俄羅斯人很重視名字，並且發展出獨特的名字文化。俄文名字的形式各種各樣，分為全稱、簡稱和帶主觀評價的形式。全稱是正式的名字，主要用在文件中或正式場合；簡稱是最常用的形式，不具情感成分；其他帶主觀評價的形式，則是藉由構詞後綴形成，常見的有指小表愛稱和不拘泥稱，它們除了單獨使用外，常和簡稱交替使用。
俄文名字的發展歷史分為三個時期：基督教傳入羅斯前；基督教傳入後、十月革命前；十月革命後。俄羅斯人是從有限的名字中為孩子命名，現今使用的名字絕大多數是教曆名。除了部分名字沒有簡稱外，一般俄文名字有相對應的簡稱。全稱和簡稱之間沒有一定的相關性，但簡稱則可分為三類：硬子音結尾、軟子音結尾、詞幹增添後綴-ш/-ж。俄文名字常見的主觀評價形式中，指小表愛稱的後綴為-очк(а), -ечк(а), -еньк(а)，不拘泥稱的後綴為-ушка/-юшка, -уша/-юша, -ка。
名字有各種形式，說話者在進行交際時，會根據年齡、時間、地點、關係、情緒等因素，選用適當的形式，以表達自己的情感。認識名字的各種形式、意義和用法，有助於提升溝通與交際的能力。

Russians pay a lot of attention to their names, thus they have developed a unique culture of names. Russian names have a variety of forms, which can be divided into full names, short names and names of subjected evaluation. The full name is the formal name, which is used in documents and formal situations. The short name is the one most often used, and which does not imply any particular emotions. Other subjected-evaluated forms like the diminutive and unceremonious are formed by suffixes. They are used independently or used with the short form interchangeably.
The history of Russian names is divided into three periods: before the Christianization of Kievan Rus', after the Christianization of Kievan Rus' and before the October Revolution, and after the October Revolution. The Russians name their children by choosing from a limited pool of names. Today the majority of names are from the “calendar names”. With some exceptions most full names also have short names. While there is no specific correlation between full names and short names, the short names can be divided into three groups: the hard consonants, the soft consonants and the ones with suffix -ш/-ж. The diminutive names are the ones with the suffixes -очк(а), -ечк(а), -еньк(а) and the unceremonious names are the ones with suffixes -ушка/-юшка, -уша/-юша, -ка.
Russian names have different forms. While communicating, the orator will choose an appropriate form according to age, time, place, relations, mood, etc., in order to express his emotions. Becoming acquainted with the main forms of Russian names and their meanings and usage of the forms will surely enhance the ability to communicate in Russian.