In the future, there will be more people with the patronymic Artemovich and Artemovna
What is a patronymic in your full name? Essentially, it’s a reference to your father. And the more popular the father’s name, the more common your patronymic. That’s exactly why some patronymics are everywhere, while others seem exotic. To understand why there are so few Artemoviches and Antonoviches, you just need to look at what names boys were given 30–40 years ago.
What Influences the Prevalence of a Patronymic
In Russia, a patronymic is assigned based on the father’s name — this is explicitly stated in Article 58 of the Family Code. It follows that if many Alexanders were born in the country, 25–35 years later there will be many children with the patronymic Aleksandrovich and Aleksandrovna. And if there were few Artems, there will also be few Artemoviches.
So the question “why are there so few Artemoviches” actually sounds like this: “why are there so few Artems among today’s fathers?” And it’s all because the name Artem became massively popular only very recently. The majority of today’s fathers received their names in the 1980s–1990s, when completely different names were in fashion.
Why There Are So Many Aleksandroviches and Sergeevichs
According to data from the Moscow Civil Registry Office, the most common patronymics in the capital are Aleksandrovich, Alekseevich, Sergeevich, Dmitrievich, and Andreevich. The reason is that in 1980–1995, boys were massively named Aleksandr, Aleksey, Sergey, Dmitry, and Andrey. Literally every third child was given one of these names.
Now these boys have grown up, become fathers, and their children automatically received the corresponding patronymics. It turns out that a wave of name popularity in one generation transforms into a wave of a specific patronymic in the next generation 25–35 years later. Nothing mystical — pure arithmetic.
If you think about it, similar patterns can be found in very different areas — for example, why most people write with their right hand is also explained not by chance but by quite specific reasons.
When the Name Artem Became Popular in Russia
Artem is a familiar and well-known name, but it only gained mass popularity around the 2000s–2010s. According to data from the Unified State Registry of Civil Status Acts, in 2024 Artem was among the most popular male names for newborns. But these Artems are currently infants and children.
Among today’s toddlers there are many Artems, but fatherhood is still far away for them
They will start massively producing their “Artemoviches” in approximately 20–35 years. For this to happen, the Artems need to grow up, become fathers, and have children. And daughters, by the way, will be Artemovnas, so the male form of the patronymic automatically splits the potential numbers roughly in half.
Why the Patronymic Antonovich Will Remain Rare
With Antonovich, the situation is tougher. The name Anton is a normal, recognizable name, but it was never as massively popular as a father’s name like Aleksandr or Sergey. There were a moderate number of Antons, and as a result, the patronymic Antonovich exists but doesn’t stand out at every turn.
And if you look at the latest name statistics, Anton doesn’t currently rank among the trendy names either. According to civil registry statistics, Artem still holds its position in the upper part of the rankings, although it’s already losing ground. Meanwhile, Anton doesn’t look like a strong contender among trending names. This means that over time, there will likely be noticeably more Artemoviches, while Antonoviches will remain relatively rare.
Russia has more people living in it than you might think, but even with such a population size, the mass appearance of any patronymic requires a wave of name popularity in the previous generation.
Which Patronymics Could Become Popular
If you look at the rankings of the most popular male names in recent years, you can predict with decent accuracy which patronymics will become widespread in a generation. Besides Artem, names like Mikhail, Matvey, Lev, and Mark have consistently held top positions.
This means that in 20–35 years, Russia will likely see a wave of Artemoviches, Mikhailoviches, Matveevichs, Lvovichs, and Markovichs. Meanwhile, the familiar Sergeevichs and Alekseevichs will gradually become less common. This won’t happen because these names will disappear, but because their share among new fathers will decline.
And this is the main principle: a patronymic is always a mirror of the past, a reflection of naming trends from one generation ago. There are few Artemoviches for now not because there’s something wrong with the patronymic, but because most Artems are still too young. Antonoviches will most likely remain moderately rare because the name Anton never experienced such a boom. But future Matveevichs and Lvovichs are already growing up in kindergartens.
