The Name of Yanka Vsevolodovna and the 11th–17th Сenturies Old Russian Anthroponymy

This paper explores Old Russian female anthroponymy through the reconstruction of the full name of Yanka Vsevolodovna, daughter of Vsevolod Yaroslavich, Grand Prince of Kiev in the late 11th century. The derivative Yanka, the only form by which the princess is known, poses a significant challenge for both later Old Russian scribes and modern scholars. The study revisits hypotheses regarding the derivation of this name from the Christian anthroponyms Anna and Ioanna (Joanna). Although Yanka and Yana might be expected to derive from Ioanna, similarly to the correspondence between Yan (Jan) and Ioann, extralinguistic evidence suggests that the princess was unlikely to have been baptized as Ioanna, necessitating a re-examination of its connection with Anna. Drawing on ecclesiastical and secular sources from the Pre-Petrine era, the article traces the evolving roles of Yanka, Yana, Ioanna, and Anna in the anthroponymic landscape of Old Rus’. While Anna was widely adopted from the 11th century onwards, Ioanna was rare, sparsely represented in scribal records, and lacked an independent cult related to the same-name saint. The possibility that Ioanna was adopted at monastic tonsure is further explored, so is the evidence that rare or exotic names such as Gavriya and Fegniya were assigned to nuns from as early as the 12th century. As it happens, the case of Yanka Vsevolodovna illustrates broader processes in Old Russian naming practices, including the assimilation of Christian names, the variable use of hypocoristics, and the evolution of polynomy.