Octobering was a naming ceremony which occurred during the early era of the Soviet Union, which involved giving a name to a newborn, introduced by the state on the official basis of Marxist–Leninist atheism as an attempt to replace the religious tradition of christening. The term serves as a translation of two synonymous Soviet neologisms: Oktyabryenie, coined in an analogy to Kreshcheniye, literally, the sacrament of "baptism", and Oktyabriny instead of , the latter being a family celebration on the occasion of baptism.

Oktyabriny not to be confused with Oktyabrina, which is a new Soviet-born given name. All three words are derived from the word Oktyabr, (October), in commemoration of the October Revolution.

Octobering

Despite being short-lived, this so-called new Soviet rite contributed to the proliferation of the new names based on revolutionary phraseology, such as Oktyabrina, Vladlen (for Vladimir Lenin), etc.

Octobering

References

Naming ceremonies

Soviet culture

Octobering