[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Further to Name translations

[PnSWork at aol.com]

Hi Dan,
 
>   This leads to one more question.  In these Russian  documents that
> I have had translated, my grandfather's military documents  actually,
> his name is given as Adolph Wilhelmovich Buss.  My family  sources
> give no indication that grandfather had a middle name.   Since his
> father's name was Wilhelm, is this another case of the  patrynomic
> thing, but applied to a male?
 
Precisely.  The -ovich or similar ending is the masculine form of  the
patronymic naming convention used by the Russian culture. The  feminine
form is something like -lova or -ovna (Petrovna = daughter of Peter),  and
the masculine is -ovich or -vich (Petrovich = son of Peter).  Some of  these
names have carried over into actual family names, and you will see  them
from time to time in the news.
 
Russians typically use the patronymic name for formal occasions (and
record keeping) or to convey respect for a person.  It is like  reciting a
person's full name at a formal introduction.
 
Take care,
 
    -Paul