of the origin of surnames and patronymics is considered in conjunction with the question of the origin of the main anthroponymic terms-the words first name, patronymic, surname, nickname and their equivalents in the history of the language-name, reclo, nickname, etc. This is an undoubted advantage of the book, because without a correct interpretation of the named lexemes in different historical periods, without a broad contextual analysis, it is impossible to distinguish the functions of certain anthroponyms (for example, it is difficult to clearly define names and nicknames, nicknames and surnames, etc.). Naturally, a detailed consideration of the conceptual content of anthroponymic terms often found in sources, their correct reading in the context of monuments of various genres and epochs, po helps the researcher to argue and develop the proposed concept of the origin of surnames and patronymics in Russia. For example, the secondary appearance of patronymics is to some extent confirmed by the rather late (only in the Central Russian period) appearance of the word patronymic itself in the sense of "naming after the father" , etc.

Undoubtedly, the book by I. A. Koroleva will evoke a response among anthroponymists and, to some extent, will raise interest in anthroponymy itself, as it represents a rather serious and well-reasoned new point of view on one of the central problems of this branch of linguistics.

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