Perun, Svarog and Other Ergonyms: What Can “Pagan” Names of Russian Companies Tell Us?

Abstract

It has become a common practice in Russia to give companies and organizations names of Slavic deities. Even though scholars have long studied ergonyms – that is, proper names and titles of organizations or associations – this practice has not drawn sufficient attention to date. Yet scrutinizing it may help us better understand the influence that neo-pagan ideas have been exerting lately on the Russian culture and collective consciousness of Russian citizens. To explore the issue, a range of interviews and surveys were conducted among the Russian entrepreneurs who chose to name their companies after various Slavic deities. A number of these entrepreneurs, as it turned out, were actually supporters of paganism; furthermore, some of the interviewees who seemed neutral on the issue of paganism in their responses still did communicate notions that one could term neo-pagan. Overall, the larger part of those interviewed seemed to welcome the idea of renaissance of pre-Christian Slavic culture in Russia, while some were ready to support it in practice. At the same time, one can argue that hardly the neo-pagan entrepreneurs are going to become the driving force behind such a renaissance because it is in fact beyond the scope of their actual goals.