Kyrgyzstan allows citizens to drop Russian suffixes from last names

Kyrgyz citizens can now change their last names by removing Russian suffixes, following the approval of new name-spelling options by the country’s parliament, according to the 24.kg news agency.

«The regulation is designed to give citizens the choice to use last names without Russian endings. However, the current spelling of last names and patronymics, including the suffixes -ov, -ev, -vich and –vna, will remain unchanged unless citizens opt to modify them,» said MP Mirlan Samyikojo, one of the authors of the new law.

Under the new regulation, women’s last names can now include the suffix «kyzy» («daughter»), while men’s last names can use «uulu» («son»). Additionally, for patronymics, the father’s name will receive genitive case endings — «dyn/tyn,» «din/tin» or «dүn/tүn» — for boys and ablative case endings — «dan/tan,» «den/ten» or «dөn/tөn» — for girls. In these cases, a patronymic will not be assigned to the child.

Following Kyrgyzstan’s independence in the early 1990s, many citizens began giving their children traditional Kyrgyz first and last names using «uulu» and «kyzy.» However, in the 2000s, the country reverted to Soviet-style family name formatting, a change authorities attributed to increasing external migration.